Borivali National Park

The Borivali National Park or Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a piece of true rainforest in the middle of Mumbai. With its 104 square kilometers, it is considered the lungs of the city as it helps to purify the air pollution. Moreover, it is rich in wildlife with its around 800 types of flowering plants, 284 kinds of birds, 5,000 species of insects, 36 types of mammals, 50 types of reptiles and 150 species of butterfly, some of which are endangered. At the same time, the park is an amazing place to escape to from the busy town. It is easily accessible by suburban train, the entrance is just opposite the Borivali train station.

Despite heavy rains and my severe cold, I have decided one July Sunday to go for a trekking to this park with Sujeet and his friends Chandan, Makhdum and Parveen. We drove in the car to a point, where visitors would normally take train called Vanrani (Jungle Queen). But we just left the car on the parking place, went a bit back and took a trail across the river, that lead us to the wild nature, not accessible to the standard visitors.

Climbing up through the jungle, partially using the trails, partially walking in the riverbed, we reached a beautiful waterfall, hidden between the rocks. The guys jumped in the waterfall in their clothes and just enjoyed it in the Indian way… Gujarati lunch was served afterwards and I just kept eating more and more teplas, yum!

After another climb up along the rocks that looked like a wall of a castle of Sleeping Beauty, we reached the Kanheri Caves. These were carved by Buddhist monks, the oldest ones about 2,400 years ago.

Despite the rain, many families came here for a walk and enjoyed the stream between the caves. I was astonished to see how the young and old truly enjoyed the refreshing water. Even the ladies did not mind wetting their sarees and salwar kameezes! My new friends were amazed by a different fact – there was a real fog! Apparently, there is not much fog in the sunny India… :)

When we were descending from the hill, it started to rain quite heavily. I was coughing and so did Parveen. Still, looking at a deer family just few meters from the road, I felt very happy in my heart … though rainy, it was such a beautiful day!