My first Wilson college nature club trip deserves a post.
Unlike other trips , this was a trip was special – with lessons on humanity, wildlife , connections and abundance of knowledge and warmth .
It changed my approach towards observing and understanding what the forest has to offer as a whole and not just one aspect ( eg the craze to spot tigers ) . Also our Professor Sudhakar Sir gave us a booklet which had all the names of the plants , trees, animals and birds that were found on the eastern ghat forests. This was a pleasant surprise especially for someone who would not know the names of the flaura and fauna . For me, the booklet was also an example of the level of homework Sudhakar Sir put in just so that we make informed observations and educate ourselves further. Another interesting part was we were asked to carry water bottles which could be refilled and not end up buying water, eventually no use of plastic. Also water was arranged at every place for us to refill in our bottles. Thus inducing an environment friendly way of life and I did see everyone practising it.
Also Sir waited for everyone to have their food and he was the last one to eat ( though I wasn’t happy with the idea but I understand why he did so ) . Like every parent would do for their children. Now tell me which trip have you been to , would have such experiences ?
For those who would like to know more about the itinerary , here it is : So on the 25th Dec 2024, we boarded the train from Mumbai to Hyderabad in the afternoon . I experienced the nostalgia of travelling by train almost after a decade.
We reached Hyderabad station early in the morning at 4:30 am and immediately left for an island called Nagarjunakonda, three hours from Hyderabad . We took ferry to reach the island . The view of the lake surrounded with mountains on all sides was so serene . Also on the ferry there was a group of school children from a local school who were dancing on popular Telugu songs and guess what we couldn’t resist and joined them in the dance.
The Nagarjunkonda once was India’s richest Buddhist sites , it now lies almost entirely under the lake created by the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam . The archaeological relics at Nagarjunakonda were submerged, and had to be excavated and transferred to higher land, which has now become an island. Nagarjunakonda museum has the remains of ancient Buddhist monuments (dating from the 1st to the 3rd century bce) from an ancient university (3rd–4th century) where Nagarjuna, the founder of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, once taught.
After the museum visit, we reached the resort at the Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh. We freshened up and had dinner cooked by the locals.
On the 27th Morning I had my first three hour safari trip. We saw different species of birds like Barbetts , Leaf Bird , Babbler , Plum headed parakeet, Rufus treepie , Drongo , Kingfisher , Peacock (peafowl) , Red vented bulbul , Crested Hawk Eagel (Changeable) , Crested Serpent Eagle , oriental dove and animals like Nilgai , spotted dear and Sambhar.
Next day on the 28th morning we visited Srisailam Temple (Jyotirling and Maha Shaktipeeth) after a wait of two hours . Later in the evening reached the resort at Amrabad Tiger Reserve in Telangana.
On the 29th we set out on another 3 hour Safari ride in the morning as well as in the evening.
On the last day 30th dec , early in the morning we went for a nature trail in the Amrabad forest
and later visited the Golconda fort in Hyderabad . The fort which is about 3 square kilometers in size was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls . Later it was ruled by the Qutub Sahi kings in the 16th & 17th century until it was taken over by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb . The most interesting trivia is that this fort had a vault where the famous Kohinoor and Hope diamonds were once stored.
We ended the day with some awesome biryani at Shadab and revisited the nostalgia or goli soda.
