Trip to Elephanta Island

I was up with my alarm at 7 and decided that, if I applied enough plasters, I could do my pre-booked tours today. I left the hotel at just before 8 to go the the Café Mondegar for breakfast. Afterwards, it was just a short stroll to the meeting point for the trip to the Elephanta Caves. There were two other tourists - a couple of friends from London. One was of Gujarati heritage, and the other was Italian. We had some interesting conversations during tge trip.

Our guide, Harish, arrived on time and we walked to the Gateway of India to catch the 9am ferry to Elephanta Island. It takes an hour to reach the island. The ferry was packed, mainly with tourists. It was great to see the Gateway and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel from the sea as we left the city.

Elephanta Island, which covers 16 square kilometres, was originally called Gharapuri which means 'the city of caves'. It was renamed by 16th-century Portuguese explorers, after they found a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant near the entrance to the caves. They decided to take it home but ended up dropping it into the sea because their chains were not strong enough. Later, this sculpture was recovered by the British and moved to the Victoria Gardens in Mumbai where it still stands. The gardens are now part of Mumbai's zoo.

Harish told us that the island today has 1200 inhabitants occupying three villages. He was born on the island and still lives there with his wife and two children. Most islanders earn a living from growing rice, fishing, and repairing boats. The island is heavily forested, mainly with palm, mango, and tamarind trees. There are no schools on Elephanta, so island children attend boarding schools in Mumbai from the age of three and a half! During monsoon season, heavy rains mean that the ferries can't run, making the island inaccessible from the city for around four months!

Tourists are not allowed to be on the island after sunset. They must make sure they leave on the last ferry at 6.30pm.

What makes the island such a popular tourist attraction is the Elephanta Caves. Once we reached Elephanta, we took the narrow-gauge toy train from the boat landing stage to the base of the steps leading up to the caves. It's only about 600 metres, but it meant we didn't have to run the gauntlet of the multitude of sellers who lined the walkway. We were also somewhat protected from the mischievous macacque monkeys!Læs mere