We went to Velas last weekend - March 16th 2013. Basically we went to see the turtles. This is the season the eggs laid by the turtles hatch and they enter the sea.
We were expecting to be disappointed. It was close to new moon and we thought there would be no turtles without the moon. Luckily we got to see the turtles. Guess it is some other species that needs the moon.
Velas is hardly 200 kms from Pune and we have to use the ferry from near Harihareshwar to get to the side of Velas. This was my first time on a ferry which could take vehicles so I was very excited ! :) The journey itself was uneventful.
Best time to go : March - April
Stay :
Velas has no hotels or resorts. We stayed in a separate room within the cozy home of Mr. Omkar Nijasure. [ On his card it says Nitsure although website says Nijasure ]. The stay was very nice. Good food [ Home made food - Solkadi and the green mirchi pickle was yummy ! ], hot water at all times, the beach for the turtles close by and in the night we took a short walk to the end of the village and got to see many many stars !! Very polite hosts who made our stay very comfortable. There are dormitories for people who are willing to share facilities.
Activities : Turtles, Fort in Velas / Baankot
a. Turtles : The turtles are normally checked at 6am and 6pm. There is an enclosure where the turtle nests are kept covered with baskets so no predators could attack. The teeny tiny turtles are then taken in a basket and released near the sea. The turtles crawl to the sea - they look very cute ! :) And they are fast for baby turtles ! :)
There were lots of people when we were at the beach. We.wondered if we would get to see any turtles in the rush . Two chains of people is formed with space in between for the turtles. The conservation people stand near the sea so people do not inadvertently step on the turtle going into the sea.
The worst part of the entire episode was that - one member of the conservation group crossed the space in between senselessly and almost crushed a baby turtle under his foot ! Crazy !!! If the people involved are so careless how can they expect support in their venture ???
Luckily the other members were not so irresponsible and were more aware of their actions ! All in all - it takes about 30 - 45 min to see the entire sequence and then you can watch sunset at the beautiful beach. :)
A very nice experience.
People from the NGO may ask you to buy a ticket near the entrance to the beach so they can show you a movie on the turtle conservation. We declined. We said we just wanted to see the turtles. So we did not have to buy any ticket. The others were shown videos and given details about the NGO / turtle conservation etc.
b. Fort in Velas / Baankot - We can go to see the turtles in the morning too. Generally speaking the number of turtles in the morning are higher.
We purchased cute souvenirs of decorated turtles are at exorbitant prices ( but of course ! ). We left next day after breakfast. We wanted to check out the fort at Baankot which is about 1.5 kms from Velas. One person misdirected us - we had to come back about 6 kms. There is a fork where one route leads down to Velas and the other ascending road to the fort.
The views from the fort are lovely. Definitely worth a visit. The interior of the fort is just like any other tumbledown and overgrown fort.
We spent about 1.5 hours there - just going around the perimeter and taking many snaps. On the way back - hardly a couple of minutes from the fort - at a turn - we stopped to buy mangoes. We got 50 mangoes which were to ripen in 10 days for 1200/-. Hubby drove a hard bargain. I thought we would not get any mangoes ! :)
Incidentally on the main road when we were looking for the fort one guy quoted Rs. 4500/- for 50 mangoes! Phew ! We declined.
Other details :
For more information on turtles, their conservation and the NGO's involved you can look at the following links ---
1. The brochure - http://snmcpn.in/pdf/SNM-brochure-English.pdf
2. The main website - http://snmcpn.in/
3. The local NGO - Kasav Mitra Mandal ( At least this is what we were told ! )
Okay I know I went overboard with the snaps ... :)
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| The water body we crossed in the ferry |
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| The mini jetty just before the bigger jetty |
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| Vehicles should reverse into the ferry |
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| Full load |
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| The beach enroute Velas - the sand has lots of black particles |
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| Jackfruit in the area behind our home stay - there are areca nut trees, coconut trees and many others |
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| Areca nuts drying on the roof of our homestay |
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| TCS involvement in Save the turtles campaign |
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| More details on turtles |
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| Turtle eggs are inside this enclosure and under the baskets for safety from predators |
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| Aah luckily - 5 turtles have hatched .... |
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| Separated into 2 baskets |
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| Placing them gently on the beach |
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| Race .. race !! :) |
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| And it has begun ! :) One is way eager to reach ! :) |
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| This guy does not want to go anywhere ! |
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| That teeny bump between the 2 guys near the sea is the turtle being washed into the sea ..... |
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| Beach ... |
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| Sunset time .... |
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| My baby's message .... |
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| View from the fort |
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| View from the fort |
