Velas Turtles In March-2012

March-2012

Day-1

We left Thane at 7.15 am, had breakfast at Kshanabhar Vishranti at Karnala and reached Mangaon at 11 am. We wanted to follow Mangaon-Harihareshwar road which we missed in traffic and followed NH17 till Lonere. Here we took right turn and headed for H’shwar via Goregaon. Reached H’shwar at @ 1.30 pm. We didn’t have a plan to visit H’swar temple so we decided to proceed straightway to Velas. We were pretty hungry and were curious to visit Mtdc property. It is located on the H'shwar-Bagmandla jetty road. Mtdc was calm & quiet since this was not a vacation time. Fortunately we got Maharashtrian thali. Location of this property is amazing & we had our lunch right in front of rocky beach in an open restaurant. The ambience was fantastic & refreshing.

  

We left Mtdc at 2.15 pm & headed for Bagmandla jetty (less than 5 kms from Mtdc) where we had to catch a ferry to cross creek and reach Vesavi jetty. Now this was yet another wonderful experience where we boarded on ferry alongwith our car for which we paid Rs.108/- (2 pax + 1 car). Within 15 minutes we were at Vesavi & headed towards Velas village via Bankot. Vasavi to Velas- 10 kms.

We reached this tranquil village at 3 pm and freshened up at our homestay arrangement. We had booked a room over phone at Mr. Upadhye’s homestay. This was the only slab roof building in village. All others were small-big ‘kaularu’ homes. 

Here, onecant find a single canteen, tapari or even a small roadside restaurant where one can get tea or snacks. One has to manage with home arrangements only or better you carry packed snacks with you. There are quite a few local families who provide veg-non veg food. We rested for couple of hours, had our tea & left for Velas sea beach at 5 pm. Homestay room was neat & clean and size was  just enough for overnight stay.

Velas beach is at walking distance from village. The main attraction to visit this beach was to see new born Ridley turtles. “Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra” is an NGO engaged in safeguarding this rare specie of turtle for last more than 10 yrs. You can visit the site of SNM for more details. SNM volunteers check Turtle nests (where female turtle lays eggs on beach) for new born hatchlings at exactly 6 am and 6 pm everyday (breeding season is Feb to April).

We were lucky to see 1 new born little turtle on our first visit. The volunteers guided the new born to Sea to let it survive on its own in the big ocean.

Then we had a small stroll in this pollution free village. The house where we stayed was the only sophisticated bunglow with slab on it. It was newly built house with 4 room provision for tourists. They charged Rs.500 per room per night. Had our late evening Tea and lots of chat with our house owner & his young son. We had our home made konkan styled (coconut rich curry and Chutney) dinner before going to bed.

Day-2

Got up at 6 in the morning, had tea & reached the beach at 6.45 am. The nests were opened at 7 am and we could see 2 baby turtles. We were lucky to see 3 new born turtles in 2 days. It is a sheer luck factor to get an opportunity to see new borns and many times tourists have to stretch their stay to have a glimpse of new born turtle.





We returned to guest house at 8 am, freshened up, had our breakfast at 8.30. Meantime we visited an old styled village temple which was just beside our homestay. We had a plan to visit one more nearby beach destination- 'Kelashi' but couldn't execute it due to time constraint.

Finally we left Velas at 9 am. reached Ratnagiri at 2 pm.

rahul