All those ppl who went to Amboli in September 2005, will know the awe that overcomes a person once u step in Amboli. The climate, the sight, the sheer presence of a place so new yet so familiar. All u nature lovers will know.Its exhilerating! The place in the Monsoon is even better. Parikshit point- leeches! Mahadeogarh point- the sloth bear trail.. n much more! Shirgaonkar point- waterfall n nature -the works! The experience has been unforgettable! 4 SNAKES!!! - in order of occurence: the vine snake, the Bedom's Cat Snake, the wolf snake, and .... ladies n gentlemen- brace yourselves- Trimeresurus malabaricus - the Malabar Pit Viper!!!!!!!!!!! n to think that it was right behind me when i was drinking tea!! Imagine the adrenaline rush!!! A flutter and bustle for cameras, evryone grasping for one... the Instructors keeping the campers at a safe distance.. (im not being diplomatic- its quite necessary with a snake like that one around!!!) so there is posing and photography session for 20 minutes... after which the snake is transferred into a jar with holes- which took 15 frantic minutes to search for!! then, its colouration is displayed and explained, my mouth refuses to shut!. the sheer shock that the snake had been exactly behind me on a shrub -the drizzle making it even more authentic!!! thank god for the fact that it was a juvenile bcoz adults are mindblowingly longer than most Vipers.To think that this snake could make a group of 42 ppl keep so quite that it was eerie... is amazing!!! to think that it could make ME keep shut!!- wow!!! talkative is my 2nd name!!and this guy has such a mind boggling effect- i guess the camp bcame special 2me that instant.!! and then... Amboli really is gr8!! especially with 41 leech bites to show off!! - seriously- my feet bled thru the 3 kerchiefs i tied 2 each of them!!! thats called "blood presssure" hehe... but this camp- had it all- Nature, Birds, - we waited for the so called Dwarf kingfisher which akash still hasnt managed 2 convince us about!!! n then, the leeches- that made 5 ppl back out Parikshit chi trail- Cowards- they missed it!!!Then, the Hiranyakeshi temple and the cave, wowee!!! even the intro trail during which we had the intro session in a mandir thanks to gorgeous rainfall !!! incessant!!!! vinya went crazy after the lime n almost went off the "hill". cartoon!! the mad rush for Solkadhi- Christ!!!!!!!! we were looking like starved hooligans!!! the cat that had charmed Amogh so much!!! cute kid n cute kitty!! The musical afternoons- with Bhuvan's guitar and us singing!!! we did that so dedicatedly! -is that even a word???The absolutely annoying antiques of Rahul Bhusari- his fantastic Pj's.... mostly on me!!! deepak raag- yeah rite! and the time when we were eating fresh hot kanda bhajji in the cold rain.... wow! then the frisbee championship at Nangartaas. - the water spouts- in our face! the group photo- with all the volunteers n instructors running to the camera!! - Rahul bhusari cheated btw- jumped first!!!! so then, this camp had it all- Nature, adventure, psychos, thrill, awe, speechless moments, sighting moments, friendships...that have lasted thruout! evrything.... there's lots more ive been wise enuf not to mention!! hehe... ;-)but it all comes down to this- Amboli rocked and so did the campers!!! n so did that mindblowing Malabar Pit Viper!!!!!! so... hope there are more ppl to appreciate the beauty of the place next monsoon!!! go on- we gotta c a blue mormon on the 1st trail!!!!! yeah!this place is pure magic, just pure magic... incomparable. so when u headed there?... gimme a call- il b packed n ready 2 leave! AMBOLI ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!- A J.