Maniapi trek
The story
In my all blog posts, i like to give a context about how the trip actually gets planned in my life;
So here goes nothing, if you are here to just know about the trek you can skip to the part where I get into the technicality of the trek i,e. About Mainapi waterfalls.
So there's this friend of mine whose one text message has taken me to places I otherwise would never have been able to reach,
Date and time : 12th march 4 pm
Her : Coming for a trek tomorrow? To mainapi
Me : Cool ,How do we go ? In in in
Her: Figuring out!
Me : I can take the car, how far is it?
At this point she was like mainapi, come on everyone knows this place, but you know i am very allergic to places in Goa!
My conscious mind always tries to ignore places in Goa and I stay ignorant about them.That’s a story for another time.
I told her i don't know this place
And then she said : It's in Netravali
Shoot! 2 hr long drive in this heat.
Ummm ok never mind let's do this.
Plan was done; 5 people including me were to go for this trek at 6am on the following day that is on 13th of March Sunday and were to leave by 6:30am
Date and Time : 6 Am 13th march
I get a message on my whatsapp
she tells me : It's just 3 of us for the trek now, 2 backed out
I was like wow dude! What kind of friends are these even?
And then another shocker - the third guy has also backed out.
It's just the two of us now!
On Sunday morning, if I have gotten up at 6 Am, I wish to do something very meaningful.
At this point I was cursing these people who had backed out.
The plan was off obviously.
And then i remembered my other friend who is a mountain climber and is always up for an adventure,
But to find him online at 6am was my biggest good luck of the day.
He immediately replied to my text , hey man you up?
He agreed to join in for the trip.
woohoo.
And then everything was back on track.
We three were to leave for this trek in almost an hour.
I live in Marcela, around 2 hrs drive from Netravali, and thus it was much needed for us to leave as soon as possible.
The journey began
Mainapi Trek and the waterfall.
My team : me at the extreme rigth!
How to reach
To reach mainapi one needs to enter the the Netravali wildlife sanctuary which is in the south of Goa, presuming you are traveling from the North of Goa, the journey is going to be very long - 2.5 to 3 hrs long precisely
Right mode of transportation
You can either opt for a two wheel or any 4 wheeler of your choice, the roads are well constructed and are smooth for a long drive/ride. There is no direct public transportation available to reach here. Also if you are traveling to Netravali you should remember there are no other tourist places around this place, it's in the outskirts of South Goa and takes a lot of time to fully enjoy. The closest beach is around 40 kms away which is in canacona known as Galgibaga beach , one of the isolated beaches in south goa and really a good place to hang out. I'll give a link about this place as well but first let's focus on this trek.
About the trek :
One needs to plan their journey really well if they intend to do this trek.
2.5 hrs of drive from panjim so if you leave at around 6:30-7 am to avoid the scorching heat you will be at the sanctuary at around 9 -9:30am i would say this is the best time to trek this waterfall,
The trek is itself of around 1 and half hours of complete climb.
4km climb one way to reach the floor.
The terrain is very simple to walk on.
The entire route has well constructed steps. With benches provided at each essential spot for pit stops.
There are no refreshment shops available once you are in the forest area
One needs to carry their food and water supply song with.
Considering you will be trekking in summer the chance of getting water flow at the waterfall is very less, so the best time is during monsoon or post monsoon in the winters december jan or even mid march
Things to carry:
Carry 2 liters of water minimum per head
Plenty of hydrating fruits and food.
There is always a forest guide available at the waterfall who ensures the safety to the tourists,
One side of the waterfall is very deep so it is supposed to be avoided for swimming.
While on the way to this trek location you will get plenty of small local cafes
Take a halt, have some local buns, vada pav mirchi and pack them for your trip.
There is no food available in the forest area.
The entry fee was around 100 Rs per head and 100 for the 4 wheeler and 50 for the 2 wheelers.
You can park the car right at the starting point of the trek but at your own risk.
The trek is moderately difficult and doesn't require any kind of skill sets just needs to walk and walk till you get to the waterfalls
The waterfalls isn't depp either one can easily have a good swim in the flowing water
Carry a pair of clothing , wear good gripping shoes , a cap , â…” lit of water , fruits snacks, lunch and start the climb.
The descent is very easy while returning, for obvious reasons.
The trail doesn't need any guidance; it's a straight forwards route with very nice picturesque areas in between for pit stops and photoshoots.
Enjoy and travel safe 😀
To read about my K2S night trek
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