A trip to Shilonda Nature Trail, SGNP

Map of SGNP

Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai is famous for school picnics, tiger safari, and Kanheri Caves. A visit at the park on weekends will greet you with sight of joggers on their early morning walks, and visitors who would run to catch the earliest bus to the famous Buddhist caves located inside the park.

Road inside SGNP

Kids, teens, adults, all can find something or the other to do inside the park. It’s also a favorite haunt of romantic lovers, who always find a lonely spot, where they would snuggle with each other, away from prying eyes.

Lush greenery

But there’s a lot more to do and see inside the park than just this. There are wild trails that lead you deep inside the forest, where you see the true beauty of the park reveal before your eyes. These trails can be done with special permission, and there are many nature groups that take you on these trails. One such trail in which I went was Shilonda Trail.

The trail is named after Shilonda, a small tribal settlement within the park, and I had heard so much about the trail, that I finally decided to enroll for this trail through a Facebook group.

So, one fine October Saturday, in the early hours of dawn, I started on my own little rendezvous with nature. After a short drive of 3 km from the entry gates of the park, I was dropped in front of the gates that would lead us to the trail. Here, I found myself to be part of a group of nine. Among them were our naturalist guides, a young guy from Ranchi, and a couple, who had armed themselves with a DSLR, and were eager to try their hand at macro photography.

An avid group

After a quick intro, the gates opened and we entered the trail. I had little idea what was in store for me on this trail, and almost zero knowledge of what to expect. So I just went ahead with the group, with great curiosity to unravel the secrets of natural world, and lots of enthusiasm to be with a group of like-minded nature lovers. 

As the gates opened, in front of me, lay a dusty road, which went deep into the forest, and was bordered on both sides with lush green vegetation. No sooner had we stepped on the trail, and one by one, the secrets of the natural world was revealed to me.

There were no big mammals here... no leopard, no deer, not even a snake, though there were many bird calls we did hear, from time to time. They were up there in the skies, sitting on the trees... hiding behind bushes. But still so many creatures were out there watching us from the thick foliage. We could not see them, rather I could not see them, but they were there, for sure. And the trained eyes of our naturalist guides saw them in the most surprising places imaginable.

What I did saw was dramatic in its own right, for hidden behind the thick foliage, camouflaged with the greenery, were a wide variety of butterflies, caterpillars, moths, dragonflies, and above all... spiders!!! 

Jumping Spider

All through this trail, we were shown spider webs of enormous lengths and size, and the creatures that spins the web is no less fascinating.

There was the Giant Wood Spider, and its penchant to keep its web clean at all times was a study in itself. We saw this in action, when one of them nibbled at a leaf thrown at its web, and after some time, threw it back to the ground. 

Giant Wood Spider

And in complete contrast was the Debris-collecting spider, who collects debris such as leaves, seeds etc. and sticks them on its silky web, and then mingles itself with the color of the debris, waiting for a prey. Throughout the trail, there were giant spider webs dangling and waving about between the trees. And there were other spiders too, like the Jumping spider, Signature spiders and so on.

The ingenious creation of this spiders was the most amazing part. These webs are so different with each other. One web we encountered on our trail, was a funnel shaped web,

Funnel shaped web

and then there were some really huge webs, all spread out in the space between branches, and we saw a web in whose center was a large Signature spider. Spiders, we learnt, would always lie in the center of their webs, and at such a distance, that it would take them the least amount of time to go to their prey and catch them. From whom they must have learnt this precise geometrical calculation, I wondered, and could not find the answer!!!

Spider web among trees

Our progress was slow, because everywhere we looked, a fine specimen of the insect world would reveal itself to our group, and when the watchful eyes of our naturalist guides would spot them, they would shout out in waves of jubilation of having discovered them.

We saw caterpillars, gorging on the leaves.

Caterpillars foraging on leaves

There were so many of them, some on a single large leaf, their silky bodies would gleam in the sunlight, and they were feeding themselves, unaware of the attention that they were getting. 

Caterpillars foraging on leaves

And then there were moths and butterflies, fluttering about in the fresh morning air, soaking in the sunlight. This sunlight, I found out, would nourish them, and give them the much needed energy. The dragonflies were all around too, buzzing the air with the vibrations of their transparent wings. And sitting on leaves, were the Praying Mantis. Their front legs positioned in a way, so as to suggest to any onlooker, that they might be praying to somebody.

After a bit of walking, we came across a huge mound of earth, built by termites.

Termite nest

Termites were skilled architects in their own ways, and the termite nests would house so many of them. I saw a diorama of their nest at the end of our trail, and was amazed to find the interiors, complete with separate chambers, each one specially made for their food storage and for their eggs.

Then, there were the nests built by Pagoda ants.

Nest of Pagoda ants

They were built on the trees, their shape resembling that of a Buddhist pagoda. Our guide pointed out the ants, which came out at the slightest tap on their houses, and would swarm about frantically in search of the intruder. And there were the circular shaped nests of the Harvester ants.

Nest of Harvester ants

They had the most amazing construction about them. There were concentric circles nested within each other, and each one would be used for storage of food for harsh seasons.

After a bit of walking, we came at the end of the trail, a big river stream where water flowed down from the mountains beyond, and filled up the dale with its cool water.

A river stream

Here we rested for some time, and had some refreshments. There were many rocks here, and plenty of stones on which we sat, and just soaked in the jungle landscape.

We found crabs under the rocks, and our guides even pointed to a wading bird they had spotted at some distance.

Crab

The stream still had water flowing in it, and the place was the best place to spot wild animals like the leopard or deer. But for such sights, we required time and patience. And alas, we did not have them!!! Earlier we had come across a man-made watering hole.

Man-made watering hole

The park staff would come here and fill the hole with water in the hot summer months, when the streams would dry up. It also was a good spot to watch animals, as they would come to the watering hole to drink water, which was not to be found anywhere nearby. There was a watchtower near the man-made hole, to watch the wildlife from above, without disturbing them in their daily routines, and to take census of their population.

A watchtower

For some moments, we just sat there on the rocks, soaking the cool air, and watching the shimmering waters of the stream flow by. The gurgling sounds soothed us, and the pure unpolluted environment inspired us to some animated conversations. The conversations veered and touched topics such as tiger deaths across the country, insensitive administration, and so on. And the topic that was furiously debated was the latest death of the dreaded man-eating tiger Avni, or T1. And then, the topics touched new depths when we discussed the laws of the natural world, among others.

After this much needed rest, we resumed our way back to the starting point. We had seen all, or so I presumed, as we went on the very trail that had led us to this point. But surprises came from nowhere. The guides who had went ahead of us shouted to us, and we went to the spot, and found our friends gather round a spot on the ground. A whitish sort of thing, something like a clump of dirt, with a slight hue of brown, was getting all the attention.

Leopard scat

And what it turned out to be, sent all of us in exclamations of thrill and wonder. It was a leopard scat!! And it was some 2 months old!! So this trail was visited by leopards too!!

And then I popped out the question, which, I am sure, buzzed in the minds of so many of us. Where were the big ones!! They were not to be seen anywhere? Our guides, who were used to such questions, answered coolly, and what they said made total sense. They were there all right, watching us from a distance, eyeing our every move, in silence and with stealthy gaze. They will not disclose their positions to us, so for us, they were not there to be seen.

So, with this new-found knowledge, and controlling our desire to come across any large animal, I walked on, content with just watching the insects on this trail. But to spot the insect world in such a large space was something that needs to be trained at. And I looked about, while I walked, at slight movements made by insects, or would see the flutter of butterflies, or a rustle of leaves, or a snap of twigs. For these are the immediate clues to see such fascinating world of nature that lays hidden from us all. I strained my eyes, at looking at leaves, or on the ground, hoping to find something or the other insect, or perhaps a caterpillar, to reveal itself. But to no avail!!! 

And then suddenly a group that had went in front of us, called out to us. They had spotted a mantis. And it turned out to be a really large specimen of its species.

Praying mantis

It was brown in color, the same as the color of dried leaves and twigs that littered the ground. It had mounted itself on one of our guides, and would move about with sudden jerky movements. We saw it from such a close distance, we could see its tiny conical eyes, its rear legs, long and folded, and its body, so slender, it seemed to be a wire frame of a weird structure. For some time, we played with it, rather explored it closely, and watched it find its way on human shoulders, on hands, on our shirts, and on our hairy heads. And after we were content at having seen it from every angle, we released it back to the leafy surroundings, and made our way back to the point from where we had started our trail.
 
We eventually gathered at the gates once again, after a visit to this trail, and gave our feedback to our guides, who had organized this trail, and guided us to its amazing sights. On this trail, I saw birth, in the cocoons spun by caterpillars, which would eventually transform themselves to be born again as butterflies. And there was death too, a large spider lay dead on the dusty path, and it would ultimately become one with nature, or be eaten by devouring ants. Nature can be so tragic, so cold, so brutal. It has its own laws, laws which applied to all creatures, large or small, weak or powerful. Yet nature would give us the most wonderful of moments, if you are patient enough to let them happen before you.

© Abhijit Pandit, 2018