We got up "late" this morning, around 8:30, after what was a really nice and quiet sleep - the silence here, apart from the sound of nature, is absolute bliss! First thing we went out on the balcony where we just sat and enjoyed nature and watched birds and cats flittering about on their business. Total relaxation...
Just after 9:00 we went for breakfast in the dining room, where Claire had Omelette and I had boiled eggs - with fruit, toast, coffee, butter and jam - basic but very nice!
However, as the day passed I started feeling really tired and fatigued; I went for a sleep, while Claire was out and about and on the balcony, but it didn't do much. In the end I managed to persuade myself to get up and go on the government bus safari. We were driven by Kumar down to the government facility in Theppakadu where he arranged tickets for us and got us on the bus to see the parts of Mudhumalai Tiger Reserve where only government buses are allowed drive - before then he did take us down to the river just before the town where he showed us a small tamed elephant being wash in the river and we did take a few pictures before handing over a bit of money to the head washer - and went on our way again to the bus. While on the bus, on what turned out to be a real "out-back" ride along very bumpy and loosely defined roads, we did see a number of wild animals including elephants, a giant squirrel, (rare, uni-coloured) Sambar deer and the usual bunch of peacocks - Claire and another guy on the bus even spotted a (very rare) Leopard, which caused quite the commotion in the bus - but unfortunately it remained an unconfirmed sighting as the Leopard was on the move and they didn't get a picture in time before it disappeared.
The bus journey took only 45 minutes after which we were offloaded at point of origin in Theppakadu with ticket in hand, which we then used to get in to the elephant feeding grounds. We spent about 30 minutes there looking at tamed elephants, including an orphan and a grown one used to transport food for the others in its trunk. There were also plenty of peacocks about there, as well as wild boar.
Then at 18:00 Kumar took us on a 1.5 hour drive on the main roads around Mudhumalai where we saw more wild elephants, peacocks - and as day turned to dusk, even a black bear with its small offspring, which Kamur scared away by getting to close to them with the jeep with lights on so that we could spot them. But we got to see them, although we don't have the documentary evidence in the form of pictures.
Returning to Wild Haven at 19:45 I was still feeling really fatigued and didn't much fancy sitting around a camp fire with 17 people who had just arrived on the day. So instead I retired to the room for a bit until Claire texted me to let me know that our dinner was ready in the main dining room (buffet style dinner). We then had dinner and then returned to the room and watched a couple of the Big Bang Theory before going to sleep.
Just after 9:00 we went for breakfast in the dining room, where Claire had Omelette and I had boiled eggs - with fruit, toast, coffee, butter and jam - basic but very nice!
However, as the day passed I started feeling really tired and fatigued; I went for a sleep, while Claire was out and about and on the balcony, but it didn't do much. In the end I managed to persuade myself to get up and go on the government bus safari. We were driven by Kumar down to the government facility in Theppakadu where he arranged tickets for us and got us on the bus to see the parts of Mudhumalai Tiger Reserve where only government buses are allowed drive - before then he did take us down to the river just before the town where he showed us a small tamed elephant being wash in the river and we did take a few pictures before handing over a bit of money to the head washer - and went on our way again to the bus. While on the bus, on what turned out to be a real "out-back" ride along very bumpy and loosely defined roads, we did see a number of wild animals including elephants, a giant squirrel, (rare, uni-coloured) Sambar deer and the usual bunch of peacocks - Claire and another guy on the bus even spotted a (very rare) Leopard, which caused quite the commotion in the bus - but unfortunately it remained an unconfirmed sighting as the Leopard was on the move and they didn't get a picture in time before it disappeared.
The bus journey took only 45 minutes after which we were offloaded at point of origin in Theppakadu with ticket in hand, which we then used to get in to the elephant feeding grounds. We spent about 30 minutes there looking at tamed elephants, including an orphan and a grown one used to transport food for the others in its trunk. There were also plenty of peacocks about there, as well as wild boar.
Then at 18:00 Kumar took us on a 1.5 hour drive on the main roads around Mudhumalai where we saw more wild elephants, peacocks - and as day turned to dusk, even a black bear with its small offspring, which Kamur scared away by getting to close to them with the jeep with lights on so that we could spot them. But we got to see them, although we don't have the documentary evidence in the form of pictures.
Returning to Wild Haven at 19:45 I was still feeling really fatigued and didn't much fancy sitting around a camp fire with 17 people who had just arrived on the day. So instead I retired to the room for a bit until Claire texted me to let me know that our dinner was ready in the main dining room (buffet style dinner). We then had dinner and then returned to the room and watched a couple of the Big Bang Theory before going to sleep.
 |
| Wild Haven - our quarters, top right |
 |
| Wild Haven - main building |
No comments:
Post a Comment