Kay's Blog

Friday, April 27, 2012

DAY 219 (Thursday 08 March 2012)

Well we were up at 0600 hrs this morning and were giving a drink of tea and coffee before we headed out on our Elephant Safari.

Our Elephant for the Safari

We saw plenty of deer, a jungle cat (no not a tiger), not only did we hear but we also saw plenty of peacocks, but also no rhino or tiger this morning, however we did get to see a tiger pawprint in the mud down at the side of a bank where the rider of the elephant believes it was passing through.

Tiger Paw Print

As we were out so early when we got back it was time for breakfast before our briefing on the elephant which was at 1030 hrs. The briefing was good even though it was hard to understand the briefer at times, however, Charlie and I were the only ones in the group that wanted to get on the elephant by the way of using their trunk.

Charlie getting on the elephant

Getting on the elephant by the means of the trunk was quite an experience because as soon as you had your foot on the trunk the elephant literally threw you up onto its head before you even had a time to think about it. After doing this and feeding the elephant its morning snack of sandwiches which were made up of leaves and other stuff that was inside the leaves that they normally eat it was time to head down to the river to bathe the elephant.

There were 3 other people that were in our group but they didn’t go in the water with the elephant so it was just me and Charlie. I was actually quite surprised as to how warm and clear the river was and with the clarity of the water I was happy with as crocodiles swim in the river that we went to.

I even had the chance to ride the elephant out of the river back onto the bank before getting dried off and footwear changed prior to heading back to MACHAN for our lunch.

After lunch we were doing a village walk, but to be honest with you that wasn’t really my cup of tea, I was more interested in seeing animals not people.

The evening consisted of a slide show presentation of the Park and Animals and there was an amazing picture of a tiger splashing into the river that another visitor took when they were here.

Again after our evening meal which consisted of their local curry, it was time for bed as we were up early again in the morning, but this time it will be to do a nature walk.

DAY 218 (Wednesday 07 March 2012)

Today we left camp at 0500 hrs and managed to get out of the valley with ease and as it was HOLI DAY here in NEPAL we were not even covered in powdered paint which apparently is tradition here. We arrived at MACHAN at 1030 hrs which was good as our first itinerary of the day was lunch at 1300hrs, we were greeted by a porter who took our bags from the car and led us to the garden where we were welcomed with a refreshing drink of lemon squash (it was well received), we were then briefed on what we would be doing that first afternoon. After our briefing we went to the room to settle in before lunch, so it was a quick freshen up and then headed down to the water hole to see if we could see any animals.

Our Accommodation

In the distance at the watering hole you could see a Rhino that was heading our way, it looked like he was going to come down to the watering hole, but when he reached the track he headed back up and away from us. There was also a crocodile that was known as a MARSH MUGGER, they have a tendency to come away from the water during the evening and hunt deer.

Marsh Mugger Crocodile

After we had lunch we went to the crocodile sanctuary before heading out on the Jeep Safari, it was a lot of bumping around the jungle, but it was good to see the different animals that were out an about in the afternoon, even if some of them were hiding in the shade. There was one place that we stopped to have a look because we could see in the river a Rhino, all you could see was his horn, ears and eyes, it was funny to as the Rhino kept blowing bubbles in the water.

Rhinoceros

After the jeep safari we then were put into a boat that was actually quite low in the water especially when it had plenty of people in it and in this case there were 8 people including the oars man.

The boat

It was such a relaxing time just riding down the river watching all the different birds at the side of the bank and also watching the beautiful sun set. I could quite happily have just done that all of the time.

Evening Sunset on the River Ride

When we got back to MACHAN we had some time before our evening meal which was to be a BBQ consisting of pork and chicken, but before the BBQ we had a cultural dance that was put on by the local farmers.

Local Farmers Dance

There were 4 dances in total that they did and each one told of a story, but the forth dance all of us were invited to get up and join them, it was fun to do. After the dance that is when our BBQ dinner was to be served and to be honest, it wasn’t long after that that Charlie and me headed off to bed as we had been up since 0400 hrs that day and we have to be up at 0600 hrs for our Elephant Safari Ride.

So far so good.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

DAY 217 (Tuesday 06 March 2012)

Gave my money and bits and pieces to Karnasher Tamang today with regards to mine and Charlie’s trek to Everest Base Camp so I am now all paid up on that front, I have just got my flights to LUKLA to pay for and then we are set to go, well except for a few bits and pieces that we have to get to take with us. I am so looking forward to it, it will be nearly 3 weeks away from work and it will be well worth it.

DAY 216 (Monday 05 March 2012)

Well I know that I am about 6 hours ahead of the UK, but blimey, I sent in my second assignment this lunchtime my time which would have been about 0700hrs UK time and when I checked my emails just now (just before bedtime), there was an email from Sonia, to be honest because it came back so quick I was dreading opening it as I didn’t want to be told I had to put more work into any of the questions, but guess what, I passed my second assignment.

I emailed Sonia back to say that I was currently working on Assignment 3 but it would be a couple of weeks before I would be able to send in my work sheet as I am going to be away on leave from Wednesday this week for 3 days and then on an exercise with work the week after.