Adventures in Koynanagar with Explore Koyna

This is a post about places to visit in Koynanagar. Koynanagar is a secret hill station near Satara which is not yet exploited by the tourist crowds. The Koyna dam, river and the stunning evergreen forests of Koyna along with its deep valleys, misty mountains and the clear starry night skies are all pollution-free. Koynanagar is the place where the Deccan plateau meets the Konkan region.

Even a week won’t be enough to see everything around here. But I could see and experience so much in just 1.5 days. That’s because I did it with the group Explore Koyna. Explore Koyna is a group that arranges treks, tours, safaris and adventures in Koynanagar. It is better to go with their pre-planned tours as they have the best guides who know a lot of unknown places around here.

My adventures in Koynanagar

Kadoli Jungle trek

A hill near the Kadoli village in Koynanagar has a lot to offer. This hill has a jungle brimming with a lot of biodiversity. And a single trek here is enough to see the most unique plants and birds found in the Sahyadris of western Maharashtra. From the top, you get to see the mountains of Chafer village with the entire ridge full of windmills. And below you can see the Kajali river and Riswad village. You can even continue walking on a ridge ahead that takes you to the adjacent mountains.

What we spotted or rather what they showed me –

• Bird species: Yellow-footed green pigeon, Red-whiskered bulbuls, Purple sunbird, Wide broad wagtail, Bonelli’s Eagle, Drongo or Kotwal, Green bee-eater or Veda Raghu. And we could hear Great Hornbills down in the valley but I didn’t get to see them.
• Plants: Narkya plant which is used for cancer treatment and its flowers have a very pungent smell. Renda or Dindakarvi plant which flowers after 7 years in Sept or Oct with beautiful purple flowers, Raankeli or Sonki that has medicinal properties. Makdi tree whose leaves have a refreshing smell like lemon.

The highlights of this trek were of course watching Maharashtra’s state bird and animal in their natural habitat through binoculars. I watched a group of Hariyal or yellow-footed green pigeon while they sat leisurely on a tree branch. Moreover, I watched the Shekru or Indian giant squirrel sitting on a branch, eating fruits and flaunting its long, bushy brown tail.

Dategad Fort trek

Dategad is a small lesser known fort near Patan. It is closer to Satara. Although it is in ruins now, some of the old architecture atop is astounding. There are idols of Ganesha and Hanuman near the main gate of the fort which are 10 feet tall! As you climb a few steps and reach the topmost point on the fort, you get an amazing 360-degree view of the surrounding area, fields and rivers.

The most unique architecture on the top is a sword-shaped stepwell that is 100 feet deep and carved out of laterite stone. This well was a source of water for the people on the fort. But for me that day, it was the best AC. There is a Shiva Lingam carved on the left side inside this stepwell.

Not much is known about the history of this place now. The Patankars were in charge here before the Britishers took over the fort. It is also said that 2 horses belonging to Chp. Shivaji Maharaj fell off the cliff and died here.

Bird Watching near Naav Taloshi village

“When it comes to watching wildlife and nature you have to be very punctual”, says Raj Rathod of Explore Koyna. Little did he know that I was late because I sat watching the sunrise from my resort in Koynanagar.

Raj takes early morning bird watching safaris at this spot near Naav Taloshi village, which is closer to the Chandoli National Park. But I was very late and well past sunrise time. We still spotted several animal footprints like barking deer, jungle hare, etc. And it was fun watching the female crimson-back sunbird building her nest from a distance. I got to see the bird Indian roller flying which is an extremely pretty sight. And because I was a bit late I also got to see the Laggar falcon and Dusky swift flying high above.

According to Raj, you can spot more than a 100 species of birds here at the time of sunrise. These include:

• Hornbills: Malabar pied hornbill, Grey hornbill, Great hornbill.
• Flycatchers: Asian paradise flycatcher, bar-winged flycatcher, ultramarine flycatcher, Tickle blue flycatcher.
• Sunbirds: Crimsonback sunbird, purple sunbird, purple rum, olive back sunbird.
• Babblers: Jungle babbler, Indian scimitar babbler, puff throated babbler
• Bulbuls: Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Square tale bulbul, Yellow-browed bulbul
• Thrush: Orange-headed thrush, Malabar whistling thrush, Bluecap thrush.
• Barbets: Coppersmith barbet, White cheek barbet.
• Shrieks: Bayback shriek, common wood shriek, longtail shriek.
• Starlings: Brahminy starling, Rosy Starling.
• Birds found near the river or water body: Wire tail swallow, Lapwing, Sandpiper.
• Kingfishers: Pied Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher.
• More birds: Rufous treepie, Indian roller, Pied Bushchat, Cattle egret, Common rosefinch, White-bellied drongo, Paddyfield Pipit, Wide browed wagtail, Tailorbird, Indian robin, oriental magpie robin, Golden-fronted leafbird, Small minivet, Orange minivet, Indian golden oriole, Black-hooded oriole, Sirkeer malkoha
• And more birds: Oriental white-eye, Green bee-eater, Thick bellied Flower picker, chestnut petronia, Jungle Myna, Common Myna, Yellow-footed green pigeon, Greater flame back woodpecker.

Pole fishing in Koyna river near Sangamnagar Dhakka

Koynanagar in Maharashtra is blessed with several gifts of the nature, most of which are from this river Koyna. It was my first time trying pole fishing and it was fun. The fish here were intelligent and agile. They ate most of our baits and swam off before we could catch them! There were several big and small fishes in the river. We caught one or two and then dropped them back where they belong.

Other treks and adventures organized by Explore Koyna

• Chafer to Riswad trek over a mountain ridge: Difficulty level – Hard
• Trek to Ramghal Jungle and cave: Difficulty level – Easy
• Trek to Jugai cave: Easy
• Vankusavde Windmills and Plateau of flowers
• Jungle night safari from Sangamnagar
• Ozarde waterfall monsoon trek
• Ramban Jungle trek in winter or summer.
• Bhairavgad Jungle safari
• Nanel Jungle night safari
• Riverside barbeques

These adventures were made possible by Explore Koyna. This is a group of nature and adventure enthusiasts founded and managed by Raj Rathod who conducts these treks, tours, safaris and adventures around Koynanagar.