Kaas Plateau

We were a group of 8 Naturalists and ardent lovers of Kaas Plateau the  Nature's gift from Pune on a packaged tour of Kaas Plateau on Friday (13-9-2013) with "Woodpeckers" group of Pune . " Shri Jayant Deshpande as our motivator and leader of the group who has a commendable knowledge about Kaas Plateau and of the vibrant and vivid coloured flowers and their scientific names..!We all assembled at Sarasbuag-Pune at the appointed time of 06.15 AM..After the initial orientation and introduction of the members,We started our Journey to the wonderful & Magnificent destination..called Kaas Plateau.

On our way we stopped for our breakfast at a dabba and had a sumptuous yummy & tasty breakfast and inevitable “Chai” and resumed our onward journey.

Our group consists of people from various fields ,,..Doctors..Dr.Rohan Sharma,Ship Building Engineer Jayant Deshpande ,an ardent young college student Mr.Viraj who is as young as 19 years but he is literally vast a store house of knowledge of Kaas..and a very vibrant business couple Vinod Sharma "Shivani"

 

We reached the Kaas around 10.45 am and after meeting the initial payment regularities etc at the check post..we started our mose awaited excited exploration of the Nature's beauty .

Kaas is approximately 140 Kms from Pune by road travel on the "NH4 Highway". The Plateau is situated at an altitude of 1200 meters(3900 ft) in the Satara district of Maharashtra , approximately 22 Kms from the city of Satara.

We the woodpeckers team were all flaberghasted &  astounded of the beauty of the blanket of various hues of colours on the vast plain..of the Kaas surface..as far as our eyes can see..it is a visula delight indeed.

The area of Kaas plateau where the "Wild Flowering" takes place is approx 1000 hectares and receives approx 2000 to 2500 mm of rainfall during the monsoon months , most of the rainwater being drained through the porous laterite(Jambha) rock. A thin layer of top soil supports vegetation only during the monsoon season on this small plateau , beginning in June with evergreen grass and ending in October. The peak flowering season is during the months of August and September and phases of October hence giving Kaas Plateau its unique place as Maharashtra's plateau of flowers.In June 2012 "Kaas Plateau" was declared a "World Heritage Site" by "U.N.E.S.C.O".

During our visit we were all mesmerised and blessed to view a carpet of pink, yellow and white flowers, absolutely amazing as these were pure wild plants and not an artificially landscaped garden... A short distance from the plateau of flowers is the Kaas lake which provides water to the city of Satara .It's only in Monsoon that this unique flowering occurs on the plateau.

The Kaas Plateau also known as the "Kaas Pathar" which is situated in the Western Ghat Sahyadri range, 22 kilometers from Satara city in Maharashtra state of India. The name Kaas originates from Kaasa tree (Elaeocarpus glandulosus). Leaves of this tree turn green to red as they mature. It gets white flowers only for 15 days in the month of March.
The area of plateau is approximately 1,000 hectars.
The plateau is full of wild flowers during the months of August and September. These flowers bloom on their own and stay for about 2–3 weeks (depending on the monsoon and other weather factors). Recently it has been declared as Biodiversity World heritage site by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). It has an small lake nearby, as you are driving down the curves climbing down from Kaas Plateau you see a sign on left saying - Kaas Talav. It is a natural tranquil Kaas lake surrounded by dense forests. To the left of the lake lies Sajjangad fort and Kanher Dam is to the right. It is a famous picnic spot with the locals. The place has more than 850 different species of flowers and other plants including Orchids, Karvy and carnivorous plants such as Drosera Indica. This falls under the Sahyadri Sub Cluster of Western Ghats which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary

Mayureswar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Tehsil Baramati in Pune district inMaharashtra, India. It is 72 Km from Pune and 35 Km from Daund.
The sanctuary contains deciduous forest with interspersed grasslands. Main species of plants present at the sanctuary include Acacia catechu (Khair), Acacia sp (Hivar),Dalbergia latifolia (Sisoo), Ziziphus mauritiana (Bor), Carissa opasa, Alysicarpus bupleurifolius, Cyathocline purpurea, Eriocauion diane, Merremia marginata,Cucumis melo, Cyperus kyllingia, Striaga densiflora and Mereilea minuta. The main animal species found in the refuge are Gazelia (Chinkara), Hyena, Canis lupus (Indian Gray Wolf) and Vulpes bengalesis (Indian Fox).

One fine Sunday morning !my friend Balkrishna Jamdar(Who is an arden, avid & very enthusiastic in pursuit of an interest in wild life )called me  suddenly very early  morning at about 4.30AM  morning and asked me  whether I would like to join him  for Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary visit  and the answer from me  was an instant “yes” with out even second thought from me. So I got up at 3.45 AM and took a auto ride from Hinjewadi and reached Hadapsar at 4:45 AM.Balkrishna was waiting impatiently with his Wagon R  car and we  took Pune-Solapur Highway.

To reach Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary:
Start from Swargate and take Solapur highway.

1. Cross Hadapsar, Manjri etc. Pay Toll at “Loni Kalbhor” Toll plaza and obtain  return receipt of  Rs. 22.50/- 
2. Cross village “Yavat” and travel straight till you reach village called “Chowphule”.
3. From this junction, take right turn to go to village “Supe”. Drive approx 5-6 Kms. After crossing a small ghat you will reach “Supe”
4. From “Supe”. Take right hand road and drive more 2 Kms, and  on right side there is an arch with "Mayureshwar  sanctuary.)written on the board.
5. You can park your vehicle at check post as vehicles are not allowed inside.
6. Total distance is approx 70 Km.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   As we explored the sanctuary, we saw varieties of birds like Eurasian Collared Dove, White-throated Kingfisher, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Shrike, Laughing Dove, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Indian Silverbills, Eagle, Babblers, etc. We waited at few places to capture them. The landscapes too were beautiful.
   Finally Indian Gazelle a.k.a. Chinkara gave us its first glimpse. I took out my binos and watched them. Then we found few more herds of Chinkaras. They were very shy and fast-runners, and we could not click much satisfactory snaps. After walk of 3-4 Kms we reached ‘Machaan’. We climbed up and the view from top was awesome. We did spot few more herds from top and enjoyed watching them. We rested there for half an hour and munched apples. We decided to take different route while returning.
   And our wise decision paid-off, a Chinkara itself came on the hilltop to check us out. It was really wonderful experience. We clicked few snaps. Later on, we found many Chinkara herds on the way back.
   I was really happy to see Indian Gazelle in wild. Their glimpses themselves are rare and we could see them in numbers. .
   We started back after 4 pm  after havind had a nice sumptous lunch Bakri and very tasty fish curry and thak.