Kausani Site Seeing

Kausani is a beautiful hill station near Almora. It is 1890 meters above the sea level. Nature has given all the beauties to this hill station. Walking in green tea garden is more then enough to rejuvenate yourself. In Kausani you feel like you can touch the Himalayas. Himalayas is so close from Kausani.

The sensation is Kausani's Sun rise and Sun set. After seeing the sun rise and sun set you would praise Kausani your-self as I am doing here.

The great Hindi poet Sumitrnandan Pant was born in Kausani, one have the chance to visit the place where the great poet was born. This place is famous as Pant museum.

In 1929 Mahata Gandhi came to Kausani and after looking the natural beauties of Kausani, He could not stop him-self of praising Kausani. The place where Mahatma Gandhi was stayed is known as Anashakti Ashram.

There are other places as well near Kausani where you can trek:

Baijnath Temple: Baijnath is a Historic Temple of Lord Shiva. You can perform puja(worship) here. After completing your puja(worship) do not forget to trek in the banks of Gomati River.

Someshwar: Someshwar is on the way to Kausani. Shomeshwar is famous for green fields and the temple of Lord Shiva.

Pinakeshwar: A small temple in the middle of dense forest. You would love to visit this place again and again, if you visit this place for one time. There is a waterfall near this temple which is awesome. You can have some fun with your friends on this waterfall.

Bageshwar: Bageshwar is a small town. It is famous for confluence of Saru and Gomati Rivers and Bagnath temple is also famous. It is a small town, but you can get everything you want for your daily use.

You can also visit Pindari Glacier, Jageshwar Temple, Almora, Chitai Temple, Ranikhet, Chaukori. All of these places are very close to Kausani.

What to eat: You have plenty of options for food in Kausani. You can get every kind of continental food, Chinese food, south Indian food and mouth watering Kumaoni food. I recommend you to eat Kumaoni food the specialty of Kausani.

Shopping:You obviously like to bring something with you from Kausani. So you can buy Pickles, Honey, Gaht dal and do not forget to buy the fresh tea. All of the things are available at the small market of Kausani.

Stay in Kausani:There are approximately 50 hotels in Kausani. The tariffs are not very costly which cost from Rs. 300 to 3000 Per Night. At season time make sure that you are making booking in advance otherwise it's very difficult to get rooms at season time.

I am a web developer and Travelling is my hobby. while I travel I write about the places. Kausani was awesome place. I stayed there at Pratiksha Himalayan Retreat. I believe it is one of the best Hotels in Kausani.

http://EzineArticles.com/6486967

How to Become a Naturalist

If you have an interest in wildlife and want to learn more about the natural world around you then I would encourage you to take the next step and become a naturalist. In this case I am defining a naturalist as a person who is interested in botany or zoology, especially in the field.

Learning how to identify the plants, birds, insects, fungi etc. around you will open up a whole new world to you. Although learning identification is important and rewarding, you can go on to learn about how organisms live, interact with one another and react to different situations. Additionally, you will learn what the presence of those organisms tells you about the landscape you are in.

What to look for

Whichever country you live in there are many thousands of different mammals, reptiles, birds, flowers, trees, insects, fungi etc. for you to see. You won't be able to learn about all of them, so at some point you will have to specialise, but for your first year I suggest that you try everything. Visit the nature reserves, parks and wildlife areas in your local neighbourhood and see how many animals, birds and plants you can find. Keep a diary and write down the sites that you visit, the date and everything that you see. When you get home, use some reference books to see if you can identify what you saw.

When

The best time of year to start is when there is plenty of wildlife around. Late spring or early summer are recommended. Starting in winter is not recommended as the poor weather makes it more challenging and the lack of wildlife can be disheartening.

Who with

The easiest way to learn how to be a naturalist is to find someone else who is already a naturalist and go on some field trips with them. They will give you advice on how to identify what you see, but they will also be able to give advice on two other important things:

1. Where to go to see more unusual wildlife, and

2. How to hunt for, search for and seek out interesting wildlife.

Another excellent way to learn about wildlife is to go on a guided walk at a local nature reserve. Some places are better at publicising these than others, but if you keep an eye out at your local library, local newspaper or a notice board at your local nature reserve, you can find out when guided walks take place. Also, nowadays, a lot of nature reserves have their own website, so any events will be advertised there. Going on such a walk will show you wildlife you may not have noticed yourself, but also it will also introduce you to people with a similar interest.

Another alternative is to join a local wildlife trust or conservation volunteer group and go out on tasks. Also some larger organisations, such as the National Trust, run working holidays at nature reserves that they own.

Joining a national organisation such as the RSPB, Mammal Society, Wild Flower Society or Butterfly Conservation Society will help you to find out about events for members and provide you with a magazine to read as well. Once you go to an event you will meet other people with the same interest and they may tell you about a local society that you can join.

A local wildlife group or society is the best group to join as they will run field trips in your local area, help you to find the best sights near to where you live and provide help in identification. I enjoy the social side of being in a local group and sharing your interest and enthusiasm with others.

Reading and Recording

When you are not on a field trip, I recommend that you buy a good field guide and read about wildlife in your spare time. Friends or local clubs can recommend good field guides. Otherwise have a look at the reviews on Amazon or other natural online bookstores; they will give you good ideas on where to start.

You will also need to buy a good notebook, with a waterproof cover, and write down what you see. Keeping records is an important part of being a naturalist. As well as aiding with identification, they help you to learn about different sites and compare them. You can also look back if you want to see a rare bird, flower etc. and see where they are found. The act of writing something down seems to help you learn and remember more abut the wildlife you have seen.

Many naturalists are also interested in photography, so you may want to take photos of the interesting wildlife that you see. Trying to take a photo of a bird, flower etc. really helps you to learn about their features, characteristics and habitat as well. It also gives you an excellent record of your day.

Other Equipment

Make sure you have good waterproof clothing for your field trips. You may also need special camouflaged clothing for watching birds or animals.

You may also need specialist equipment such as binoculars, magnifying glass, nets, traps etc.

Location is Very Important Too

Learn where the best sites for wildlife are. Some places are much better than others and an obvious starting point is to visit your local nature reserves.

Specialising

After the first year you will have an idea of which field you want to specialise in and you can concentrate on that. My advice is to be a specialist, but keep a good general knowledge as well. It is good to know the different butterflies, birds, flowers and fish that you see commonly, but it is also good to be a specialist in one particular area as well. Being a specialist means that you can be of great help to other people, but also conduct research and make new discoveries yourself.

After you have built up your local general knowledge, you may want to go deeper and specialise in one particular group of organisms. There will be a national society for you to join and members there will be glad to help you. You may also be able to take part in a national recording scheme and do surveys for them.

In summary

Starting out as a naturalist can be a bit daunting, but there is always help around, with local societies, field guides and websites as well. You can be a naturalist on our own if you wish and you can keep your own personal records. Alternatively, you can join with others in a local or national society and recording scheme. Whichever you do, have fun and enjoy your new-found interest.

Michael Knaggs is an experienced and enthusiastic naturalist who has been visiting the countryside and observing birds, mammals, butterflies and wild flowers since he was 12 years old. He is a member of the Wild Flower Society and the Bradford Botany Group.

http://EzineArticles.com/6451760

The Cape Glass Works in Glencairn - The Industrial Heritage Of Cape Point

Some years ago I was walking in the area of Elsies Peak in Fish Hoek (south of Cape Town on the Cape Point Peninsula- for those who do not know the area, Fish Hoek is a small town nestled on the eastern end of the Noordhoek valley, which effectively splits the Table Mountain range in two. It is a small town of a few thousand people and Elsies Peak rises to the South of it).

I had not been living here long but had already been to the summit so I decided to explore the South side of the hill. My journey took me down the hill towards the Spar convenience store but being a bit of an explorer I didn't take the obvious route and ended up cutting through a small opening between some houses. So it was by complete luck that I first happened upon one of the more unusual historical sites of the Cape Point Peninsula- The Cape Glass Company, or rather, what is left of it!

Unfortunately the site is closed to visitors (undoubtedly for safety reasons), however, if you are tall enough you can pretty much see all there is to see from the outside of the fence.

The Cape Glass Company was registered as a British company on 4th March 1902 under the management of a Mr. Briarley. It was the intention of the company to produce over 8 million dark brown or aqua coloured bottles per annum. That sounds a lot, but then, like now, Cape Town had a thriving brewing industry, both wine and beer.

They were going to achieve such high production numbers by using automated processors. In this regard the founders were to be a technical pioneer, this being the first glass works in the world to make bottles using automation only.

Ohlsson's Cape Breweries had a large shareholding in the business and saw the glass works as an answer to their need for bottles for their larger production in Johannesburg (importing the bottles was seen as very expensive).

The glass works had no competitors, a large market, cutting edge technology and adequate financial backing; so why is the Cape Glass Works not a rival for Pilkingtons? Despite all these advantages the company only lasted until 1905, when it went into voluntary liquidation. What went wrong?

The first problem was the location. Quite why the site was chosen is unclear. In the early 20th century Glencairn was an inhospitable wasteland and transporting glassware to civilization would undoubtedly lead to a lot of breakages. Also, since the machinery was so cutting edge the work force came primarily from overseas. A combination of isolation and homesickness made for an unmotivated work force. For this reason the production facility was poorly run and inefficient, surely impacting on the bottom line.

The other major problem is one that is familiar to nearby Metro railway today (and would have been far worse back then), that of shifting sand dunes: one can imagine that as many people were employed to keep the sand at bay as for making bottles.

In the end the location and the elements won and the Cape Glass Works was forced to close its doors in 1905. The experiment was never repeated and the site allowed to be swallowed by the sand. The works lay under the sand and was overgrown with vegetation until the 1980's when extensive excavation revealed the site as it can be seen today.

Next time you are at the Glencairn Spar take a minute to walk across, past the Masonic hall and down a break between the houses and there it is, an almost forgot piece of the Cape Point Peninsulas industrial past, and a reminder that we never beat nature we just slow it down for a while.

Russell Hepworth is a resident of Cape Point in South Africa. He moved there in 2005. Originally hailing from the UK he now is a permanent resident of South Africa and lives in the beauty of the Fair Cape, and shares his experiences in his blog- http://www.capepointchronicle.co.za/.

http://EzineArticles.com/6471230