River Rafting & Kayaking at Kundalika River (Kolad Village)

Date : 20-21 June 2009

Rafting is a challenging recreational activity utilizing a raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.

As readers of my long, you know that i have been involved in lot of trekking activities, and i always keep trying different adventures. Trek mates, once organised River rafting & Kayanking at kudalika river near kolad village, and registered immediately. I also pulled one of my friend Nayana, who pulled her friend Rajeev. Finally 3 of us registered for the event.

I along with Nayana, reached the scheduled meeting point at Kalwa, a station next to Thane station in Central line by Mumbai metro. As it is a slow train stop, we got down at Thane and took and auto to the deserted station of Kalwa. Rajeev soon joined us. Our organiser Mr. Nilesh arrived at 12 midnight with a private vehicle, Sumo. Totally we were 8 of us, and 4 more people planned to join us in the morning.

After 4 hours of traveling, we reached Pooja farm house where accomodation is being arranged in a special glass room, covered with just curtains. It is dormitory room with more than 12 beds to accommodate everyone.

Morning

I got up at around 7 am with a pleasant view of lake beside me, and sunrise ahead of me. I went out for a walk along the side of the lake and clicked few pics. After returning back to the farmhouse, i got ready for River rafting. Had a light breakfast and had one more photo session at the lake.

Morning View from the Farm House

We all reached the river rafting point at around 9 am, and rest 4 people of our group joined us over there. I spent sometime near the river wall. For those who don’t know about Kundalika river, It is not an natural river but artificial and the water is being released from 2 Dams daily. By sitting at the wall, i can see the gradual rise in the water level, once the dams are open. Infact on that particular day, only one gate got opened due to some reasons.

River rafting Base Point

We all got into the life jacket, and provided with a paddle. There is an quick instruction round by experts. Seems the raft can hold only 8 people + an expert. For emergency purpose one expert will be riding in a kayak with first aid kit and other arrangements along with the raft. Once we reached the actual river rafting point, the guide/experts taught us differnt procedures(ways of using raft) to be followed while rafting.

The Ride

Experts also instructed us on various rowing methods at the starting point. The journey started with splashing of water by the guide, making us wet. I enjoyed all bumpy rides, the time spent in water and other events. At one point of time, the guide asked all of us to stand at the edge of the raft, holding our hands and soon a bumpy ride came along and most of us fall in the water. I got hurt as i fell on the rock

Near the end of Rafting

At the end of the journey which is nearly after 3 hrs, We all asked to get down to the flowing water. I spent almost an hour and enjoyed to the full extent, tried different kinds of swimming, floating etc…

After 4 hrs of enjoyable experience, i reached the farmhouse, had lunch (Had one of the best chicken gravy) and slept for an house to prepare myself for kayaking.

I(right) & Nilesh @ Lunch

Kayaking

Kayak is a single person man powered boat. We reached the end point of rafting for kayaking, where the water is almost still. Rain started 10 mins after i started my kayaking session. It was totally a different experience, kayaking at the middle of the river with heavy rain pouring on us. I was at the pinnacle of my enjoyment and enjoyed completely, the nature. I felt these kind of activities are the best way to enjoy the nature and its assets. Few experts also joined us after sometime and asked to do different activities, which is only possible by experts like rowing the kayak in a standing position, toppling the kayak etc (I fell 4 times trying to stand in the kayak, but succeeded finally)

Kayaking point

Final words

It was my first and best river rafting experience so far and certainly a different experience altogether. It is one of the best places in Mumbai for River rafting and other water related adventures like river crossing, rappelling etc.

After some evening snacks and a cup of tea, we started our return jouney at 7:30 and reached Kalwa, Mumbai at 9 pm. I reached my place, borivali at 11, had food and slept.

My next river rafting places will be at Manali, Rishikesh and Nepal, which is of Higher grade and much more adventurous. People should consider river rafting at Kundalika river at monsoon, as the flow will be high. For first timers it is always feels good to try at any place.

Departing Photoshot