The haversack is his first love, with his family probably (my guess) playing the second fiddle, because on Sundays, when most of us yawn through the day, you would find Ghanekar, in the midst of an adventure trip in the mesmerising Sahyadris.

This botanist, whose passion for Chhatrapati Shivaji's forts, inspired him to explore by foot these awesome landmarks of Maratha history, has climbed about 300 of them till date. While doing so, he re-discovered to his delight, various geological and geographical wonders that dot Maharashtra, in the most unlikeliest of places. Like, for example, the natural land bridge at Gulanchwadi near Narayangaon, in the vicinity of Ale Phata, which was discovered by Dr.L.K.Kshirsagar, professor of Geology at the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT).

While leading geologists had already discovered and written about them in technical journals, to Ghanekar goes the credit, of making them people-friendly through his write-ups in newspapers and magazines.

His 48-page book, Vigyanachi Navaltirtha meaning spectacles of science, released recently by Pune-based Shilpa Prakashan, is an interesting compilation of 38 geological, biological and historical wonders, many of them, tucked in the most unexpected places. Although this little book is not visually beautiful, nature lovers can derive exciting details from here, since it is a friendly guide. (See box for glimpses into some places).

For Ghanekar, who began his rendezvous with nature during his college days when he used to go on excursions to forts, as part of the botany syllabus, his interest in trekking grew by leaps and bounds. Subsequently, as a member of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhan Mandal and Bharat Outward Bound Pioneer, he became an avid and veteran trekker. Also, thanks to his botany syllabus, which included Paleobotany, meaning a study of plant fossils, entailed a lot of field study. ``During one such study,'' states Ghanekar, ``while I was at the foot of the Pemgiri fort, about 20kms near Sangamner, on the Pune-Nashik Highway, I saw this massive Banyan tree resting on four acres, which is now well-known.''

His penchant for searching natural wonders and then sharing them with the public has earned him so much goodwill, that he has a fan mail.

Says Ghanekar, ``One such person wrote to me that, at Hedvi, near Guhaghar in Konkan, there's a huge rock, shaped rectangularly which rests at the shore, from which springs a natural fountain. When I went there, I was amused to see this 8x10 metre long rock which is three to five metres deep and is one metre in width. During high tide, when the water fills the crevice, there's a delightful fountain-like action from this crevice.

Some geologically and geographically important places - some of which are destroyed due to development or encroachment: