46. Holidaying in Amby Valley

If you have ever heard yourself say, “is there any beautiful place in India free of noisy crowds and pollution, but with first class amenities?’’, then you should visit the Amby Valley. Of-course for that you have to shell out a neat sum and book a Chalet or conveniently have a sweet cousin with a getaway home there – like us! Located about 21 km inside Lonavla, on the Bushy Dam road, the drive itself is an experience. Driving through thick mist which made it impossible to see even a foot ahead, we had to manage to stay on the meandering road and not drive off into a nightmare. We had to reach Cloud Nine, appropriately named because, as Rohit told us later, one always finds mist and rain on the way to it, especially in this weather. However, no one can enter Amby Valley unless you can prove you are a ‘’citizen’’ or are visiting one. (So just don’t pack your bags yet). So we waited at the gate till Rohit came and guided us to the house.

To say that it is a beautiful place is an understatement - fairy tale houses alongside curvy, well laid roads with greenery everywhere, soundless except for the chirping of birds, no grumpy humans only a few polite, friendly faces here and there, happy to be of assistance. 

Lonavla Lake around the Kanifnath Temple - already brimming over.

Is that a face? a figure? or Snoopy lying on his kennel? Our favourite pastime is giving names to the picturesque ridges around lonavala. The famous Duke's Nose, of course, is known to all.

A view of the Lakes from the terrace.

Fairy tale houses of Amby Valley

There is a most beautiful ridge right in front of Rohit's house on which we saw the most amazing phenomena - a reverse waterfall. The water being plummeted upwards by the wind breaking against the ridge kept us entertained for quite sometime. The thick foliage alongside the ridge attracts a number of birds. We were greeted by the carefree whistle of the Malabar Whistling Thrush who seems to be permanently residing there, much to are delight.

The Reverse Waterfall

Another mesmerizing sight above the ridge was that of the soaring Peregerine falcons. Seeing these giant birds is every bird watcher's dream.

A peregerine falcon soaring over the ridge

We were taken on a grand tour of the valley by our cousin. The golf course, the stables, a dancing fountain complete with a laser show (not operational at the time), an aqua bus which we had enjoyed going on in Singapore, water sports - everything is available and no annoying tourists to deal with! 

The Golf Club

In case you don't know what golf is.

Beautiful Greens

Toured the whole golf course on a golf cart sans the clubs!

The path around the golf course

How many people have the pleasure of seeing the fish they are going to have for dinner being caught in front of them! Well we saw our 5kg ''Katla'' being caught at the dam and sent home to be cooked forthwith.

Fishing in the dam

The ''katla'' we had for dinner

Nature's eyes

Rajeev's picture of the bridge across the lake

The kids went a trotting on their favourite horses ''Karma'' and ''Surprise'', while we admired the racer Grey Hounds in the kennel.

Geeta's beautiful eye reflecting the scene

These hounds go for racing competitions all over the world.

A bus that turns into a boat

Though we had no time to do any serious bird watching we saw a few in passing. The pictures are a little hazy because of the weather.

The Common Blackbird (not common at all) seen on the tree opposite the house.

The elusive Jungle-bush Quail

White-rumped Munia spotted by Rohit

Red-whiskered Bulbul

On the way back we were halted in our tracks when we saw a two-headed snake on the road. We waited and took pictures while it laboured its way across the road.

TheTwo-headed Snake, so called because the head and the tail look the same - to keep predators from attacking from behind I guess.

After spending a most delightful, action packed day with Rohit, Jayshree and the children, we sprawled around the house chatting late into the night. Kamal and the boys did a great job of the rava-fish. The next morning we were awakened by the pitter-patter of the rain drops and our friend whistling in the trees. Though we wanted to start early to beat the office crowd of Pune, it was not till well past 10 that we, reluctantly, made our way back home, through the mist.



Links : To see more on the birds of Lonavala and the Peregerine Falcon we had sighted sitting on the ground click here.

***************************************************************