Dandeli and Goa

We were to get home our brand new Maruti Swift on Friday and leave early Saturday morning for Goa via Dandeli. We dint get the car till late evening and were pondering whether we should take the other car or postpone the trip by a day. But lady luck favoured us and the car finally came home late night!

We hit the road early morning to beat the traffic, took the Mysore road and breakfasted at Kamat – our usual stopover when we take the Mysore road. Parts of the newly built highway were awesome, but since it was a new car, we couldn’t jam on the accelerator :-( We lost our way and finally had to take a shorter route but through the jungle! The guard at the entrance warned us of elephant herds. We had thought we would just blink the headlight to scare away the elephant. But apparently, you are not supposed to do that, you are not even supposed to move. Just stay still. Not a sound, not even a whisper. We were all a little excited and a little nervous! A small sound and Vandana screams – hey Lion, hey elephant and scared the day light out of the rest of us! To make it worse, the road was so bad, we were driving at 5 Km / Hr. But the fear caused our adrenaline to rush and we were sitting on the edge of our seat!

Fortunately nothing untoward happened and we reach the Kali camp in the middle of the night. The gate was locked – we kept screaming but no one in sight. We got worried coz it was in the middle of the jungle and there were no hotels in the vicinity. Shailesh then climbed the gate over to the other side and woke up the guard. They were expecting us in the early evening and since it got late they thought we dropped out. We finally got into our tents and slept very soundly.

Next day we went white water rafting on the Kali river. At our first rapid, we were all taken by surprise! The water was all over us and we went down a good 3 to 4 feet! Except for me, this was the first time for everyone. So they were all trying hard to row and we were having a tough time synchronizing our rowing. But finally we got the hang of it. A little distance further, the water was still. The river and its surroundings was so serene, peaceful, lush green and tranquil. I am not surprised the place inspired Rabindranath Tagore to write beautiful poetry. By the end of it we were so tired, that we crashed in bed at 5 in the evening and woke up only next morning skipping dinner!

Next day we did a jungle safari and spotted sambhar, elephant, bison, and many deer. The safari was in an open jeep and we loved the feel of gushing wind on our faces, with our hair flowing back and nature’s beauty all around us. We then did a trek in the jungle along with a guide. He took us to this very old cave which had stalactites and stalagmites and weird worms all over the floor. Yuck! The calcium deposit on the floor created a cylindrical shape and the locals imagined that to be a naturally formed Shivling and made a temple there! While walking back, the guide said that elephants can go down a very steep slope that we too cannot – apparently their heavy weight kinda helps them balance.

When I am amidst nature, mountains, greenery, rivers and streams, I get a sense of “inner happiness” as they call it. All problems fade away, all worries disappear and what remains is peace and calm. I need to rejuvenate myself in nature every once in a while.

Next day we reached Goa. We stayed in Candolim very near the Taj property. Dinner at Little Italy was yummilicious! The place has a huge tree in the middle around which tables are arranged. The tree has strategically placed lights that give a very romantic feel to the place. The architecture of the place is Greek and that adds to the ambience of the place.

We did the usual stuff that people do in Goa – laze around. Ofcourse we did the churches too and tried out some Goan cuisine in Panaji. We drove around, taking in the laid back Goan life and music. We tried out water scooter at Calangute and that was fun! Maneuvering the scooter on the Arabian sea all by myself and doing a good job of it gave me a high!

Goa is a place where people keep wanting to go back to. But I am not a beach person. I am a forest, river and mountain person. So I am going back to Dandeli!