Pongal at Goa - early morning at the Madhei river

7:30 am, 13th January

So much for Accuweather informing us that it was a nice balmy 25 degress in the night!  It was some 12 degrees I swear, and we Madrasis were not equipped at all!!

Wearing T-shirts one on top of the other, and with hands in pockets, we set off, shivering, for this bridge across the river.

It was too cold for the birds as well, and there were a couple of wire-tailed swallows desperately seeking some sun on the electricity wire.

Our little seven-year old birder  who definitely does not like the cold, chirped up only at about eight when it got warmer, and I loved the way he said "Brrrahminy Kite"  and Rrrrufous trrrree pie", rolling his r's in a most endearing fashion!

The Mandovi is called the Madhei in Goa.

It originates in neighbouring Karnataka, and there is another river water dispute unfolding here.

At this point, the waters were so clear we could see the stony river bed.  I wonder if this part also had been affected by illegal mining.

"Here comes the sun, tudududu.  Here comes the sun, I say"

A Magpie robin braved the cold winds

A Wire-tailed swallow.  See the clear waters.

Photo by Mr Ramanan of the wire-tailed pair.  The one on the left is the male with the wire tail.

We saw a lot of birds in the undergrowth by the riverside, a little later.  I saw a black-lored tit, and various barbets sunned themselves on the highest branches.  A Golden Oriole called sweetly and an Ashy Prinia hopped around busily without a second glance at us.

A white-bellied sea eagle glided across the bridge, and it was a magnificent sight!  The crest of the Spangled drongo glinted in the sun, and looked amazing through the spotting scope of Pankaj.

What marvellous colours in the natural world, I thought, even as a white-breasted kingfisher darted from its perch and caught a fish!

Pongal at Goa - on the Cumbarjuem canal

15th January 2013

We packed, left Nature's Nest and headed for the mouth of the Zuari river, from where we were to go on a ferry ride.

It was a hazy morning, and a Brahminy Kite circled lazily overhead before going to rest on one of the buildings.  For some reason it reminded me of the Bosphorus views from Uskudar.  Maybe the network of ferries, and the river economy, maybe the terrace cafes.

We loitered around for a bit,  before we set off in our little ferry, with Mr Kamath as our guide.

Zuari, a tidal river - this I didn't know

I daydreamed as I watched the fishermen in the distance, enveloped in my own silence as desultory snippets of conversation swirled around me.

A goods train crossed the river and snapped me out of my reverie, and yes we needed to answer nature's call before we got on that boat!

We veered off the river into a mangrove-lined canal.  Mr Kamath said this was the Cumbarjuem canal (had never heard of it), and it connected the Zuari with the Mandovi further north.  How amazing!  I came back and checked it out on the map, and sure enough there was this meandering canal between Mandovi in the north and Zuari in the south.

Mandovi is freshwater and Zuari is tidal, so I wonder how it all works.  We saw a couple of lock-like things along the way.  Strangely (but happily), we didn't see much commercial traffic on the river, and as a result saw a LOT of birds!

Kingfishers everywhere, brahminy kites too, parakeets in the trees, cormorants and darters in the water, and greenshanks, curlews and sandpipers of all types at the water's edge.

A terek sandpiper too - all the way from Russia! Large egrets stood stock still as we passed, as did the pond herons and a lone green heron.

But this raptor was what caught our eye!

First up, was this magnificent Osprey, sitting on one of the poles, looking magnificent indeed.  This photo of the fish eating large raptor is taken by Mr Ramanan

So many kinfisher varieties!  This stork-billed gave everyone a lot of poses.  Photo by Mr Ramanan

Strange, but Pongal last year we were at the mangroves as well- at Muthupet.

Photo by Mr Ramanan

Mangroves

Under the bridge and back on the Zuari

Photo by Mr Ramanan.  Peregrine falcon! The fastest member of the animal kingdom!  But there it sat so innocuously, high up, under the bridge.  Sadly, I did not witness its fantastic and legendary swoop - supposedly goes into a dive @380 kms/hr!!  Check out some youtube videos on these birds.

Further down the river, and there were a series of poles each with a tern perched on them, bobbing madly in the tide!

Then we headed back to shore, hungry for more than the puffs we could muster for breakfast!

On to Maina lake.

We drove through the city and little byelanes to come across this picturesque urban lake, filled with ducks!

I gazed at the water lilies, as the whistling teals flew by announcing our presence!

On the other side of the road was this vast expanse of paddy.  A delightful green and I watched the farmers at work in the distnace.

It was very warm by now, midday, and we all headed for lunch, which was pretty disappointing, and then off to the airport making our long way home.

Pongal at Goa - Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary & Mollem National Park

Pictures from others who came on the trip:

The MNS Facebook photo album

Pongal at Goa - the Mahadev temple at Tamdi Surla

The river that flows by the side

At the edge of the Tamdi Surla sanctuary is the 12th century Mahadev temple.  This was where we came on our first evening at Goa, and subsequently another day too.

The first evening, we skirted the temple and did some birding in the forests around.  On the second visit, we visted the temple and trekked up to the upper parts of the river, in search of butterflies!

As I read the blue ASI board below, I once again realised how poor my history is!  So who were these Kadamba kings who supposedly built this temple that survived the Goa inquisition by virtue of being tucked away in this little wooded corner of Goa?

I was intrigued to learn on my return that they were the first rulers to use Kannada as an official language for administration!  The rulers before them, in Karnataka, were all from elsewhere it seems and so, Sanskrit was the mode of communication thus far.

The temple, viewed from the side.  It is still used for worship, and there is a lingam inside.

I was fascinated at the perfection of the circular pillars

Mayurasharman is believed to be the founder of this dynasty, earning his spurs by battling the Pallavas, and winning at Srisailam. (I read this in the Wikipedia page.)

They were Hindus to begin with, some later kings moving in to Jainism.

The Kadamba style of architecture is characterised by these temple shikaras, which are rather plain.

The material is basalt.

Amazing work on the ceiling

I particularly liked this bit.  If you click on the picture, you will appreciate it in more detail.  I wonder whether they were painted in the old days.

The view looking into the sanctum, where there is a lingam.  Legend has it that this has always been an abode for a king cobra.  I am glad I didn't know that earlier.  I would not have ventured in! There was a carving of a cobra on one of the panels too.

Beautiful carvings everywhere

The temple is ringed by hills, and there is an air of tranquility in the evenings, as the sun sets.  Supposedly, as the first rays come from the east, over the mountains, they light up the lingam.

Another piece of beautiful carving

The side of the shikara

As we re-crossed the bridge to head back, I was struck by this large fig tree on the banks of the river.  Ficus mysorensis, probably nurturing an entire ecosystem here, as all fig trees do.

Pongal at Goa - getting there

11th Jan 2013

Our aim was to get on the 2pm Vasco express bound for Kullem, Goa. This was my first visit ever to this western state, and no, we were not headed for the famed Goan beaches, but to the foothills of the Western Ghats and the Bhagawan Mahaveer Sanctuary. As usual, the getting-on-the-train itself was an event in itself, with us being waitlisted until the last day. Finally, the group of nine that we were in our coach had six berths, 2RACs and one WL who could travel because the other two on her ticket were confirmed!

So, we learnt something new about bookings and reservations on the Indian Railways, as we set out via KR Puram, Hubli and Dharwad, and then on to these unfamiliar names - Londa, Castle Rock and our destination Kullem!!
View Larger Map

What a nice name I thought! 12th Jan, and chugging along in the ghats as we crossed into Goa from Karnataka.

Beautiful, forested mountains brought us all to the doors of the carriage to enjoy the cool air as well.

Our fellow companions included a whole band of little kids, first there seemed to be only a couple of them, then their tribe grew to half a dozen, and by midday, it was close to a dozen, as they ran up and down the corridors trying to amuse themselves.

One little girl was rather distraught and kept yelling, "papa", for her dad at the top of her voice.  The problem was that her dad had a reservation in the next compartment, and she did not look kindly on this forced separation from her beloved papa!

Our favourite was the chubby little fellow who insisted on spreading jam on his bread adn following the other older kids around!  There was a Lay's chips packet "war",  which resulted in the battlefield being spattered with chips, shrugged shoulders and crunches under feet! The kids lost their charm at this point!!

The Dudhsagar falls - a little rivulet now.  Regular passengers on this route remarked that in season, the spray from the falls can be felt in the train!

Another view, as we went around the falls

Several tunnels along the way too

Always good to reconnect with the great Indian train journey, I mused, as I looked at the green hills that passed by.

It was close to noon by the time we arrived at our station, having enjoyed Dharwad pedas and freeh green channa-in-the-pod from the hawkers who got on and off.  Much better than the railway food of ghastly idlis and dosais we had for breakfast.

A short ride in the tempo traveller with Syed and we were at Nature's Nest, Goa!

The resort is located in a coconut, banana and betel nut estate

The place is filled with these powder puff shrubs, which attract sunbirds, bulbuls and parakeets, 

The dining room, where we had our meals.  We arrived for a delicious lunch with a wonderful dhal and vegetable gravy, Goan style.  The food was fresh and yum, though I must admit on day three I was a bit tired of the overdose of coconut milk!

The row of cottages

Our cottage - kaner.  Kaner is the Goan name for the Yellow Oleander

We settled in and wandered around the campus, saw a flying lizard, dipped our feet in the little spring pool they have, and after evening tea, we set off for our first outing to the Tamdi Surla temple area.