Part II
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| The vast expanse of the Sanganal landscape |
During the second half of the day with warm sunshine to keep us company, we moved to Sanganal. This is the area of black cotton soil, now painted green during the farming season. It was green as far as eyes could see and the same would be black once the crops were harvested. This was the choice habitat for the blackbucks. The uneven path of the undulating terrain through the vast green stretches tossed us around in the vehicle. We were shaken, stirred and had our bones rearranged multiple times during our journey through Sanganal. The blackbucks were nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly Durganna noticed some grazing blackbucks afar and confidently pointed them to us. I squinted and strained my eyes, but could see nothing. Then I pulled out my lens, peered through it and scanned the area to notice what looked like a bunch of brown specks moving around. The way this man had seen those amazing creatures at such a distance while driving the vehicle and had identified them was nothing short of amazing.
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| Blackbucks in Sanganal Landscape |
Luckily for us as we drove further, another herd of blackbucks came into view. They were a little closer and we could spot them without much embarrassment. They grazed peacefully not too bothered by our presence. After a while we decided to go our separate ways to further get acquainted with Sanganal.
Traversing through this terrain had taken a considerable amount of time and we still had Hanumsagar to visit, post a significantly delayed lunch. We had to be there before sunset to catch the view.
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| Red rocky soil and pinched up rocky mounds in Hanumsagar |
After a quick yet a sumptuous 4pm lunch, we were out again towards Hanumsagar. Red rocky soil, a perfect place for sandgrouse, quails, francolins and the kind greeted us. Also greeting us was a cloudy sky which meant the sun would take a dip in the west behind the clouds much sooner than anticipated.
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| Another beautiful view of the Hanumsagar terrain |
Under the fast fading light we reached a cliff where lumps of rocky mounds seemingly pinched off from the flat surface stood at frequent intervals. These natural formations were so uniform that it did raise some doubts of the possibility of them having been man-made. They could have easily passed off as cousins to dolmens, that have a home not too far from Hanumsagar. Just to make sure, I peered into every crevice to try and spot some clue about these structures. Other than scaring away a few astonished members of the lizard family, I really did not achieve much. Darkness was setting swiftly and it was time to head back. The nightjars with their typical ping pong ball call were out on the paths, getting illuminated in the headlights.
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| Natural yet man-made looking formations in the Hanumsagar terrain |
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| Nightjar sitting on the path |
There was one more stop to the Chandalingeswar temple which was at about 4km from Hanumsagar, but that's a story for another day.
We were back for dinner under the starry night sky once again with the orchestra of the insects. After being on the road from dawn to dusk for the major part of the day, we felt an immense gratitude towards Indrajit Ghorpade for the kind invite to connect with the soil as never before and have the most profoundly grounding experience.
Here is a bit about DCF and what they are striving to do:
DCF is also coming up with a 12 part series to showcase the rich flora and fauna of the Deccan terrain and here is just a teaser to the series.
Location map:
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