Sharvani Chandvale
Ok what’s the first thing you’ll do if you have to wake up for a trip at 5 am?
Set an alarm. Simple, right?
Well I did exactly that and went to bed early too the previous night. (Except that I set it up at 5 PM instead of AM🙃)
But thanks to Cookie, our dog, who sleeps during the day and barks during random night hours, I woke up somewhere around 4.30 am.
I hadn’t informed Mom about my plan to venture out so early in the ‘morning’….so getting
“सुबह की गरमागरम चाय” from home was out of question.
And like most sane people, trip excitement didn’t let me sleep again despite waking up so early.
So I set off…alone….in search of tea and in pursuit of my destiny.
Just Kidding 🙂 I was headed to Chorao island, a 40 minute ride from my village in Bicholim, for a nature trail with a company called Soul.Travelling
Bdw my friends won’t believe…but for a change…I reached early for the trip. And they’ll probably faint when they’ll get to know that I’d reached a good 45 minutes prior to the scheduled meet-up time. 😅
………
Fast forward an hour and soon, I found myself seated on an old wooden desk outside a roadside Gaddo (small hotel) in Chorao, situated on the banks of river Mandovi.
I gestured the owner of that Gaddo for a cup of ‘Chaaw’ (tea in Konkani)
I was his ‘bohni’ customer so It didn’t take him long to hand me a cup of glass and through vapors swirling up from the piping-hot Masala chaay in it, I could see a blur object silently cruising through the calm waters of Mandovi and heading to the shore followed soon by a silhouette of a few people rushing towards it.
“Ferry” – The lifeline of Chorao had just arrived from the neighboring island.
………
Mini waves formed at the jetty as the Ferry driver lowered its platform to the ground level, to allow vehicles to come in.
These momentary disturbances caused in the shallow waters attracted a little blue-kingfisher, who was quick to pounce on a pack of sardines gasping for air in the murky waters.
Seconds later, it flew off into the thick mangroves with a decent sized fish in its beak.
I knew these were the same mangroves I would be heading into in a while with the Soul.Traveling team and a few of their guests….in search of more birds.
I kept scanning the mangroves from the gate outside the Salim Ali bird sanctuary in Chorao- set up to protect the many winged creatures nesting in these mangroves.
………
As I turned my attention back to the Ferry, I saw a man, probably in his early 40s, heading to the Ferry while juggling a few plastic cans filled with water.
By now, the Ferry was docked on the jetty for more than 10 minutes and I knew it would leave at any moment.
Yet, he didn’t show any signs of a rushed walk and maintained a slow, steady pace.
Must be due to the heavy cans I thought initially but soon I realized why he was walking so slowly…and why he was carrying those water cans.
He was the maintenance guy on the Ferry who had gone to fetch freshwater for the engines.
Of course the Ferry couldn’t proceed without leaving any of its staff members behind 🙂
Such a stark contrast: A ship floating on trillions of liters of water, yet it needs a few cans of ‘fresh’ water just to keep going.
That made me think….
I live in a remote village surrounded by plenty of forest cover, hilly terrains and right from our backyard I see a variety of birds almost daily…yet I had come here to this place in Chorao.
WHY?
To see the same greenery or see similar birds I see on a daily basis?
No. It has to be something different….
Maybe it’s the ‘fresh’ perspective that I’ve come looking for this far….the perspective which these Soul.Travelling folks have developed roaming around in these mangroves over the years, and which they would share with me too…in today’s trail.
Maybe, just like that Ferry, I need this ‘freshness’ in my life…to keep going.
………
“Hey hi! Pravin” I was greeted by an unfamiliar voice.
“Uh….Pravin right?” – He re-confirmed looking at my confused reaction.
“I’m Omkar…from Soul.Traveling. We spoke on the phone regarding today’s bird watching trail.”
I was surprised as to how he’d recognized me despite 100 odd people gathered at the Jetty.
“Come. Let me introduce you to the other guests who’ve joined us today”
As we walked towards the entrance of Salim Ali Bird sanctuary, I noticed the cool navy blue polo t-shirt he wore with his company logo on the chest.
I’m surely buying one of these tees I told myself as I took a quick snap.
………
There were about 20 guests that day so they split us into 2 groups, assigning 2 volunteers to each group. The group I was part of had people from all age groups from a 9 year old Tayra to a couple probably in their early 50s.
This was not the first time I was walking through these mangroves, yet somehow, it felt unique.
Maybe on previous occasions I was just an ignorant ‘tourist’ who hadn’t paid much attention to the infographics placed on either side of the walkway. The species of mangroves, their significance, the variety of bird species found there…it had a colorful illustration of everything.
And to add to it, this time I had Omkar with me who knew these mangroves like the back of his hand.
All the bird species, their nesting habits, the variety of fish, the migratory birds…he knew everything about them, even their scientific names.
He said he learnt it from the researchers who visit the sanctuary.
I was amazed by his knowledge and curiosity.
………
Around 20 minutes later, we were put into a small diesel engine boat owned and managed by the Goa forest department. (Soul.Travelling has a tie-up with them)
“Well it is NOW that your exploration really begins” Omkar announced to the group as he distributed binoculars. The plan was to circle around the island sanctuary and come back via the same route.
I deliberately sat on the back seat, closer to the Forest guide who was also driving our boat. I didn’t want to miss out on any of the stories 🙂
It was a cloudy day and the waters were still very calm. Plus it was a low tide. A perfect setup to spot birds.
………
Excited cheers turned to hushed whispers as we entered a narrow water channel.
“Look… it’s a little cormorant bird” Our guide pointed to a black bird standing on a bamboo pole with its wings spread. “They do this to dry out as they lack the waterproofing qualities of other water birds.” He added.
It was a comical sight- like watching a skinny guy wear an oversized blazer.
We spent a good 20 minutes watching the whole scene and left when the bird flapped away uttering a strange cry.
A little later we saw a flock of Egret birds (or ‘Bagula’ in Hindi) and then, as we went deeper and deeper, the island really started showing its colors…quite literally too.
This sanctuary has been described as a bird watching paradise in the Goa Tourism brochure and rightly so. We were surrounded by plenty of colorful birds-both local as well as migratory.
………
Ok try to picture this:
“It’s a foggy morning…
You are seated in a tiny boat cutting through the mist with thick mangroves on one side and endless blue skies on the other. It’s a crowded boat yet there’s dead silence. All eyes fixed on a fishing eagle circling the shallow waters trying to lock its target- most likely a fish.
Everyone’s waiting with bated breath, to witness the drama that’s about to unfold. For a few seconds, everything’s absolutely still….and then, with lightning speed, the Eagle swoops down, drops its feet and pounces on to a fine silver fish.”
If this excites you, go sign-up for Soul Travelling’s Chorao Island trail NOW.
Bdw…that reminds me. Where’s my kingfisher?
It had been more than an hour since we’d ventured into these channels and were quite lucky as well to spot dozens of birds. Yet my eyes longed for that little blue kingfisher….the one I’d seen in the morning.
………
The boat then entered open waters, away from the island.
I turned to our Forest guide to check if it was the low tide that forced us to drive away. He just smiled and pointed to a white building on the other side of the river.
