Author: Gauri Kshirsagar
According to Richard Louv (2008 Audubon Medal Recipient and author of Last Child in the Woods), kids today are becoming more and more removed from nature, at the expense of their own psychological and physical well-being. Children are spending more time in structured activities and on electronic devices, leaving little time for unstructured play in nature. Understanding that many of us live the reality of a hustling, busy day-to-day life, I am not suggesting that we all pick up and move to the mountains, though the idea certainly seems appealing at times, but a short ‘nature’ trip can as well do the trick.
Many of us have heard of the Valley of Flowers in the scenic Himalayas, but how many of us know there is a similar yet smaller version of it in Maharashtra, a short drive from the bustling city of Pune? If you want to take a small weekend or day nature trip with your kids around Pune, this is the place for you. The Kaas Plateau, also known as Kaas Pathar, is a plateau situated 26 kilometres west from Satara city in Maharashtra, India. It falls under the Sahyadri Sub Cluster of the Western Ghats, and it became a part of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2012.
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