Nature Study was one of my favourite subjects while growing up. I still remember one summer project where we had to press leaves and flowers into a scrap book with their botanical and local names .

I benefited a lot from this exercise and take every opportunity to introduce my Little Ones to this fascinating subject.

Last weekend while the Little Ones had a break for Mahashivratri, we took the weekend off .

We drove down to the Machan, an ecoresort a few miles off Lonavala.

This resort that offers every modern amenity surprisingly manages to retain its ethos of living with nature. For one , it is off the grid generating its own wind and solar energy.

Secondly, there aren’t any golf carts offering rides to the far flung cottages . You have to walk every where on pretty rudimentary paths that were essentially to keep the creepy crawlies out of your way.

Set in a tropical forest that has been restored, it seeks to preserve the bio-diversity of the Sahyadri mountain range. And , with three naturalists on site , it turned out to be the perfect place to introduce the Little Ones to nature.

It was a fun experience for us all : spotting birds that chirped around us, identifying plants and trees and stargazing in the clear sky.

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Is there a nature reserve near you ?

Ciao and happy tree loving .