26th March 2016, 11:08
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| |
|  (5)
Thanks
|
| |
|
26th March 2016, 12:13
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Day minus 1: I left office at 3:30 pm on Thu, 10 Mar 2016. Reached Pune in about 4 hrs. Arrived in Pune to find a overcharged group just raring to go. Before sleeping, all want to know if they should get up at 4 or 5 am! Huge disappointment all around when I declare that the car is booked for 9 am and we depart at 10 am or so! I have to convince them that we will reach with a lot of time to spare – not to worry! Day 1: The car from Zoomcar arrives at 9:00 am! It is organized by the Baner Road branch. It is a W6. However, their own car has gone to Mumbai airport the previous day and not come back. I get a ‘borrowed’ car from some other branch. It has done about 47,000 km. There are dents and scratches all over. The third row seats are ‘sunk’. Ouch! The driver is Mani (from Manipur). He admits that the left side doors are rattling slightly. Two of the hub caps are missing. But, he says, the functioning is good. I decide not to bother. I want the trip to be good – that’s all! The paper work is done quickly. I do the online process too. The diesel is about 60% only! I have no idea if this will last us 450~500 km. He says it will. The MID says 433 km range. Ouch! Double ouch!! I tell him that I will prefer to fill her up.         The family and Spartan luggage are loaded up in the car. I am driving, Manasi is riding shotgun, my wife and her parents sit in the middle row and Kirti and luggage pile up in the third row. We head for the HP pump in Gaikwad Nagar. Now starts the fun! There are two vehicles in front of us. While they are filling up, I search for ways to open the tank lid. I reach the pump and still blank. My wife says – the attendant will know. We know the attendants at this pump – we are regularly filling our cars there since it started. All of them confidently showed us where it should be – low down right had side of the driver. Surprise surprise – only the bonnet opening lever is present. I quickly called up Mani the Zoomcar driver. He describes a location above the bonnet opening lever. I find an empty slot there. Oh no!! (I am sorry, in all the excitement, I forgot to take photos) Lot of friendly drivers of other cars collected to help. After a lot of R&D, nobody could find the lever. So we drove the car out of the queue – so that others could fill up. By now we had a queue of 4~5 cars behind us – mainly taxis. To their credit we did not hear any impatient honks. In fact most of them were willing to help. I made another call to Mani. He called up the original guy of this car. Then he calls back and says there is another button if you open the rear door. Just then a guy in a grey XUV fills up. He comes up and shows us this emergency feature. Hey presto – we have the diesel tank lid opened! We can’t thank the guy enough. The pump guys gave us priority and we backed up and filled up. Bill Rs2,230. The range on the MID shot up to some figure about 720 km. The friendly XUV guy says that this is wrong. He said that the car will go in excess of 800 km. According to him, there was no need to fill her up for a Kokan trip. According to him, the 433 km range shown on the MID would have been closer to 600 km due to open roads. Anyway, we are set. The time is almost 11 am! We are running 1 hour late! We take off. Google Maps on my mobile help us get out of the city traffic. We make slow progress. The car performed very well. It took me a few kms to become one with the beast. We encountered some traffic even when we were out of the city area and the roads were narrow. Overtaking was real smooth – as and when we got space on mostly one-lane-per-side-no-dividers roads. One interesting observation was that the car had a tendency to stall in 2nd gear. I got used to it after some time and changed gears to/from 2nd appropriately. Experts can comment if this is normal. Later when my wife drove, she faced the exact same issue. Later, the weather outside got real hot. The MID started to show temperatures outside 35+ C. And surprisingly, the inside started to get hot too! After driving for about half an hour in hot condition, my family started to crib. Please note – they are very flexible and crib only when the issue gets serious. I stopped on the side and checked everything I could think of. There are so many buttons on the console! I found the AC button “Auto” was OFF! I had definitely put it ON. Anyway, I put it ON. Hey PRESTO! Suddenly everyone was chilled! We took off again. After we climbed down the famous Tamhini Ghat, we stopped at a joint and had simple vegetarian meal. Due to the heat, I was the only person who had a full Thali. (Note: I am always hungry.) The others had Dal-Khichadi. The food was good. We closed up with beautiful Tak (Chach/buttermilk). Then we drove down and touched the highway (Mumbai Goa). A short smooth journey later we were on a side road towards Velas. Most of the roads were narrow, had lots of potholes (mix of fixed and unfixed), were constantly going up or down but had very little traffic. There were many places where the roads were being widened and/or repaired/maintained. However, full credit to Google Maps, in 5 hrs travel time with 1 hr lunch break, starting at 11 am we reached Velas at 5 pm. By the way, when we were about 10~20 km from Velas, we lost the internet connection and Maps got lost. We stopped to ask and got prompt guidance – just loved the friendly behaviour of the road construction workers and taxi drivers. Velas We were booked for a home stay with Mr. Omkar Nisture Upadhye. This was by far the biggest and solidest house in the village. We had been told clearly that the stay was in a big room (like a dormitory) with 8~10 people per room. When we reached the place, we learnt that more than 60 people were expected in the house for this weekend! WOW! DOUBLE AND TRIPLE WOW! I can assure you the facility was so good 60+ people plus the original family plus their helpers all fitted in real nicely. Full credit to the family for their excellent hospitality and warmth! When we landed up at the right house, I sent in Manasi to confirm. She met Omkar’s wife Mrinal. They hit off immediately. The lane was real narrow. Luckily, there was a small open space for parking 2~3 cars. I was worried what would happen when the buses arrived the next day. I was told that just half a km away there was a huge ground for parking all the buses. Later I got to see more than 6 buses parked in a space which could easily have handled double that more. We met Omkar’s father and his toddler son Advait too. We were made comfortable in the house. We were given space on the first floor. We all had tea/coffee and freshened up. Suddenly, Omkar’s father says – the beach is just a 10 minutes walk. Some times they release turtle hatchlings in the evening at 6 or 7 pm. Why not check out. Everybody is ready! So we take off on foot. It was not a 10 minutes walk. It took us 10 minutes to get out of the residential area, then another 10 minutes walk past farms and marsh land and yet another 5 minutes on beach sand to reach the site. Boy – was it worth!!          In this one - you can zoom and see a little hatchling trying to come out! Don't blame me if you cant see it. I could barely see it!  During our internet searches for more information, we had come across a name – Mohan Upadhye. We actually met this guy. What a personality! He described the process to us. Other than us, there were 3~4 other groups too. The place was so beautiful that we were loath to leave the place. We left only when it started to become dark. Let me summarize what Mohan told us. The Olive Ridley Turtles are an endangered species. They lay eggs in India all along the coast from Orissa to Maharashtra. The biggest nests are in Orissa. Over the years, the nesting in Maharashtra has reduced. Hence, the conservation effort. It is almost totally volunteer based – that too mainly from the local villages. The process is that the female lays eggs on deserted beaches and goes back to sea. This is known as ex-situ parenting. She lays about 100 eggs at a time. Half of these can be lost to predators (including the biggest one – mankind). So, these volunteers move these eggs farther away from the sea into a protected area. They have already put up nets to prevent predator attacks. In about 45~55 days the eggs hatch. Instinctively, the hatchlings have a tendency to walk into the sea. The volunteers put a wicker basket on top of each nest. As a consequence, the newly born hatchlings stay in the limited circle. Twice a day, they check the basket. If there are any new hatchlings, then they are taken in ceremony close to the sea and released in full protection. Once they enter the sea - they are on their own. This conservation system has been in place for about 11~12 years. The females who are born in a place are expected to come back to the same place when they reach full adulthood at about 15 years of age. They are expected to live for 35~50 years. Mohan told us that they had about 9 nests this time around. For the last 15 days not a single egg had hatched. In front of us, he lifted a basket and we actually saw a hatchling trying to get out! What a cheer went up. Sachin or Kohli would have felt proud of that cheer! Mohan told us that the process of coming out is part of the strength building. He said that he would not like this baby to wait for the morning release. So he asked us to wait for one more hour. We readily agreed. We spent a superb time on the beach. We knew it was unsafe, so we did not do anything stupid. We got friendly with the other groups too. Some were from Mumbai and some from Pune. All had come by self driving. One hour later, Mohan checked and decided that the baby was not ready. So, the release was set for the next day morning. We were asked to come by 6:30 am for a 7:00 am release. We went back to the home stay. After a real nice meal we all went off to sleep early. Shortly after 9 pm we were all fast asleep. I am tired. Rest of the report in a short while. Please have patience. Last edited by GKMahajan : 26th March 2016 at 12:37. Reason: Adding photos |
|
| (8)
Thanks
|
|
26th March 2016, 16:09
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Day 2 My alarm was set for 4:40 am. We all got up and got ready. Omkar was up and milking his cows and buffaloes. We got tea/coffee from absolute fresh milk! We were ready by 5:30 am. This is Omkar making tea/coffee for us.  The buses from Mumbai reached by 5:45 or so. My in-laws were tired and had lost interest in the hatchlings. We asked them to stay back and rest. We walked up to the beach. It was dark and we had to use torches. We were at the nest site well before the due time. We were shocked to see more than a hundred people there. Later the number almost doubled. Anyway, the best part was when the basket was lifted – SEVEN HATCHLINGS! Oohhhss and Aahhhhs filled the air. They were sooo cute! We were all asked to go to the beach where they setup a temporary barricaded area. In our absence, I am told, Mohan and his team took dimensions and collected other statistical data about the turtle hatchlings. The life starting journey of the hatchlings can best be described by pictures only.                       I cannot put in words the thrill that went through the crowd when the sea swallowed the first hatchling! It is worth noting that they were small and tired. However, still, they would ‘speed up’ on touching the first water. It is nothing short of a miracle of nature. We were told that, by law of averages, we were lucky. For the last 2 weekends there had been zero eggs hatched. We got to see seven at first sighting. We were also told that – by the same law of averages, there should be more in the evening. MumbaiTravellers arranged for some simple games / exercises and introduction session. We made a few new friends. We trudged back to the home stay. We had a sumptuous breakfast. All the others went about freshening up and/or sleeping. We went around Omkar’s farm. It was a nice 2 acre plot. Again, I will let the photos speak. The plan was to go to Bankot Fort by 11 am or so. Unfortunately, one of the two buses had developed a rear brake problem. The driver was not willing to climb the ghat road leading up to the fort. Anyway, half the people did not want to go to the fort. So the remaining bus and our XUV went. The slope was really sharp. Manasi got some photos. However, everytime that the slope and/or turn was sharp she would concentrate on that instead of taking a photo! No issues. Anyway, we climbed easily and shortly. The fort’s name (Bankot) is an aberration of ‘Baawan Kot’ or fifty second fort. It was simple and small. Somehow the trip felt worth it. Our guide was good and gave a good presentation.    We came back to the home stay for a very much earned heavy lunch. After a short rest, we left for one more sighting at the beach. The morning sighting had been reported. The crowd was many hundreds. Again we saw seven new hatchlings under the basket. The rest was mainly a repeat of the morning event. Photos do only partial justice to the overall feeling that we got. Unfortunately, there were some very unruly people in the new crowd. They kept going too close to the turtles. The organizers were afraid of losing the hatchlings underfoot. So, they actually lifted some of the stragglers and put them into the sea. This is bad because then they get less time to fix the geo-magnetic location. This is bad because then they might have problems finding their way back for laying eggs. Anyway, Mohan declared that he would ‘take care’ for the next sighting. Note: I am not sharing any of the evening photos. If anyone is interested, then please feel free to PM me. Once more we trudged over to the home stay. From there our hosts provided us a guide to go to Mohan’s house. It was a 10~15 minute walk in totally dark streets. But, an old fashioned canvas screen had been setup. A laptop and projector were also setup with some speakers. We were the first to land up. Mohan treated us like long lost relatives. (He is a real gem!). Tarpaulin sheets had been spread out on the ground for seating. However, Mohan arranged for plastic chairs for my aged in-laws. My guess is that only about half the people came to this session! So much for Wild Life Conservation and so much for fun on beach!! We saw a very good – well-made – film on conservation. In between we even saw a very touching movie clip of a man removing a cold drink straw from the nose of a turtle – very painful! There was a very long question and answer session. It lasted till 9 pm. There were mugs, books, etc available for sale. Major part of the proceeds going to the Conservation schemes. Again a trudge to the home stay in the dark – lit only by torches and mobile lights. A fine heavy meal followed. Since we were planning to leave next day, we decided to sleep early. Anyway, most of the others had not slept well on the bus and went to sleep early. The family had a ‘council of war’. We decided that though we would love to see more hatchlings, the latest group was going to spoil it. So we decided to get up early and head for Harihareshwar Temple on our own. We informed the organizers accordingly. We slept early by 10:30 pm or so…. |
|
| (11)
Thanks
|
|
26th March 2016, 16:29
| #4 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Day 3 Got ready early. A significant amount of time was spent saying goodbye to the home owners. We had literally become part of the family. By our good luck, we got to spend a significant amount of time with Mohan Upadhye. By the way, he is a cousin of Omkar’s father, though only 3 years older than Omkar. Mrinal  Mrinal with her son.  Turtle in the well  Mini coconut   At meal - Kirti, Manasi and Yours Truly!  Mrinal cooking  Mrinal's mother, Mrinal, Omkar and Santosh - cooking  Omkar's father  Drove down to the jetty. There was a long queue. Finally, we made it across.    About 10~15 minutes later we reached Harihareshwar Temple. Luckily, there was no crowd. We paid our respects and by 11:00 am we had left for Pune. I am sure you remember that this time we were going to take a longer route which is supposed to take the same time – via Mumbai Pune Expressway. On the way, we stopped for lunch. We still had about 150 km to drive. My wife took over the drivers role. The seating arrangement was changed. I became navigator. Manasi went into seat 3. My wife has been driving since 2000 and is a good driver. For the first few kms she faced a problem of 2nd gear stalling. After that she drove like she had been driving the XUV since her birth! We reached Pune at 5:45 pm.    I had already called up Zoomcar. The car was to be returned by 6:00 pm. We honoured that. Antony came to pick up the car. I gave him the diesel receipt. The paper process was done in a jiffy. Side note: I got the 5000 deposit almost immediately. After a reminder call, I got the diesel amount too. PLUS as per their scheme, since I have done a deal crossing Rs 5000, now I do not make a deposit for the next trips. Yes! Need to mention this about the XUV5OO, tank was 60% full when we got it, we did 437 km and it was 70% full at the end of the journey. To me this means that I need not have filled it up! However, it was worth the tension free drive. We rarely drove the car in 5th or 6th gear – only on the Expressway. So this is a really amazing mileage. Finally, got Manasi to thank Mayura for initiating this. |
|
| (14)
Thanks
|
|
26th March 2016, 16:51
| #5 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| |
|
|
|
28th March 2016, 10:21
| #6 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Lovely travelogue of a unique festival, thanks for sharing! Quote:
| |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
28th March 2016, 14:27
| #7 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| |
|
|
|
28th March 2016, 20:12
| #8 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 110
Thanked: 73 Times
| Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Hi, I can imagine the excitement when they release the baby turtles. I was there on 26th march evening and to the surprise of all there were around 21 hatch lings that were released!   Super crowded but amazing experience. I visited Velas during my 4 day vacation in Diveagar and went there to try my luck out as one of the organizer, Mr. Mohan Upadhye, mentioned very slim chances when I had called him on 23rd March. |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
28th March 2016, 20:32
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Nice log there.  . Thanks for sharing.Immediately brought back memories of SDP's venture out there http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-festival.html which was first kind of exposure to this Velas fest for me. |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th March 2016, 09:33
| #10 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Quote:
21 hatchlings! I am jealous - well not really - since even one was a luxury to me!  I am now motivating others to visit. Girish Mahajan Last edited by GKMahajan : 29th March 2016 at 09:36. | |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th March 2016, 15:46
| #11 |
| Team-BHP Support  Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,737
Thanked: 11,279 Times
| Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Thanks Girish for sharing your Velas experience! Good read and some nice photographs which rekindled old memories. Glad to hear that there is still no mobile network connectivity in and around Velas. Its a blessing in disguise! Also nice to note that the stay options are still limited to homestays and no ugly lodges and hotels have mushroomed in the area. I seriously hope that the place doesn't get commercialized. If that happens, it would lose its charm. The Bankot fort offers very little by way of 'fort', but offers amazing views of the entire area around it. I remember clicking some nice snaps of the sea from the there. Similarly at Harihareshwar, if you climb a bit, there are some beautiful views of the beach. I missed taking the XUV to Velas and Harihareshwar last time around. I have been planning a trip of the entire MH coastal route since ages. Harihareshwar and the boat-ride would get covered in that route. May be I will get a chance to do it in 2016. Thanks again for sharing your experience! Last edited by SDP : 29th March 2016 at 15:48. |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
| |
|
30th March 2016, 09:55
| #12 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Pune/Mumbai
Posts: 609
Thanked: 874 Times
| Re: Visit to the Velas Turtle Festival in a Zoomcar XUV5OO Quote:
Thanks for the nice words. About the network, it was actually a major factor for the family - everyone loved the idea of getting some 'quality time together'. Bankot was a beautiful place. I agree with you - it is hardly a 'fort'. However, it is a very good 'spot'. Hopefully, you do the trip soon. My suggestion is that you should go in the next few weeks. Later the turtles will be absent. Girish Mahajan | |
|
|
|
31st March 2016, 09:37
| #13 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Chennai
Posts: 184
Thanked: 392 Times
| |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
31st March 2016, 20:25
| #14 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Columbus/HYD
Posts: 355
Thanked: 317 Times
| |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
 |
Most Viewed