Kanheri Hills Near Thane

Kanheri Hills is a part of the Sanjay Gandhi National park and it houses an

important Airforce station. The entry is restricted and hence most of the forest

is devoid of human activity. Good for the fauna and flora. It is supposed to

contain more than fifty leopards and nine thousand deers and Nilgai. I had an

opportunity recently to accompany a group of defence personnel to the top

of the hills. 

We went up the hill in the jeep and it was a wonderful experience. It was raining

throughout the day but my luck held and there was a break of a few hours in

the afternoon when we went to the hills. There was no need to take out our

umbrellas. 

A commonly found plant on the hill 

The Air force means business. No prosecution. Intruders to be shot !!

A pond formed in the path of a stream. Supposed to be home for a few crocodiles. 

Path leading to the top of the hill

A view of the mist covered hill range

Clear water rock crab. Available in large numbers on the hill. I recorded its movement and feeding too but it is a pain posting video in the blog. 

Another very common plant 

Single lane track leading to the top of the hill

The stream 

It was a nice drive up the narrow, slippery path leading to the top and I rarely

get an opportunity to traverse through an area which has no human presence

whatsoever.

But it was a pity that though the forest is said to be consisting more than fifty

leopards and nine thousand deers and nilgai, all we got to see was a lot of mist,

foliage and plenty of rock crabs. One particular crab posed nicely for my camera

and demonstrated its moving and feeding. I think that it ate a piece of decaying

leaf but am not sure. 

During our return I managed to coax one of the officers of our group to walk with

me on the road for some distance and also take a detour to visit a small seasonal

waterfall. I have posted some pictures with captions, mostly to record my visit to

the hills.