"Monsoon climate in Kolvan Valley of Lonavala". Video

The "Bomabay Natural History society (B.N.H.S)" had arranged a 2 -day(27/6/09Saturday to 28-6-09 Sunday) trekking and bird-watching trip to "Kolvan Village" a pictureque valley near Lonavala in Maharashtra. Kolvan is approx about 2 1/2 hrs drive from Mumbai city and a totally different World compared to the 3 rd most populated city on planet Earth,Mumbai.In Kolvan village, we stayed in a rustic bungalow called "Mulshi Bhushan" and got a first hand experience of the local culture, food and life-style.This video depicts and captures the serinity and tranquility of simple village surroundings and its flora and fauna,The importance of touring with "B.N.H.S" unlike various other "weekend local monsoon tour operators" is that some of the most authoritative naturalists accompany the nature tourists and explain the importance or rarirty of various plants, birds ,mammals,reptiles,fish and insects , besides, manny of the ordinary "B.N.H.S members" in the tour are themselves knowledgeable on variours "wild-Life subjects". Our nature tour group cosisted of different age-groups,generations, professions and sex .,hence an exchange of nature ideas , knowledge and debates.
I, personally prefer travelling alone being a "bachelor', the "Model Back-packer" on a "Budget Tour",experiencing cultures without "Sightseeing time restrictions" imposed by all "Tour Group operators".Mingling with various different nationalities and exploring new locales and city's at ones own pace and leisure depending on one's individual budget is part of a solo touring adventure. On some occasions i have travelled in "Group Tours" , most notably with the "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History Society)" in Mumbai for most of my trekking in Maharashtra and with "Mosiac Tours(2008) Mumbai " on my visit to the "Holy Land(Egypt,Israel,Jordan)".Having been a "Mariner" for 25 years and touring the World during my routine duty has made me well versed in conducting my own individual tours except when it inculdes secluded or restricted country's and wild-life nature tours.
During this 2- day tour of Kolvan we were accompanied by B.N.H.S Staff Mr Isaac Kehimkar , an authority on "Butterflies" who has also written a critically acclaimed book on the subject and his assistant Mr Nikhil Bhopale a budding nature youngster , a practical encyclopedia on identifying various birds just on sound or distant binocular sighting.
I am not advertising "B.N.H.S" since i belong to it, but, just showing the importance of travelling with the right knowledgeable people to the right places of ones interest, although ,"Butterflies" and "Bird Specialization" are not my own favourite topics ,"trekking" , "Nature walks" and "wild-life spotting" being the reason i accompany "Nature tours".