Mumbai Homeschoolers National Park Picnic July 2012

As the monsoon season pours rain over the ever green forests
and hills of the verdant Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli, we homeschoolers look forward to our annual picnic to the flowing stream in the midst of the dense forests of the park.

This year we had quite a few newcomers, who have taken the step towards real life education outside the confines of the school. Even though we had planned it in a rather short notice of 5 days, around 24 of us managed to have a wonderful time at the park on the 24^th of July, 2012.

Reaching there:

By road, along Western Express Highway is national park gate. By rail, from Borivli station, reach National park gate, buy your tickets. Inside National park gate, if you have your own car, drive right up to the stream on Kanheri caves road. Dr. Mathew’s car and driver were also available to drop our special invitee’s right up to the stream J

Preparation tips:

Things to get:

Change of clothes.

Picnic food items.

Camera.

Strap shoes.

Magnifying glass

Net for catching specimens

Towels

Frog cage

Ball

Bucket and mug

Mats

Extra clothes

Things not to get:

Plastic bags and plates. National Park is declared a plastic bag free zone.

Timings of the picnic:

1:30 PM to 5:30 PM

Most of us reached the stream by 1:45 pm.

The picnic:

We all gathered upstream, a short walk from the bridge. After changing, it was time to test the waters. There is a good flow of fresh water as it has been raining quite heavily in the past week.

Almost everyone immediately jumped into the water, which though cold, became comfortable in no time for us. Only some of the parents did not venture out into the stream waters to deep.

The kids played with one another, splashing water, catching frogs and small creepy crawlies, and exploring the area in general.

The older kids wandered upstream to explore the forest and wildlife. The younger ones with Supriya had a splashing good time at the mini waterfall Jacuzzi.

They caught a small tailed frog, and also what looks like a centipede.

The small rapids over the rocks were like a natural Jacuzzi, providing a wonderful cold water massage to those who dared to venture into it.

Soon everyone was feeling very hungry, and the mothers had lovingly packed delicious food for all of us. Most of the goodies vanished in no time!

The weather was perfect, thank God, cloudy and cool, with no rain. This allowed us to take quite a few pictures, some of which are also posted on my Facebook page.

All had a wonderful time, playing and also getting to know one another, sharing experiences and the common and uncommon joys of homeschooling.