A nature walk at Socorro Plateau: The other Goa

The weather apps have forecasted heavy to very heavy downpour in North Goa on that August day. Sitting in Panjim, I wonder if we would be able to attend the guided nature walk scheduled at Socorro Plateau, a laterite plateau with lush monsoon grass cover, the next day. Socorro Plateau is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the last remaining bastions of undisturbed nature in Goa. It is around 18 kilometres from Panjim city.

The Socorro Plateau walk is all about appreciating the beauty and oddities of tiny flora and fauna. It is monsoon and we are here to watch and learn more about the monsoon ecosystem of Socorro. You can spot creatures here that complete their life cycle in one single season itself!

We check out from Vivenda Rebello Homestay in Panjim early next morning. Surrounded by his three dogs, Derc, our extremely helpful host, waves us goodbye. After a short drive of 30 minutes we arrive at the starting point—a bakery on the highway. Here our guide and fellow naturalist Parag Rangnekar is already waiting for us.

We board Parag’s car and leave the highway. He takes a thin tar road bordered by heavy vegetation. Sometimes houses spring from among the foliage. There are small villages here. The road finally ends on top of a tableland—the Socorro Plateau.

Knowing the tiny members of the animal and plant kingdoms

A carpet of lush grass drapes the rocky terrain. Far away I can see forests on one side and a concrete wall on the other side. Puddles reflect the gloomy sky here and there. The weather could not have been better! It is windy. The cloud cover protects us from the glare of the Sun and yet it is not raining.

Chirping of birds’ drifts like music. Socorro Plateau is a bird-watcher’s paradise. We walk on the grassland as Parag points his finger to egrets and skylarks. He crouches beside a puddle and observes the water closely. We crouch beside him. Then he pulls out a magnifying glass and we take a closer look at a plant. “Look at this, the nodules at the base of its roots trap tiny aquatic insects”.

I notice gigantic nests dangle from the branches of trees. I ask what creatures live in it. “Oh these are just ant nests,” says Parag casually. I am dumbfound. I never imagined ant nests could be this huge! The orange headed thrush chirps like background music all through our walk. We spot two of them perched on branches.

Parag shows us sarpagandha (Rauvolfina Serpentina), a medicinal plant whose roots have some anti-cancer properties. It was once overexploited by the pharmaceutical industry. We walk a while and then Parag again crouches in front of a weed with yellow flowers—Cassia tora. I find out later that Cassia tora has innumerable benefits. Its seeds can be grounded and brewed into tea. Apparently, they emanate a coffee-like fragrance. The plant can relieve skin diseases and is abundantly used in Ayurveda medicine.

Insects and animals who can camouflage

We start walking again and in front of a stack of dried sticks suddenly Parag stops. “There is something here, you point out,” he says. I comb the pile with my eyes. I move my position and try to look at it from different angles. Husfriend and I both put in much effort but we couldn’t for the life of us spot anything. Then Parag softly nudges a stick and I see it move, it is a stick insect! It has nicely camouflaged itself among the sticks. Parag then takes the insect on his palm and we see it in its full glory.

Soon we are again given the task of spotting something in a puddle. He gives us a hint — “It is an animal”. We gloriously fail yet again. He points out a stone inside the puddle and says, “Here, see, a frog”. Then he gently nudges the stone but for a long time nothing moves. The frog is so confident about its camouflaging capacity! Finally, it moves and we spot him for a split second before he vanishes into another puddle. Throughout our trail we spot many of them, but they are impossible to keep track of.

We see tiny purple petal flowers called murdannia, and then our guide spots an insectivorous plant called drosera indica. They are so tiny that I employ the magnifying glasses yet again. It is not flowering now. We spot some hybrid cashew trees, and then the naturalist finds an interesting subject that would keep us engaged for quite some time—a millipede!

More of plants and animals that thrive in Socorro Plateau

On being touched these millipedes instantly curl up and take the shape of a circular pebble. They again transform to their own form when they are convinced no-one is around. We spot some wild turmeric and then come across Indian sarasaparilla. The latter gets me excited because just a few months earlier while attending the Floating Feni experience, I have learnt about its existence. Not just that, we even drank dukshiri – a feni cocktail infused with the roots of Indian Sarasaparilla! The root has a vanilla-like scent and the plant is used in many medicines (we did not uproot them, Parag just told us about this feature).

Now showing us a bushy shrub, whose branches bear 3 small fruits in every stalk, Parag says, “You must have tasted fish curry in Goa? So you must have tasted this fruit as well”. The fruit is called triphal and it is abundantly used in Goan fish curries to impart a unique flavour. The fruit is commonly found in the Konkan belt. Next, we smell another weed-like plant that smells like Amrutanjan.

We see red crabs (ghatiana splendida) crawling on the rocks. As we get close, they hide inside the cervices of rocks and trees. Bull frogs hop around. Parag tries a lot to find snakes but I guess we are not that lucky. We did spot a lot more flora and fauna, some of whose names I do not remember.

Our walking tour comes to an end and Parag drives us back to the meeting spot. He informs us about similar walks he leads in Amboli, Maharashtra. We take mental note of it and bid adieu to him.

Details

• Price: INR 1200 per head (prepaid)

• Duration: 2-3 hours

• Location: Aradi Socorro

• How to book: We discovered this experience and booked it via the app Urbanaut. You can also get in touch with Parag Rangnekar via his Instagram(@paragrangnekar), I am sure he will help you out. He runs Mrugaya Expeditions, they run birding and wildlife focused tours. You can get in touch on Instagram here (@mrugayaxpeditions).

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