My Weekend Odysseys

Another Sunday and it was my yet another trek in rainy month of July 2012. Wanderlust Adventure group lead by Dr Pradhan had planned trekking to Matheran - The Queen of hills in Maharashtra from base village of Dodhani and I decided to be part of the group. Matheran, One of the oldest and most splendid hill stations in Maharashtra is located 90kms from Mumbai at elevation of 2625feet above sea level. The most unforgettable things about Matheran are deep forest and valleys surrounding it with abundant waterfalls specially in rainy season. Matheran in local language means " Forest at the top" covers 8 square kms in Sahyadri mountain range. This beautiful place discovered in 1850 by Hugh Poyntz Malet has 28 viewing points which gives splendid panoramic 360 view of surrounding ghats and valleys with breathtaking sunrise & sunset views. My trek : Meeting point was decided at Panvel station at 7.15am sharp as our plan was to complete the trek by afternoon, have packed lunch at

For every nature lover, trekkers, Come the first showers of Monsoon in the month of June in Mumbai and its time to go for nature trails & trekking. Monsoon rains in Mumbai are much awaited by everyone to get relief from scorching summer heat and humidity and also by nature lovers and trekkers as its time for trekking season, to experience and enjoy the nature at its best. Monsoon showers carpet the areas surrounding Mumbai in vibrant and lush green thick undergrowth. Its a feeling which cannot be put in words but is best experienced. I was keenly awaiting rains to get feel of whole new world at S.G.National park in Borivali and also at Tungareshwar wild life sanctuary which transforms itself in green paradise with abundant waterfalls. Monsoon trail at Sanjay Gandhi National park : This green oasis in the heart of Metro city like Mumbai is biggest National park in middle of any metro city in the world covering 104 sq kms (65 sq miles). It presents a different picture in every season