The Danda March

Ahhh…Goa…! The land of Good Times! Of sunny beaches, seaside shacks serving yummy seafood and quantities of beer or pheni, of leisurely drives along picturesque landscapes adorned with gently swaying coconut trees…Ok, let me stop you right there. We were on a tour called ‘Secrets of Goa’ and the objective was to introduce us to parts of Goa that did not include any of the above-mentioned. And one of those secrets was a trek in the forest. To a waterfall. Again- No, Not the Dudhsagar waterfalls where everyone went. These were the Tambdi Surla waterfalls located in the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and we were to trek there and back.

Since most of us were either senior citizens or approaching senior citizen status, we were a little apprehensive about a trek through the forest. But we were reassured that:

1. It was not a climb.
2. It was a fairly easy walk- difficulty level: easy to moderate.
3. It was approximately 2.5 kms one way.
4. The entire trek would take around 3 hours.
5. On our return we would be served a delicious, authentic lunch prepared by the local villagers.

So we thought…hmm… that’s doable-ish. After all, 5 kms is not that intimidating. And we’ll be a group, it’ll be fun, a different experience, we’re here to discover secrets of Goa so let’s do it! And we set out- armed with backpacks, caps and instructions for a whole lot of Dos and Don’ts. (Those itself should have been Red Flag #1) Stuff like – Stay with the group, follow the instructions of the guides, carry only minimum stuff in your backpack. Clearly this was not going to be a walk in the park. Some of us were carrying hiking sticks, a few others had taken ‘dandas’ provided by the guards at the sanctuary. The rest were marching blithely ahead, eager to take in all the sights and sounds of the forest. Less then 10 minutes along the trail, there were requests for more ‘dandas’ and our guide hacked away at small trees and branches to produce them. This should have been Red Flag# 2. But we learn as we walk!

After what seemed like a fairly long walk through the forest (by our city standards) we reached a sign that informed us that we were now entering the sanctuary. The actual trek was to begin from this point. (Red Flag #3) But there was no turning back now so we took a firmer grip on our ‘dandas’ and set forth. Onward March!

The forest was lush green, dense, beautiful and humid. The narrow trail was uneven, winding and barely visible in places. We trod cautiously across rocks and stones, clambered over fallen tree trunks, dodged or ducked under low-hanging thorny branches and very gingerly edged our way through streams of water which thankfully did not have much water. Our ‘dandas’ became our lifelines as we used them to steady ourselves, for balance, support and to prod at stones before stepping on them.

Time and distance had no meaning- there was no point asking “Are we there yet?” because the ‘there’ was never anywhere close to where we were! But we did have the sneaking suspicion that the ‘approximately 2.5 kms’ and the ‘approximately 3 hour trek’ was stretching it a bit in terms of approximation.

And so we tramped on. As we got nearer to the water, we could hear the Surla river as it flowed through the forest and we could glimpse it through the tangle of leaves. We were also quite relieved to know that we would NOT be going to the main waterfall which was a steep climb but to a smaller and more accessible waterfall along the way. One advantage of being old (er) and mature is that we don’t suffer from FOMO! The only wildlife we saw were a couple of vine snakes. And the picture of a bison on a board that warned us ‘Animals have right of way’; as if we would even dream of coming in the way of a charging wild boar or bison!

The forest was all around us, very Robert Frost-y; the epitome of ‘lovely, dark and deep.’ The waterfall itself was a beautiful and welcome sight. The water was cold, clear and refreshing. But the highlight was when we were persuaded to dunk ourselves into the water, headfirst! Within seconds we were drenched from top to toe and the sweat and grime of the trek was washed away along with the fatigue. It was an exhilarating, memorable experience. After the drenching, we stretched ourselves out like lizards on the sun warmed rocks, to dry off.

The return could have been uneventful as we were feeling quite chuffed after having successfully completed the first leg. But halfway through, our guide stayed back to help another member who wasn’t feeling too well. And a group of us suddenly found ourselves leading the way. Although there was only one trail and only one direction to go, we began to wonder if we were on the right track. It didn’t help that we could neither see nor hear the others, so felt pretty much lost-like babes in the woods. After many ‘Are you sure this is the right track?’ and ‘Are you sure we passed these rocks/this tree/this stream?’ we finally emerged from the wilderness to the welcome sight of vehicles and other humans!

As we had worked up an appetite for a well-deserved lunch, the last thing we wanted to hear was that we would have to walk some more distance in order to be fed. This information led to howls of protest. In fact, so deeply suspicious had we become of being told ‘It’s not far’ and ‘It won’t take long’ that this mistrust lasted us till the end of the tour!

To conclude-

Do I regret going on that trek? Absolutely not!

Was it a worthwhile experience? Yes, it was the highlight of the trip for me.

Will I go on another such trek? Hmm…maybe! If I get to go with the same group, then Yes!

PS: Life is unpredictable and I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to go trekking again. The pictures are evidence that I did go on one!

Disclaimer: Most of the pictures are taken by friends- I was too busy fixating on where to take my next step