The flowerscape at Kaas plateau - Smithia bigemina.

Whenever I think of flowers and especially when I get to walk around the wild flowers like in Kaas, I am reminded of the song...

Dekha ek khwaab to yeh silsile hue,

Dur tak nigahon mein hain gul khile hue...these Bollywood songs do make it easy for us when we are at a loss for words to express our varied emotions! Well, the topic of today's post isn't 'Bollywood' or the songs but about my recent visit to a very Khaas (meaning special) place called 'Kas/Kaas'.

Mixed flower carpet - white, Indigo & pink floral carpet

Kaas, hardly needs any introduction these days. Located in the Western Ghat of Sahyadri range / on the mountain top, in the district of Satara in Maharashtra (India), this Plateau of flowers is on the top of the must-visit list for many nature lovers, botanists, researchers, photographers as well as many others who actually don’t know why they are there (many people arrive there just because others go there).

The busy photographers!

Just after the monsoons, the plateau throws some amazing visual treat in the form of rare and western ghat endemic flora & fauna. The area of plateau is approximately 1,000 hectares and is covered with the wild flowers every year for a very short period of time. This place has been recently declared as Biodiversity World heritage site by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). More information can be read here - Wikipedia.

With that brief introduction I will march ahead and write about my recent visit to this plateau of flowers or Maharashtra’s very own ‘Valley of flowers’, Kaas pathaar. Originally, it was planned that I would visit this place with family and drive ahead to Goa. But when the entire trip got scrapped due to unavoidable circumstances, I immediately contacted a birder friend of mine, who was organizing a visit for a group of nature enthusiasts / photographers on the 28^th & 29^th September, 2013. Sheepishly I enquired with him if I could get a seat in the bus along with others and it turned out that I was lucky and made a last minute entry. This turned out to be such a wonderful experience that now I am already looking forward to joining them in their next ‘briding trip’ to Nanaj. Our program was planned and organized through 'Wild India', Eco tour & Wildlife photography tour organizers.

Introducing ourselves, just before we begin our sightseeing.

The people behind the program were my dear friend Bhavesh Rathod and his partner Mr. Sunil Kadam. Also the presence of Ms. Rupali, wife of Mr. Sunil Kadam, made a lot of difference. She kept the group together and understood every need of each member and co-ordinated excellently throughout the trip. The 15 member group consisted of kids, an elderly lady, photographers, lawyers & doctors, software engineers and other professionals. But one thing connecting each one of us was the love for nature!!

We (the group) started from Mumbai on the night of 27th Sept 2013 at 11.00 am from Borivali (Mumbai), and reached Satara on 28th morning around 7.00 am.

A brief report and lots of photographs from me, now.

Driving towards Chalkewadi Windmills

Checked into the hotel Maratha Palace, freshened up and had our breakfast and left for sightseeing. We were accompanied by a naturalist and a person who is very familiar with the flora and fauna of Kaas plateau, Ms. Medha Karkhanis. 28th September, 2013 - On day one we drove directly to Chalkewadi windmills, Thosegar waterfalls - off the Kaas plateau road. Both are very interesting places.

Lucky find en-route Chalkewadi windmills.
Indian Eagle Owl.

Neelambari flowers!

Just a word or two about the naturalist who was visiting the plateau along with us - Medha ji as we fondly called her, has been visiting Kaas regularly every year for the past 22 yrs. Her love for nature and interest to educate people who want to understand this place was very evident when she walked us through the whole of the valley and introduced us to many a ‘flower wonders’, which we would have surely not given even the first look, leave alone the second! Thanks to her, today I am aware of a few names of the rare flowers which appear on the landscape of Kaas.

The first thing one realizes when we reach this place is its solitude and then the sight of the mammoth windmills really makes you feel tiny.

Even though there isn't much to do or see at Chalkewadi, this place deserves a visit in it's own right. One can walk wherever one feels like and appreciate the splendid views of the gigantic windmills spread out on acres of lands.

The topli Karvi plants - they flower once in seven years, I am told!

The group busy exploring the landscape.

Pogostemon deccanensis - Jambhli Manjiri

In Thosegar, I felt the flow of water was less but then for people who go there for the first time, it will surely be an attractive sight. In this place one can see series of waterfalls during peak monsoon season. The water dancing down into the valley makes for a great sight when it rains heavily. Many blogs mention this waterfall to be the third tallest waterfall in India, but it’s yet to be authenticated from reliable sources.

The viewpoint where a platform is constructed towards the left hand side when one starts descending the steps while walking from the parking area, is the best place to watch this bustling beauty.

Watch the two waterfalls on the right hand side of the platform.

Velvet touch - the feeling when we touch
this leaf

A closer view of the milky white water
falling from that great height.

Some members of our group for a group photo!

Afternoon, we drove back towards Kas plateau and on the way had lunch at Maratha palace's restaurant located closer to the plateau. Unlimited thali lunch (Pure veg) - It was yummy and filling.

The Balsam flower carpet.

Post lunch, we went to watch the flowers on the plateau and were fairly happy. It was a bit misty and occasionally it drizzled. The flowers were very less. Still managed a few good pictures. Apart from the regular pink & yellow flower carpets & utricularia, Eriocaulon sedgwickii (gend phool, in marathi?) we found a few other interesting flowers, thank to our naturalist's knowledge about the habitat. Flowers & flowers, wild ofcourse, as far as one could view. Truly ‘Paradise’.

Some of the rare findings for me at Kaas plateau -

The Toothbrush orchid

Cute little blue flower!

Ericaulon sedgwickii

One of our amazing find for the evening was this 'Khaas' flower - Drocera Indica or the Sun dew plant (Gavathi davabindu in Marathi). This flower/plant mimics as though it holds tiny water droplets but in actual it is the sticky juice which attracts insects to the plant.