Durshet, Tale of two beauties

Durshet, a part of a forest full of mahua trees, falls within the enclosure of Nature Trails forest Lodge and the Amba River flows right past. There’s not a soul in sight as you dip in the river or take a romantic walk through the forest. It is between two holy Ashtavinayakas, by the Amba River near Khopoli on the old Mumbai- Pune Highway. At Kalote, Lake Placid Retreat is on the shores of the extensive Lake Kalote, which unlike the Amba River doesn’t lose much of its water in the winter.

We stayed at the Nature Trails Forest Lodge and from there we went to the temples, the rivers, the lakes and towards the ghats for trekking. We stroll through the extensive plantations of fruit trees, casuarinas and acacias within the forested expanse of Nature Trails Lodge. There were wild boar, barking deer and monkeys.

The best time to visit this place would be when its raining as the river is full and the huge natural waterfalls within the forest are their best. You can trek to those falls through the mahua, mango and teak tree. There are many species of birds available here as the calls of drongos, doves, parakeets, shrikes, bulbuls and warblers fill the air. At the cultivated lands adjoining the resort was very good place where we found lapwings nests. Within the resort’s flower garden, we saw number of butterflies getting drunk on nectar or laying eggs on their favorite plants. We recognize some of them like Mormon and plain tiger butterflies. There were a range of activities for which we were not able to spare time like rock climbing, rappelling and river crossing.

For staying at Durshet there are only two options the one is the Nature Trail Lodge where we stayed and the second one is the Deccan Retreat, which is on the highway.