29th
morning (SUNDAY): It was pre-decided that we would all visit the plateau and
Kaas Lake and try to find a few more rare species of plants /flowers in the
first half of the day and return to the hotel to check out and leave for Mumbai
post lunch.
So,
this is how the day went by - Early morning 'Chaai' at the hotel around 6.00
am. By 6.15 am, we were all in the bus with our naturalist leading us, like
studious students following their teacher.
We
drove back to the plateau, early in the morning (7.00 am) and en-route had some
interesting stops and discoveries (plants & flowers).
Some
of our sightings as we drove towards the plateau.
If different varieties of colorful flowers welcomed us on our way to the plateau, some birds also ventured out to check up on us!!
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| Orange Minivet (female) |
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Jacobin cuckoo
|
After our small stops every now and then, we finally arrived at the plateau only to find it to be entirely engulfed in mist & the heavy rain bearing clouds!! It almost instantly started to even drizzle upon our arrival.
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| Misty Morning! |
Well, nothing could stop us from exploring the plants, at least by the roadside. Another member from the group had visited the plateau the previous week hence led us to this unique find!!
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| CeropagiaCeropegia media Kharchudi? |
Ceropegia!!
Ceropegia means 'fountain of wax'! The flower resembles a lantern in it's
structure and has this special feature of trapping insects within it's inner wax lining - for the
purpose of pollination. So, yes, it isn't an insectivorous plant actually. Once
the process required for pollination is complete the insect is released by the
flower by inverting itself.
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| Silver fern |
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| Attractive fungus growing on a stone. |
Having found something new, we were all warmed up enough to walk along the road further down towards the lake and occasionally check the flowers along our path.
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| Impatiens dalzellii (Pivala terda) |
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| Dew drops made for an attractive sight! |
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| A bit of an odd smelling but sweet looking flower, by the roadside. |
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| Konkan pinda |
Still with no signs of clouds clearing from the plateau and with the rain threatening to come down heavily, we decided that we could drive up to the lake first, explore the surroundings and also soak in the beautiful scenery around and then return to the plateau and see if we could walk inside. That was a cool thing to do!!
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The overflowing waters of the lake beside a picturesque viewpoint - while walking
along the banks of Kaas Lake. |
Seeing our enthusiasm and interest to explore and know the environment there, Medhaji took us through a path which can be best described as way to 'wonderland'!! We were handsomely rewarded with many a beautiful photo ops and some adventurous walk!!
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| The 'Green carpet'! |
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| A deep gorge, along the pathway! |
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| Sparkling water from the lake flows down the stony route, under the bridge. |
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| Much delighted to be here - was our thought!! |
 |
Hurraaaahhhh!
Another Ceropegia sighted!! |
 |
Absolutely lucky find!
Ceropegia sp. Asclepiadaceae?
|
 |
| A moth's day out!! |
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| And then this creepy looking insect! |
Nothing
to beat our next find (see above in the pic), as we started to walk towards our vehicle - a snake skin behind the bushes, intact!!
Seemed like the skin of a cobra. It felt smooth and supple due to the fact that
it had been lying out there drenched in the rain, god knows for how long.
Immensely satisfied with our finds and the time spent, we walked back towards a tea stall and were treated to 2 cups of tea each!! Well, who are we to complain? Give me tea anytime and any number of times - I will lap it up without any complaints.
Around 10.00 am we drove back to Kaas plateau, only to be received by ever-increasing crowd. And also by then it had started pouring heavily. But whenever the rains stopped for some time, we walked around inspecting whatever that came our way. Not a disappointing walk, I must confess. Some photos!!
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This Malabar Lark stood guard on the fence and was keeping a serious watch on the visitors -
At Kaas plateau |
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| With the Sun playing hide 'n' seek, still managed a few photos on the plateau! |
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| Murdania lanuginosa |
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Rotheca
serrata
(blue fountain bush, blue-flowered glory tree)
|
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The Blue fountain flower
|
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| Adenoon indicum ( Blue Sonki ) |
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| Cyanotis tuberrosa (Aabhaali in Marathi) |
By 12.00, it was time to start back towards our hotel in Satara to collect our baggage and check out, also a member or two had stayed back at the hotel as their kids were not feeling well early in the morning. But some morons on the plateau had some other program planned for us - they had haphazardly parked their vehicles as it pleased them, on the single lane road and were roaming around the plateau oblivious to the sufferings of many others on the road! Anyway, thanks to those people we spent ONLY 6 HOURS in the bus waiting for the traffic jam to clear.
 |
A few others by the roadside wondered why these humans
weren't disciplined enough!! |
But the positive side of the entire wait was, all the members in the group had some real funny moments cracking jokes, singing songs and knowing each other a bit more. But all the while, our trip organizers were walking in the rain and trying to manage the traffic and getting the road block cleared. Very much appreciated Bhavesh & Sunil!
 |
| On our way back - The gloomy clouds still hovering above us! |
We
finally got back to the hotel at 7.00 pm. Freshened up and immediately started
for Mumbai. We drove to a nearby hotel & had our lunch cum dinner and by
2.00 am (30 September, 2013) we were in Mumbai. By 2.30 am I was at home
comfortably tucked in my bed! With a smile on face and so many photos in my camera, I was too excited to just snore away! For a few minutes, just went on a rewind mode and enjoyed all the memories and slowly slipped into a deep slumber!!
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