Hello there, we meet again! Maybe it was a stroke of fortune or maybe the fact that another adventure lay in store for me beginning from today evening (it's 05:35 pm as i write and at the stroke of midnight, i set out on yet another adventure!)
As you might recollect or let me remind you, we were at Alibaug and the ferry had landed us safely at the port of Mandwa. From here was a 45 minute drive across fields, pastures and scrubland into the town of Alibaug where our destination was located! We were to reach here by bus, whose fare was covered in our ferry fare.
There wasn't much excitement in the bus except that the passengers got a wee bit wild when the driver refused to start the bus on time. The crowd was composed mainly of locals and most knew each other quite well. The tourist crowds were yet to come.
Upon reaching Alibaug, the next task was to find an alternate means of transport to Secret Beach. Please remember if you ask the rickshaw driver to take you to exotic places in a village, he'd charge you a price which would be more than a day's earning for one trip. "Sahib, nobody goes to such places. How the fuck can i get a return fare?" he'd state quietly or heatedly depending on his disposition. Our chappie first quoted 100 rupees and refused to haggle. When we turned our backs, he was ready to drop us off for 90, but Ashutosh was sure of finding cheaper fares.
II. Getting there...
We finally found a ten seater rickshaw which actually carried more than 10 at one go and was ready to take us as far as the nearest bus stop to Secret Beach. We thought we're ready to start when the engine ran cold! "WTF, someone's got to get off and give her a push!" exclaimed the rickshaw driver rather non-chalantly. I was right next to the driver so i had to get off like it or not, but then i stepped out gingerly eager to get started, and what is it that i see?
I'm the only one who's ready to push a car full of 16 homo sapiens in all stages of life, from infantile to the senile! A bit of strong language and a kick on the arse of the rickshaw got out a few toughs who rolled up their sleeves for business!
"Heave ho, heave ho, heave ho; and off we go!!!"
We finally arrived at the bus stop and a two kilometer walk got us there. The villages surrounding the beach were still rustic and maintained their old world charm. "Arre, photo kadha na?" called out the kids who hadn't seen something of the likes of my digi SLR ever. For those not conversant with the local lingo, the kids wanted me to photograph them!
III. Birds abound!
It was a real shock when i got my first glimpse of Secret Beach! Not a single feather in sight, forget the birds! Closer inspection revealed there were a few birds but scattered all over the dark brown sands of the beach. On one side lay the terns and gulls in numbers i didn't bother counting. They appeared like a thick white swathe across the sands, so you can well imagine how many were there! And on the other side were dismal flocks of waders scattered as small dots on the beach.
"We're not going home empty handed boys" And so we set out on our quest for those elusive feathered folk who had come all the way from Europe and the Caspian Sea.
We were not far before the first of these little visitors came into view, and within shooting distance. "Click, click, click!" The camera's trigger knew no rest that day, and photograph followed after photograph!
And then it happened all of a sudden, out of the blue! The huge white swathe had become a white storm! Birds were shrieking and squawking in unison and scattering in all directions. What could've caused such a commotion? We were still far away from their sights! And then the reason for the commotion made itself visible. A juvenile Brahminy Kite had attacked the flock.
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| The Brahminy Kite closes in for the kill! |
For the un-initiated, a Brahminy Kite is a fish eating bird of prey but not averse to Sea Gull or Tern either. The juvenile was looking for an easy brunch, but the crowd proved to be too much for him to handle, and he soon quit the chase content to pick crabs on the sands!
After this little excitement, there was a brief lull before the flock started up again; and this time we were the reason for the excitement. I had sneaked up close to them, but my camera's shutter click was audible enough to unleash Hell!
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| Sea Gulls |
Vagrant here refers to a bird which is found in a place outside it's known territory of distribution. And there were more than a few such vagrants on that day!
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| Sandwich Tern |
IV. Something fishy!
Enough birding for now, time for some refreshments. We headed to the best place in town for lunch! Alibaug was famous for one thing! Fish, fish and lots of fish!
After a round of Surmai fry, Surmai curry, Oyster curry and chicken curry washed down with copious glasses of sol kadhi. Sol Kadhi is a spiced drink prepared from coconut milk and other spices.
After all this, we were hardly able to waddle!
V. Return home!
After a round of ice cream to add as dessert, we decided to call it a day! The return journey was not much eventful except for a heckled husband who was trying to placate his irate wife on the ferry!
And so with the fading rays of the sun, we concluded our adventure for the day tired but triumphant!
Adieos, until we meet again, with another adventure!
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