Suresh Nair takes us to Karnala bird sanctuary in Maharashtra- a day trip from Mumbai

 Karnala Bird Sanctuary is one of the three closest sanctuaries you can drive to from Mumbai. The others are the Tungareshwar sanctuary on the western side and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, right in the heart of the city and a hop, skip and jump from my residence.
The sanctuary is located just 12 km from Panvel, just off the Mumbai-Pune national highway to Goa. It is small with an area of just about 12 sq km but is home to over 150 species of resident and 37 species of migratory birds. 

 

We set off, not so early in the morning, around 8 ish. Being geographically challenged, as usual, I took several detours and finally managed to reach the place after some help from gentlemen, rickshaw and taxi drivers.

There is an entrance fee of Rs.30, and Rs.100 for camera (Rs.250 if it is a video camera). I do not understand these charges that are levied at most tourist places in India. My camera has a video mode with which I can take more than an hour of video but since it looks like a camera, for the officials, it is a camera. In fact, at another place, the alert attendant asked me to open the case and show the camera because he suspected me of carrying a video camera. He had a good look at it, gave it back and apologized. They live so much behind the times when any decent smartphone can store hundreds of images/videos.

From the entrance, begins a trail through dense green ancient forest. At many places, thick branches of very old trees had reached out, hugging adjacent trees, twisting and spreading themselves at random all over the place. There are clear trails that take you higher and higher, culminating at the Karnala fort. We plodded along past huge stones, slippery ground until we reached….no, not the Karnala fort but a small waterfall, one of the many in the area. From where we stood, we could clearly see the Karnala fort and it looked so high and so distant, we felt we needed a helicopter to reach the place. At frequent intervals, there are small, rusty broken benches and chairs, but still good enough to rest our weary bottoms.

the author

Very near the beginning of the trail, there is a small water body cut by a wide concrete path. On one side is almost still looking water but on the other side of the path, it descends and jumps on stones to become a waterfall.

The weather was extremely pleasant with hardly any rain (disappointing my daughter). There are plenty of giant spiders, crabs and monkeys all around. We had lunch at a Kamat joint nearby before heading back, a day well spent. The return drive amidst heavy rain added to the adventure.

Quite possibly, either it is inattention or my poor skills at ‘bird watching’ that, at the Karnala bird sanctuary, we didn’t spot a single bird. This makes me jealous of others who visited the same place and claim to have spotted the red tailed, pink lipsticked, white bearded bulbul (no such bird, please).

To conclude, Karnala bird sanctuary is a nice day trip for people of all ages from Mumbai. The trails are very clear and can be managed by any reasonably fit person. You can choose to go as high as you wish and it is still rewarding. Even if you choose not to climb at all, it is a serene place with dense greenery and you can just hang around the water body or peer into a couple of very dark cages where you can just make out the outline of a rabbit or peacock.

resting the weary bottoms