Riding Through Chandor

The villages in this part of Goa have still retained their character in the face of rapidly changing Goan landscape. Riding through Curtorim, Maina and Chandor is a delightful expereince. The smooth and flat roads cut through fields and villages. Old houses with Portuguese Architecture give a special character to this region. At the age of 350 years, Goa's largest and India's 4th largest house , belonging to Menezes Braganza is the pride of Chandor.....

   Chandor Church

 

  The Front View of Braganza House

The Braganza House

The Malabar Giant Squirrel

The Malabar Giant Squirrel - this beauty is endemic to western ghats. Common, but rarely seen as it hops on the branches high up in the dense canopy.

On my recent visit to Bondla Zoo, I was in for surprise, this squirrel was feeding on the shoots of some creeper very close to the ground, oblivious to the OOhs and aaaahhhs of the visitors just few feet away.

Ride To Karmali Lake

1.2 at the lake
Karmali Lake is birders delight. The lake is situated 10Kms from Goa's capital, Panaji. During the winter more than 20 water bird species land on the lake to feed.

On 29th November I rode to the lake on my 3 months old TREK 1.2 road bike, covering a distance of 23Kms one way from my home town Ponda.

The morning ride was fantastic, I reached the lake at 8.15am and spent an hour listening to the shrill whistles of Lesser Whistling Ducks. Gull Billed Terns swiftly flew in circles close to the water surface. A lone Marsh Harrier Cruised along attempting to catch its breakfast. More species will land by end of December.

I could only spot Purple Moorhens, Bronze Winged Jacana, Pheasant Tailed Jacana, Large Egret, Darter,


Details of the Birds found on the lake Put up by Forest Dept Goa


Purple Moorhen


Bronze Winged Jacana


Lesser Whistling Ducks

Buying Trek 1.2, the process and the maiden ride story

Sorry for poor image quality!

Being on the forum like Bikeszone can be hazardous! ya…. I mean it…… reading all those posts by the bloxxx road bikers and all… I had to get a road bike for myself …… there is a huge 44K + hole in my pocket now….haaaa ha… (but its worth it………!).

After beating the trails and the tarmac (in equal proportion) for couple of years on TREK 3700 mountain bike, was it time for me to move on in a different direction? there was no real need to move in different direction! But hey I already mentioned the hazardous effect of being a member of the cycling forum ……I convinced myself that this was the right time to move on in …..

Digging the posts on Bikeszone and the likes for a couple of months, I had LA Urbano, Firefox 2200 and 0050, Merida 880 24 and 901,Trek 1.5 and 1.2, Bianchi C2C Via Nirone on my short list

How TREK 1.2 won…….

My Budget – 45K to 50K

What I wanted in a road bike?

1.Pretty low gear ratios, because the terrain where I ride is all hilly and low gears would be good for touring.

2. Provision for racks and panniers

3. Frame size -50cms

The Selection……

1. The LA URBANO

Pros-price 21,000

Cons –Spec details not available no compact or triple option, no reviews available about the material and ride quality, was locally available only against the order

2. FireFox 2200 and 0050

Pros – Price 24,000 and 15,000 respectively

Cons – No Triple or Compact option, lot of riveiws on poor quality material and components, I had a look at 2200 at LBS it does look good, however the quality and the weight (the weight is almost near to my MTB))held me back…

3. Merida 880 24 and 901

The 880 24

Pros – Price 38,000, Triple 52/42/30 and 11-24, looks good, Merida quality, very good review on Bike Radar

Cons – No provision for racks

The 901

Pros – price 45000, Merida quality, good reviews

Cons – No Triple or Compact option, No provision for racks

4. Bianchi C2C Via Nirone

55,000 beyond my budget!

5. TREK 1.2 and 1.5

Trek 1.5

Pros – Price 48,000, compact 50/34, TREK quality, Carbon forks, light weight (9.25Kg)

Cons – no provision for racks

Trek 1.2

Pros – Price 41,425, compact 50/34, TREK quality, Carbon forks, light weight (9.625Kg), Provision for racks

Cons – Sora group set ….. but hey the other things fit my bill

Discussed with others on the forum (special thanks to RNair) and finally decided to go for 1.2,

Contacted Rohan (Bums On the saddle) and placed the order for 1.2, My friend Tulbir who works in Bangalore picked the bike from BOTS and couriered through GATI to Goa. The courier charges roughly 2000/- and no scratches or other damage in the transit. Thanks Rohan and Tulbir!

The bike was delivered on 19^th september. Assembled the bike in 30minutes, only the front derailer needed little tuning, sadly could not go on test ride due to prior commitments. No ride on the following day (20^th) it rained the whole day.

The maiden ride

Finally today morning I went out test riding and did 16Kms loop.

This bike reminded the good ol’ college days, when I rode the Atlas concord (Blue color single speed). The bike felt good and comfy! Fits me really well.

After cruising along for a couple of kilometers, enjoying the feel of light weight frame, slim rubbers and the drop handle bars I picked up the speed……………………………………..only to slow down . . . . after a kilometer to go over the bumpy potholed section and again……………………………….

I have not installed the cyclo comp yet, so do not know what top speed I reached. The bike really aaccceeelerrratttteeesss man! Not only I could pick up the speed quickly, but also I could hold on constant high speeed for much longer time compared to the MTB.

I rode the two steep climbs with ease (I would struggle climbing these on 3700 with much lower gear ratio).

My only concern is the Braking Power of this bike, I was really scared to go full speed on the slopes. After expereincing the phenomenal power of V brakes, these ones come across as very weak (any suggestions on increasing the Braking Power?)

Over all a good ride. I am already planning for a century ride, coming weekend!

Am I a convert (MTB to Road bike)?

Hell no! not an absolute one! Mountain bike for the thrill on the trails And road bike for speed on tarmac, I am gonna enjoy best of both the worlds….

Arrival of my road bike TREK 1.2

Today (19/09/09) At 12.15pm



10 minutes later



30minutes later



First ride impressions and review.... coming soon.......

Chorla

Standing at the edge of the cliff and watching the water fall from great heights into the green valley is the experience I relive, year after year. Number of water falls come alive during the monsoons in the ghats may it be Anmod or Tilari or Chorla.............

Taming the Fire

Firing is the crucial stage in the process of clay modeling and pottery. When I started off learning clay modeling I would often consult experienced potters regarding the firing process and I remember Valentino Gasper an experienced clay artist from Verna (Goa) who once told me that FIRING demands ‘sweat and blood’. Sweat part I could understand but not the blood part, at least not then!

The Kiln is sealed and temperature probe is place

Now, I do understand the blood part! This is experienced when the Kiln is opened the next day of firing, as I anxiously remove the bricks on my kiln and the fired pots and sculptures come into view my eyes dart from one pot to another and slowly the blood starts to curdle when I notice a lot of the pots have cracks on them. I loose at least 4 out of 10 pots per firing, and coincidentally the best pots are the ones that have lots of cracks, blood……..

Sweat only pots

The firing process takes anywhere between 8 hours to several days, depending on the type and size of the kiln. The kiln that I use is Fast Fire Wood Kiln and it can reach temperature of 1200^OC in 8 hours, increasing the temperature gradually is the skill that has to be mastered, else loose blood the next day!!!!!!!!

Sweat and Blood pots ha ha.....

I have fired my Kiln only four times in two years, controlling the gradual increase of temperature in this kiln is a tough task, as the name suggests it is meant for rapid increase in temperature and I think this is the cause of pots cracking! I am looking out for alternative designs of kilns……to save my blood…..

An Encounter With The Handsome Beast

I am hooked to mountain biking! In the past year I have discovered some nice trails in the hills around my hometown Ponda (Goa). The Bondla sanctuary which is 18Kms and Mollem National park which is 30 Kms from Ponda are fantastic places to explore on your mountain bike. However it's not practical to ride to the sanctuaries every now and then. The trails in the surrounding hills is where I ride every alternate evening.

Now, am addicted to riding my mountain bike on the trail that I discovered recently. The trail passes through a thickly wooded valley and is approximately 5 to 6 Kms in length.

The forest here is rich in wildlife and the evidence in the form of droppings is ample along the trail. On this very trail I had two thrilling wild encounters.

Wild Encounter Episode 1
A week ago I started from home at 4.30pm and reached the trail entrance after riding 6kms on the tar road. The trail starts off perpendicular to the road at the top of a hill and then rolls down through the valley. After climbing a short but steep incline on the trail I stopped for a drink, as I put the water bottle to my mouth I saw a movement in the woods and heard heavy rustling of dried leaves, before I realized what was happening two huge Gaur (Indian Bison) Bulls jumped on the trail just 10meters away from where I was standing. I dropped the water bottle, laid the cycle on the ground and dropped myself to crouching position (I do not know why I did this). The bulls were really huge with heavy, fantastic curvy muscles that would put any Mr. universe to shame. The bulls stared intently for few seconds and then disappeared into the woods on the other side of the trail. As soon as the bulls disappeared a calf and a female jumped on the trail and without looking in either direction followed the bulls into the woods. I stayed in my position expecting more members of the herd to follow. But none came. After waiting for 3 to 4 minutes I got up and continued on the trail. I rode along gently and cautiously.

This Where I Almost Bumped In To The Beast

Wild Encounter Episode 2
With great expectations I returned to the trail everyday, but I encountered only Grey Hare and Grey Jungle Fowl. I concluded that the Gaurs had trailed off from the Mollem Sanctuary (since the jungle in this area is connected with the sanctuary), and would never show up again. However, today I was in for a shock! As usual after doing the initial climb I started rolling down the trail, as the bike picked up the speed I concentrated on the surface a little ahead on the trail, a little ahead there is bend in the trail which I enjoy maneuvering as Just round the bend I almost bumped yessss…. bumped into a massive Gaur bull. The bull gave a loud, sharp hissing call and disappeared into the woods. In a fraction of second I had lifted the bike done 180 degrees about turn and ran up for my life. After running for about 20 meters I stopped and looked back, there was no sign of the bull. Leaving the bike behind I retraced the steps back to the spot and scanned the area where the bull had disappeared, there, deeper inside he was standing and staring at me, I tried capturing him on my mobile phone camera, but the woods here are thick and the handsome beast was perfectly camouflaged and too far way for the phone camera. I just stood there watching for a while, then the bull moved gently and disappeared in the forest.

In future I have to be really careful riding this trail! and also I have to take care that I do not interfere their transit across the trail. Now I know the approximate time when this herd passes by and will avoid being too close!

A Bird In A Bush.......

"A BIRD IN A BUSH IS WORTH HUNDREDS IN A HAND"

Ahh…. Those Sunday mornings! Binoculars dangling on the chest, eager eyes scanning the dense canopy, ears tensed and receptive, walking in single profile we would trudge along the narrow wooded path. Each one of us from different walks of life coming together on such trips with a sole aim of searching the feathered rarities and hoping to add at least one new name to the ever growing checklist. These trips would last from day break till noon and on some days till sun down.
I wish I could spend every Sunday morning and more, exactly this way! But when I remember the old saying “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride them”, I remain satisfied with my share of such Sundays.

My interest in birds has a childhood connection. I remember my wanderings and explorations around home and school in Mumbai suburbs. The area where we lived was surrounded by wetlands. Banana and Jasmine plantations and paddy fields dotted the landscape.

I would often accompany Mahu – a son of local Warli (Warli is tribe from Thane district in Maharashtra) farmhand, on his crab hunting expeditions. He would walk skillfully through slushy mud, occasionally pouncing on an unsuspecting crab. Mahu was my age and he never attended school, however he had intimate knowledge of plants, birds, snakes and other “lesser” creatures. In his company I learnt a lot.

I vividly remember one afternoon! As we were walking along a narrow irrigation canal, lined with some short, broad leaved plants, Mahu abruptly halted and drew my attention to a particular plant deeper in the bush. Upon moving closer to the plant, I saw a neat leaf cone hanging from one of the branches and inside were two tiny eggs nestled in a straw cup. I stayed riveted to the spot, for, I had never seen anything like that before! Sensing my astonishment Mahu informed that there were many such nests along the canal. He added that “the nests were built by a bird called shimpi” (shimpi is Marathi word for tailor). A few days later he even showed me the bird in action; stitching the edges of the leaf to make a cone. I noticed that the bird used some kind of natural fiber. This was my first close encounter with the fascinating world of birds.

One incident here, I can never forget! Some mornings I would bypass the toilet facility at home and run to a near by stream to answer nature’s call. One morning as I settled on rocky a toilet seat, I heard a melodious whistling from just across the narrow stream. Thinking that there was some one across the stream and that I would be caught in the act, I got up, cleaned and ran back home. Later, when I recounted the incident to my cousin, he broke into feat of laughter. His laughter confused me, on pestering a lot, he told me that no villager ever came to that part of the stream and it was just a bird whistling away. I could not believe him because the whistle sounded like a tune of some popular song. It was years later that I actually saw Malabar whistling Thrush also aptly called ‘idle school boy’ for its carefree whistling song.

These incidents are finely etched into my memory. After I completed schooling, my family moved to Goa. During my college days in Goa, I often volunteered for WWF nature camps and had glimpses of wide variety of bird species of Goa. Birdwatching then, remained restricted to such occasions; it never became full blown interest. Through out college days and later years other ‘youthful’ interests took front seat pushing birdwatching behind.

It was some four years ago that, this interest resurfaced. This time I took it a little more seriously. I bought a pair of binoculars and a couple of field guide books. On weekends I started frequenting Bondla wildlife sanctuary, some 18Kms from my home. The credit for this revival of interest goes to Maruti Chitampalli, Venkatesh Madgulkar and Dr. Salim Ali. The writings of these authors gave a push to my dormant interest in birds. Within few months, my checklist sported 90+ birds’ species

My long time friend Jagdish also joined me on my trips. Together we explored the area around our home town – Ponda (Goa). We became sharply aware of the diversity of avian life in such a small area. We would often narrate our experiences to our friends and to anyone who would listen. As a result, Donald, Hazrat, Paresh, Amit and recently Manoj joined in.

All of us now eagerly wait for those ‘Sunday mornings’. These trips are fun; there is lot of enthusiasm and anticipation. Each one of us gets a ‘high’, every time a new specie is spotted. In short span of time everyone’s eyes have become trained to spot slightest flutter in the thickest of the foliage. Often we would break into arguments regarding the identification of particular specie. Most arguments would be settled after consulting our field guide books, some arguments would continue for a longer time and few for months.

My checklist now sports 200+ bird species; it is nothing to brag about! For Goa is home to more than 420 bird species. I haven’t even reached 50% mark. I do have a long way to go!

Together, we have explored Goa from foot hills of Western Ghats in the east to beaches in North and South and wetlands in between. Names like Southern Trogon, Asian fairy Blue bird, Paradise Flycatcher, Blue Capped Rock Thrush, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle….. now grace our checklist.

Karmali Lake near old Goa is a very special place for bird lovers. Every year as November approaches all of us get restless and eagerly wait for an opportunity to visit the lake. This lake becomes home to many feathered guests like Coot, Combed Duck, Northern Pintail, Cotton Teal, Garganey, Adjutant stork, Black Ibis, White Ibis and many more. The Purple Moorhen, Bronze Winged Jacana, Dabchick and Lesser Whistling Teal are permanent residents of this lake.

We also discovered similar lakes and marshes in South Goa. In the past few years we have noticed that the number of species and number of individuals on Karmali lake is dwindling and their number at these other lakes is on the rise. One reason for this shift could be increase in train traffic on Konkan railway line along the northern edge of the lake. The road traffic on the eastern edge is also on the rise.

Goa is an international tourist destination is well known fact. Every year thousands of foreign and domestic tourists flock to Goa, for six to eight months Goa’s beaches are full of these fun seekers. But, very few people know that every year hundreds of different kind of foreign tourists land in Goa, with a sole aim of Birding. These tourists spend 2 to 4 weeks, busy roaming the length and breadth of Goa in search of tropical bird sp

ecies. One look at their checklists published on internet puts me to shame. In short span of time these people mange to cover more that 50% of our species number. However, there is tremendous apathy and ignorance amongst our people regarding the local environment and wildlife. Industrialization and urbanization are taking its toll, the Goan landscape is changing at alarming rate.

Realizing all this we decided to take our interest and activities to next level, that is, to reach out to people with the aim of creating general interest and awareness regarding our natural wealth and importance of saving the same. In 2007 along with a group of 8 dedicated students I installed a nature club in the college where I teach. Right from the beginning our thrust was on field experience rather than on talks, seminars, slideshows and competitions, though these things do play an important role in larger scheme, nothing can match field experience. With support of college management we purchased 4 pairs of binoculars, a spotting scope and 12X zoom digital camera. The 8 students that I mentioned made a good use of these equipments. The number of photographs they clicked in a year’s time was simply amazing.

The result of this entire work was an exhibition of photographs called ‘Birds and More’. We had 320 photographs on display in the art gallery of Kala Academy, Panaji. The exhibition was a great success, more than 1500 viewers visited the gallery, and this number was far beyond our expectation of 100 viewers. The local news papers and FM radio stations covered the event with great enthusiasm. For those three days (24^th, 25^th and 26^th) of May 2008 we interacted with general public, majority admitted their ignorance regarding the variety of wildlife of Goa. Our photographs opened an entire new facet of Goa for them. We had included the photographs by other nature lovers from the state. Total of 15 photographers contributed to the exhibition. Later the same exhibition was held at various schools, colleges and clubs around Goa.

In near future we are planning to publish a book on Birds of Goa and later maybe a book on Snakes and Odonates too! With the aim of popularizing birdwatching I started a forum on internet called FEATHERTOUCHED (http/:feathertouched.freeforums.org/). The forum has 35 active members.

If not for birdwatching I would have never realized the real meaning of Biodiversity, a term I came across often in books and nature writings but never realized its deeper meaning!

We will have to put in greater and concerted efforts to create not only awareness but a deeper consciousness and build environment friendly culture. One way of doing this would be to encourage outdoor nature related activities like birding and nature study/appreciation.

I do birding, simply because birds fascinate me! However cliché it may sound, I would still say that “a bird is a symbol of freedom, joy and energy “.

Often we come across a sentence “……and I woke up to the chirping and singing of birds….”, used to describe and idyllic morning away from cacophony of city life. Without birds such mornings would be duller and gloomier than the city life.

Death of a Tiger

The discovery of dead tiger in Sattari taluka has brought the pathetic state of Goa's Wildlife into sharp focus. A number of Tiger sightings were reported in this area recently, but the Forest Department like any other Government Department came to life only after this sad incident.

Read the detailed reports by

1. Kaustubh http://solewitness.blogspot.com/

2. Clinton http://klintvaz.blogspot.com/

Do not buy Tata Indica

I repent buying the Tata car!!! http//donotbuytataindica.blogspot.com/ is my step by step account of the frustrating experience with the Car and the sub rate service at Auto Industries Goa Ltd.

Super Lemonade - The Unusual Pillion

For most people, the sole purpose of riding a two wheeler is to get from point A to point B, for some it is a passion, and for few, their innovative approach turns it into means of earning a livelihood.
I spotted this 'SUPER LEMONADE' vendor at a very popular tourist spot - Asia's Largest Table Land in Panchagani, near Mahabaleshwar.

The whole setup looked intriguing to me and out of curiosity I struck up conversation with the vendor. He was delighted to know that his scooter had attracted the attention and readily parted with the information as to how he came up with this idea. He said, It is near impossible to push up the hand cart (generally used for this purpose in other parts) to the table land situated at higher altitude. After much thinking and debating with his friend who happens to be a skilled fabricator, they came up with this idea. It took good imagination and skill to put this machine on the place of pillion seat on the scooter. The sturdy wooden platform carries Ice Shaving machine, water bucket, Ice box and other stuff.

This was the sole lemonade vendor at the spot and he was making brisk business. His unique and innovative idea had payed off!

There are many innovative ideas floating around, such ideas pay off only when put to practice. But making your ideas work for you needs more than just thinking. Recently I stumbled upon this site etpowerofideas. The site showcases a collection of many such simple but unique ideas put to practice.

Cycling through swamps in south Goa

The flatter surface in the west of Goa breaks into hills and then into mountains towards the East. On the western stretch is Sun, Sand, Surf, Fun and Feni and on eastern stretch is Slopes, Climbs, Forests and of course Sun, Fun and Feni.

Much of my cycling is done in the Mountains surrounding my town Ponda. Recently I started venturing towards the south west where the topography is flatter.

For most parts the roads connecting Ponda to Panaji, Margao, Curtorim, Verna and Vasco pass through Khazan land – in short, Khazan land is a swamp land created by flooding waters from the estuaries, Zuari in the south and Mandovi in the north. The water on these lands periodically rise and ebb with the tides.

The locals make a very good use of this rising and ebbing. They have constructed bunds cris - crossing the Khazans. The sluice gates installed at certain points control the flooding of the area. Local people catch prawns, crabs and other sea food here and also grow paddy.

This month I did a number of ride circuits, Ponda – Verna – Ponda and Ponda - Curtorim – Ponda in South Goa, averaging to 40Kms per ride. Flatter landscape means less climbs and hence longer distances covered with ease.

On Ponda - Verna - Ponda circuit I did a couple of rides on the bunds near Lotoulim village. It’s a unique experience to ride on the narrow bunds cutting through the swamps. At high tides the water rises almost to the bund height. On the northern edge of the swamps the bund runs parallel to Zuari River and is lined with Mangroves. One can constantly hear the popping of Mangrove pods. On the ride I spotted a nest of Black kite high up on the massive electric tower erected in the middle of the swamp. I also managed to startle a Couple of Purple Herons, Lone Grey Heron, Small Blue Kingfisher, White Breasted Kingfisher, and Common Sand piper who least expected me while patiently waiting to catch tiny creatures swarming in the shallow waters.

There are less of swamps on Ponda – Curtorim – Ponda route. The road passes through open country side dotted with ponds and lakes. Numbers of white washed chapels sit in the midst of paddy fields. The tiny water canals from Zuari River feed water to these lakes and ponds. Many migratory and resident birds can be seen feeding on the Curtorim Lake.

....

After exhausting but thrilling mountain rides, these rides proved delightful. There are similar rides awaiting in North goa.

Shots from Karmali/Carambolim Lake

The G.V.M.'s B.Ed. college had organised a field trip to Carambolim Lake (Near Old Goa) on 11 January 2009. Paresh and Me played the roll of the guide. It was the first time visit for the 30+ teacher trainies to this lake. In between guiding the students I managed to click some of the water birds that settle here during winter (November to February). The images are from Canon 400D with Sigma 70-300mm lens.

Purple Moorhen (SwampHen)

Purple Moorhen (SwampHen)

Gull Billed Tern

Gull Billed Tern

Eastern Marsh Harrier

Purple Heron

Median Egret

Asian Open Billed Stork