Salt Rim, Korlai

I have been wanting to write about our trip to Salt Rim for a long time now ....we went there in Sept and now it is December....I have never come back from a trip with such mixed emotions about a place...the best way to describe it would be as follows.....it was the best of trips  and it was the worst of trips.

Let me first cover the 'best' part of it cause if I get started about the other part I will never be able to finish this already delayed post.

This was our first view....Nitin and I had come here on our own as Umang was on a school trip.The weather was beautiful....Mumbai in rainy season is always good and to be able to get out to a beach front property is heaven indeed.

Salt Rim is a beautiful bunglow bang on the beach, beautifully furnished and very well maintained. It is on the other side of Korlai village. Just a few fisherman huts can be seen which works out great because the caretaker/cook is able to source fresh fish and absolutely awesome prawns from them for dinner. Te beach is mainly rocky. So no swimming. In high tide there is a strip of sand one can sit  in and let the waves roll over you. It will also save you some spa money, for if you sit in the waves long enough the sand will give you an excellent body polishing for free.

On day one, we spent most of our time sitting in the deep verandah and looking out to the sea....just watching the changing colours of the sea is good stress relief......that and hearing the rain patter on the palm fronds. One can spend hours(and we did) looking at the rain on the sea and the horizon with the incessant chorus of the cicadas providing the music. When the sea receeds and the clamour of the waves dies down the trilling of the bee-eaters can be heard most of the time. The meadow behind the bunglow is full of wild flowers and thus attracts a full kaleidoscope of butterflies in rainbow colours.

The one mishap that happened as soon as we reached and is the cause of an absolute lack of bird photos in this post. We had just checked in and were settling down that I saw a shrike come and sit in the lawn...as I took the first picture my battery died ...and when I went to charge it my battery charger blew up. End of the photography part of the holiday.

Unfortunately for me but other wise fortunately the place is simply full of birds. I saw at least three/four species of waders on the beach....probably sandpipers, plovers, curlew and Red Shanks. There were no large flocks but a good variety....and more importantly the birds are not so wary and let you approach pretty close....just wish my camera had been working :-(

It is a lovely sight to see swallows and sandpipers cavorting over the waves. In the hedge around the perimeter prinias can be seen all day. Once I saw a harassed parent Prinia being chased among the branches of a nearby Whistling Pine by its hungry offspring. The hedge also provided shelter to a large 'n beautiful Oriental Garden Lizard/chameleon.

Just outside the property behind the caretakers cottage is a large Banyan tree which attracts almost all the resident birds during the day. So one can do most of the birding standing the verandah. The bird list is as follows; Egrets, Pond Herons, Golden Orieole, Lapwings, Spotted Dove, Parakeets, Red Vented Bulbul, Indian Robin, Common Mynas, Drongos and a small bird with a yellow beak, delicate head and a brown garland over the throat/chest. There are big flocks of swallows and Sparrows. The latter can be seen mostly around the fisherman huts. A pair of Scaly Breasted Munias were trying to build a nest in the eves of the cottage and were being harassed by the ubiquitous crows.The crows also were a pain for the White breasted Kingfisher and the Green Bee-Eaters and kept chasing then off. In the meadow behind the house I saw a small Coucal and a Hoppee being chased off by  a pair of Mynas. Brahminy kites were also spotted swooping down over the beach and soaring over the waves.

One afternoon I saw a couple of village children closely examining a bush just off the beach. When I went to investigate I found it contained  the nest of a whiskered bulbul with beautiful eggs. I skedaddled off quickly. 

On an afternoon walk I found a tiny fresh water stream just ahead of the house. In many such streams I have often found tiny fish, usually brown with mottled markings. But in this stream very close to where it meets the sea( infact on the beach itself when the tide was out) I found these tiny fish which actually had a kind of bulls-eye pattern on their backs. Wonder how they fare with the kingfishers and other predators.

Many a time I have seen local fishermen/women spend a long time on the rocks when the tide is out.This time I was able to find out exactly what they were doing. On the rocks which are usually under when the tide is high,  I have seen white shells which are stuck fast but there are usually open with the occupants missing. I had thought that these were half shells which had fallen prey to shore birds. On my walk that day I met an old fisherwoman who was prying them open with a bent iron rod and extracting the tiny creature inside. It takes quite a bit of force and a good eye to spot the tightly closed shells which are exactly the colour of the rocks they are clinging to. And the end result is a mottled black rock with white spots. I believe they make a curry out of the shellfish. But I do not know what they are called.

While exploring the rocks I came to an area which was nor black like all the others but here the rocks were more like pink and in a pink pool I foung the prettiest crabs I have ever seen, Though they were moss grey on top they had an ivory belly and deep wine pink claws. One of then was eating some kind of barnacle or mollusk.

I later took Nitin to see this coloured pool . While we were coming back we saw this huge White bellied Fish Eagle come in from the water's edge. It had a pure white head and Breast , a black border to its wings and a light grey back. Really missed my camera. But before Nitin's Phone battery died I was able to get this picture of the pool.

The resident crabs were wearing these same colours.

I am no expert on butterflies but I counted at least 10 different types all colours and sizes and as many tiny wild flowers.

With an area so rich in flora and fauna it is but natural that some of them found their way into the house itself. It was nice to share the house with them.

This handsome fellow usually made his appearance at night just outside the main door.

This fellow lives in the drawing room cupboard and is no trouble at all.

This green clad fellow dropped in to say hello the first evening we were there.

Now for the 'WORST' part of the trip.

Apart from the two caretakers(who cook reasonably well) the cottage is also 'home' to five dogs. And I use the term HOME very reluctantly...a better term would be JAIL, TORTURE HOUSE....YOU GET MY DRIFT. 

Now I am very fond of dogs and it is unthinkable for me to be around them without making friends with them. But I did not...did not pet them...did not play with them...did not touch them.....MIND YOU they are not a bit ferocious, on the other hand they are always wagging their tails and shirnking down low whenever you pass by. They were not skin and bone but their coats were dull and one really did not want to pet ot touch......By the way I have seen shinier coats on strays.

Let me tell you where the dogs live.....two of them are tied in a separate dog house next to the care takers cottage.....one is tied just outside the door of the caretakers hut and two are tied on either side of the main house door. IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER ....EVEN IN THE POURING RAIN. Its not really sheltered.

After a few hours of our arrival we asked the caretakers not to keep the dogs tied for our sake....for we were not afraid and they seemed to have been tied for quite some time now......but we were told it was ok....not to bother. And this continued for all THREE DAYS.

Nitin too had observed the condition of the dogs and was very smart in keeping me out of the house the first two days....we went to Alibag, Murud, Kashid, Chaul. For such a nice place ( and the fact that we had gone for a rest), we did not spend much time there.

But it had to happen.......by the third day I was in tears.....Nitin was ready to leave. I tried to explain to the caretakers, what exactly they were doing....dont think I got across to them....and then we threatened(and we were about to) LEAVE. They insisted that the dogs would get out of the boundry....so I said why dont you just secure the boundry and at least let them stretch their legs inside the compound. But I guess that was too much work. That they would take them out for a walk on the beach was out of the question....five dogs ...what were we thinking! On our insistence they let out two dogs....and sure enough they went out of the boundry...ran around on the beach...played with the strays there and came back in some time. That they rarely if ever got to get out was obvious from the fact that one of the dogs who came back after a run slept for the rest of the day, he was so tired and so out of shape. 

One dog which is tied outside their door is taken out daily to do his busines.....he is taken from his place outside the house to a pole two meters from the gate and tied there and then brought back after some time. The rest of the dogs eat sleep and do their business tied where they are on two foot chains. One dog stayed out the night  for the simple reason that she was in heat and I could see her playing with the dogs on the beach. If the caretakers had wanted to they could have gone and got her anytime they wanted....but.....

Before leaving I tried again to explain to the guys about the needs of their dogs ...they did not argue but I have ABSOLUTELY no hope for the poor things who seem to be condemned to live a life of horrific captivity . WORST OF ALL WHEN I CAME TO MUMBAI, I WROTE TO THE OWNER RADHIKA. IT WAS A VERY SWEET NON OFFENSIVE LETTER......BUT I DID NOT GET ANY REPLY.

I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.....

PLEASE DO NOT GO TO SALT RIM EVEN THOUGH THE PLACE IS LOVELY. I CANNOT AND I WILL NOT CONDONE ANIMAL CRUELTY. 

AND IF YOU CAN FORWARD THIS POST TO SOME ANIMAL CARE ORGANISATION I SHALL BE GRATEFUL.

THANKS.

WILL BE POSTING THIS LINK IF I CAN ON TRIP ADVISOR ALSO.