T he Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP, popularly called Borivali National Park) at 7 am is full of people taking brisk walks, walking their pets or cycling. Few like us decided to explore the Shilonda Trail for an escape into the wild.

The trail is a great way to understand the flora and fauna that abounds in a forest that is so close to Mumbai

The motley group had gathered near the ticket counter, waiting for Rahul, our guide from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Our group included several kids with their parents. The youngest was a five-year-old girl, who was armed with binoculars and a reference book on birds. SGNP houses the largest population of leopards in Western India, and the Shilonda Trail (4 km), a leopard trail, opens only twice a year — in January and when it rains. As we walked through the fine mixed forest dominated by bamboo and trees, the forest bed crackled under our feet with dried leaves, twigs and tree roots. It is amazing that the park, which is a home to over 1,000 plant species, 251 species of migratory land and water birds (many endangered), 50,000 species of insects and 40 species of mammals, is in the middle of a mega city.