Amboli is a Hill station, located in Sahyadri Hills of Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra. Amboli is at an altitude of 690m above the sea level & covered with lush green but dense forest. Amboli is all time destination but tourists mostly visit in Monsoon season because of beautiful nature & waterfalls. Rainfall is heavy and for most of the monsoon, it’s cold and foggy here. It’s also very rare to see sunlight during this season.
Unlike most of the tourists, our interest for visiting Amboli was it’s “Biodiversity & Wildlife”. Amboli is also an attraction for wildlife lovers and Photographers. It’s mainly popular for Reptiles & Amphibians.
Let’s start the Photo tour
We have split this tour in 2 parts: DAY TRAIL & NIGHT TRAIL
We reached at Amboli S.T. Stand around 7.00 AM and as you can see, that was the first visual. We, then reached out to our hotel(Home Stay) Durvankur to prepare for our next journey. Getting ready for our morning and afternoon nature trails with proper coverings and our photography weapons 😉
All Set to Embark on a Nature Trail
Wait… are we forgetting something? Yes
Frogs gives you calls at night but TUMMY started giving calls first :D. Maalvani food is a popular type of food in Amboli. Our hotel had tasty snack options like Misal Pav, Amboli (Kinda Uttapa), Omlette etc. Your trails may stretch longer in distance as well as time so you better fill your tummy first and of-course Tea/Coffee after breakfast.
Amboli is a heavy raining place and so it can be a problem for your uttermost excitement. So you have to be very careful with your gears(Camera Lenses). Also cover yourself as much as you can to avoid spoiling your trip ( Check the list of things to carry on Amboli trip HERE ). Then we met to our friendly & knowledgeable guide Kedar Jadhav. Moving further we started our trail on Chaukul Road, mainly for Green Vine Snake.
After long search and walking, finally we found this little Green BEAUTY:
After photographing that green beauty, we found this fellow crossing the main road.
You might see regular crabs as well as PURPLE colored crabs in this area.
SSSShhhhh… Now here’s the scary‚ Malabar Pit Wiper, Green Morph.
Malabar Pit Viper is a venomous snake but not deadly to adult humans if treated in few hours. Its venom causes moderate pain and swelling to humans (Source: Wikipedia). It can be seen in Green, Brown as well as Orange Morphs. We found Brown Morph during our Night Trail (Amboli – Night Trail).
One of the quite but otherwise active places in Amboli Forest
Here is another MAIN ATTRACTION of Amboli: Malabar Gliding Frog (In Sleeping Mode)
They sleep during the day and are very much active at night. You can hear their calls pretty loudly during the night. And they are in good numbers out there.
Hey! Heyy! HOOMANS… I’m trying to sleep here… some privacy please!
Here comes the Bush Frog’s Eggs with Closeup shots. Some captures to show you “the life” taking shape in these tiny shells.
These are the Tadpoles.
Thank you Mangesh Deshpande for a good company on this tour as well as sharing your CAPTURES.
How to Reach:
Amboli is a Hill station, located in Sahyadri Hills of Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra.
Nearest Cities are:
Sawantwadi – 30 km
Kudal- 48 km
Kolhapur – 118 km via Gadhinglaj
Belgaum – 69 km
Gadhinglaj – 55 km
Nearest Railway Stations are:
Sawantwadi Railway Station – 30 km
Kudal Railway Station – 48 km
Belgaum Railway Station – 70 km
Kolhapur Railway Station – 119 km
BEST Time to Visit
Amboli is all time destination for Wildlife lovers but starting from June till November, is the best season for everyone. Amboli is famous for it’s beautiful waterfalls and green landscapes.
Things to Carry
- Rain Coats and Umbrella (For Photography)
- Camera and Macro Lens (Preferred)
- Gum Boots are better but not necessary or else any regular trekking shoes
- Torch
- Additional Clothes (Particularly in Monsoon)
- Your regular Medicines
14 Comments
Shubham
on March 21, 2022 at 8:46 PM -
Amazing sir….Information will help everyone in actual location
Ravi Choudhary
on November 20, 2019 at 11:57 AM -
Dear sir,
Thanks to u for such an informative and knowledgeable post for upcoming wildlife enthusiastics like us,much like your post.if you can please mention macro lens details,which you used,as well as category of flash then it ll be exclusively beneficial.
Thanks again
ADMIN TravelClix
on November 21, 2019 at 5:44 PM -
Hi Ravi,
Thank you for visiting, appreciating our post and encouraging with your kind words. We’ve used Canon 550D Camera with regular torch actually 😀 and not a flash. We have used a kit lens along with additional Macro Close up Lens Filter. It’s not a great tool for macro photography but surely a good one for budget wise ;). It’s better use Macro lens for clear pictures. You can easily find that on amazon.
Roop
on September 27, 2019 at 2:34 PM -
Loved it, beautifully captured
Specially i love snakes 😍
ADMIN TravelClix
on September 27, 2019 at 3:19 PM -
Thank you Roop. Stay Connected 🙂
Koustav Biswas
on August 25, 2019 at 1:04 PM -
Hi Sir, you have got some awesome collection of images. I have been to Amboli 23, 24th Aug, 2019. But, could not find any snake except one keelback. We didn’t take any guide, may be that’s our fault. Can you give any reasonable guide’s contact no.? What is the best season/ month to explore Amboli according to you?
ADMIN TravelClix
on August 27, 2019 at 5:41 PM -
Hi Koustav
You must go with experts because its very difficult for any common person like us to spot those amazing reptiles and amphibians easily. Kaka Bhise is a conservationist and expert person from Amboli and also founder of “Malabar Nature Conservation Club, Amboli”. He and team organizes Monsoon Nature Camps in this season (check FB page). Current season is the right season till December. We had Kedar Jadhav (+91 9067433403) with us and he is one of the knowledgeable person from same club in Amboli.
Praveen
on June 27, 2019 at 12:37 PM -
Do any one can enter into the forest or we need to book any safari or hotel?
ADMIN TravelClix
on July 2, 2019 at 10:09 AM -
I think you can but you must need guide if you are not aware of that place. We explored Chaukul road and Botanical garden only in our trip.
Traveller
on June 7, 2019 at 5:23 PM -
Very nice captures… :star:
ADMIN TravelClix
on June 25, 2019 at 9:39 AM -
Thank you 🙂
Milind
on August 27, 2018 at 12:50 PM -
Beautifully captured Natur’s creations…. Always awaiting for more from your Lenses
ADMIN TravelClix
on August 27, 2018 at 1:00 PM -
Thank you so much Milind 🙂
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