November 24, 2008

life in general: a trek to highest point in bombay's forest area

Outdoors is a great place to be in. If you are living in an Indian urban nightmare, outdoor activity also provides you with a chance to get away from your home/flat that has more likely than not to have toxic materials (like asbestos where labourers also suffer heavily) & toxic chemicals used during the construction that would be banned in other countries that India & China claim to be outpacing in terms of economic growth.
So (as I do sometimes occasionally, sometimes frequently) I was out yesterday from morning to afternoon, as a part of a Bombay Natural History Society-organised trek to the highest point of the Borivli National Park's designated forest area.
From the Park's Borivli-side main gate, we went inside by a vehicle on a 4 km-road to Kanheri Caves point and from that point we (there were about 40 of us in the group) trekked a distance of about 3.5 kms up to the highest point. I could motivate my 16-year nephew, Rahul, to join me for this trek. It was a first for him and he enjoyed it thanks to his positive approach and his damn good stamina!
Below are some pics: (top left and top right ones are mid-way through the trek, the top right one shows tulsi lake & vihar lake, the top left one has me with a ruffled-hair look), bottom left and bottom right pics are at the end-point of the trek, bottom left pic has my nephew in it with tulsi lake in the background). The pics are followed by a wikimapia snapshot of the area (the yellow circle is where we trekked and the green circle is where my home is, you can see as the bird flies it is very near but we are not birds so I have to go north to borivli by road, enter the Park gate and come south again). Click on a pic to see it enlarged and clearer.






4 comments:

Janhavi said...

wow thats cool ya :) now i know where to go treking in mumbai :D

Ashish said...

Hey Rajesh, nice post... SGNP is a gift too precious for the city to appreciate!

Rajesh Gajra said...

Yep, Janhavi! But if you are staying at your parents home in Bhiwandi then are better trekking spots near that. But you are always welcome to Bombay! Raj Thackeray is not against Delhi-residing Maharashtrians from visiting 'Tyanchi Mumbai'!

Rajesh Gajra said...

Yep, Ashish. Bombay really is lucky to have this precious gift right within its confines. Lets hope the Hiranandanis, Thakurs, Evershines, Rahejas, Universal Builders, etc don't steal this gift from Bombay in the near future.