The Nature Club (Degree College), R.D. National College

Date: 27th December,2008

Kankeshwar, Alibaug.

The Nature club of R. D. National College had organized a trek to kankeshwar on the 27^th of December, 2008. The team reached the first checkpoint i.e. the Gateway of India from where we purchased tickets to mandwa beach costing Rs. 65 per head. Our journey commenced at 15:00 hrs. It was an eventful journey and we spotted quite a few birds which included different varieties of gulls and terns.

We reached our second checkpoint at 16:10 hrs. i.e. Mandwa beach. From there a bus took us to ‘Chondi phata’ from where we hired a rickshaw to Mapgaon, the base village.

Kankeshwar is a temple of lord Shiva. People from far and wide come to visit this temple. Hence, the path from Mapgaon to kankeshwar is paved out in the form of steps. The entire path is surrounded by Teak wood trees. Teak wood is of great economic value as it is of great economic value as it is used for making furniture. Next, we saw Karanj, the Elephanta Island was earlier known as karanj due to the abundance of these trees. Karanj is useful in making sunscreen lotion and in treatment of leukoderma. The major constituent of its oil is palamol. Next was the Lantana which has an American origin. It’s eaten by many birds e.g. Bulbul. We also spotted Picus microcarpac which is used for toothache. We also saw Ixora which is a plant with a strong fragrance. Anantmal which is the ingredient of Safi, a blood purifier was also observed.

We reached the Kankeshwar Ashram by 8 pm, where we had dinner and the day ended. The next morning started with a high tea followed by a nature trail. Many birds were spotted e.g. green bee eater, bulbul etc. Tunnel spiders are found in abundance. Then after a shot break we started our climb to vajreshwar temple which is again higher than Kankeshwar. Lots of plants and some insects of ecological and economical importance were observed. At the peak of the hill there is vajreshwar temple and a railway communication centre.