The Karnala Conquest

Yesterday, the Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay organised its first 'official' trip of the year to Karnala Bird Sanctuary, on the Bombay-Goa Highway near Panvel. We hired the 'official' IIT Bombay bus, to take us to Karnala. After a breakfast of 'Pohe' and tea; we began our climb up to the Karnala Fort within the sanctuary. Among us, were experienced trekkers like Arun, Siddharth, and even me! In spite of clear instructions to wear the necessary footwear, some people still showed up in slippers! The climb was arduous for some and many began to give up after walking only a few hundred metres. But the others egged them on. Ojas pulled a muscle and Abhishek fell on his leg, spraining it. He was limping for most of the trek. But Ojas and Abhishek both showed gumption and carried on steadily up the steep trail to the fort. Pappu and Navin were leading the trek and were the first to reach the Fort. I was trekking along with GSec Govind, Cult Secy Bunk, Ashish, Yogendra, Uma, Riddhi and Manoj for most of the while. We used to stop at various spots and soak in the view from my binoculars. Everyone used my binocs to see the sprawling Sanctuary below. The 450 metre Fort is reached through a 4km trail that has many perils along the way. This made it a bit 'risky' as Bunk put it. Due to the hot and humid weather, and inexperience of many of the trekkers, many were gulping down water by the buckets and we ran out of water as soon as we reached the top. Thankfully Arundhati had some water with her to give to Ojas, Siddharth and Abhishek as they at last made it to the top. The first and foremost principle of trekking is: conserve water.

The top of the Fort offered a breathtaking view of the Sanctuary below. The climb back down was more difficult than the climb up, as we had to negotiate some dangerous sections of rock cut steps. The trail was laid with loose stones and mud and that made it quite slippery. Many slipped, me too. But thankfully no one was seriously hurt. After we came down, we had lunch and whiled our time away playing Dumb Charades before we embarked on the journey back to IIT Bombay. Our class played 'Mafia' on the bus, and many of us are now hooked to the game. Poor Abhishek was the only big casualty and was left nursing his terribly sprained leg after we came back. A special mention has to be made about Bibek, who played football till 3am in the night before and trekked with us in spite of running a fever of 100F. Siddharth, Yogendra and Govind showed environmental consciousness as they kept the trail clean by picking up plastic bottles thrown away by others.

Below is a Picasa slideshow of photos of the Karnala trek taken from my cam. The pics taken by Abhishek can be seen on his Picasa site.



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