Im sorry that its now been almost 2 months since I have last posted anything. Its not that I have run out of things to say... but things have some how managed to get busier over the last 8 weeks. Whilst sat around the fire the last week I had time to reflect on my first 3 months in India. It has already gone by so so fast. I also worked out that in the last 3 months I have managed to rack up around 30 days on expedition camping under the stars in some form or other and for that I feel pretty grateful. During this time I have also had the opportunity to work with some brilliant people that have shared alot with me in the short time that I have known them.
I have just come back off a surprise 11 day program that involved a 7 day trekking and rafting expedition. The program began less then 24 hours from returning from Bhutan. I was lay in bed in the evening enjoying a movie when I received a phone call. I was told that Fil was on his deathbed and I was needed to fill in last minute. I headed straight to the metro and waited for the pickup. Unfortunately due to the quick turn around I had no chance to wash any clothes so I set off as a rather smelly chap. I resorted to heading to decathlon to ensure that I at least had clean socks for the expedition. The queues at the ATM's still have not died down.
 |
| Thanks Modi. |
I arrived at the camp late around 11:00pm the clients had already gone to bed so a quickly followed suit saying hi to Ellie who I had been missing for the last 10 days. The next morning started early before sunrise as we had a long drive ahead up to Shivpuri. I did my best to block everything out and allow my body to get some rest. It wasn't really until we arrived at the camp late in the afternoon that I properly got introduced to the group. A cohort of 18 college students from Singapore with roughly an even split of guys and girls.
 |
| Nathan, Ajay and J.P |
The next 2 days passed without note until we started on the expedition. First a three day trek up the Ganges following the river. The Scenery was brilliant and despite some tough climbs in parts the group did not complain.
 |
| Starting the Trek at Mahadev Chatti |
 |
| 2 mules to help us along our way. |
 |
| A couple of kids wanting a cuddle. |
Day two of the trek we camped at 1500m, we where treated to a spectacular sunset and views of the snow capped Himalayan peaks. Breaking camp on day 3 we met a very friendly dog. He was very quickly adopted by team teen (team 3) and became the seventh member of the team. From that day on he was to be known as Bobcat. Bobcat followed us the whole way down the mountain and shared our tent with us at the riverside. The next morning Bobcat could not bring himself to say goodbye to team teen so jumped into the raft to continue the expedition.
 |
| Rest stop half way up the climb. |
 |
| Irish mountain goat. |
 |
| Happy to be sharing a tent again. |
 |
| Campsite. |
 |
| Sunset on day 2. |
 |
| introducing Bobcat. |
 |
| Lots of time for beach games! |
Rafting is always great fun especially when you have lots of opportunity to play, float and just relax in the kayaks. floating down the river on day two I pointed out a great surf wave to Ellie. She instantly set about ferry gliding over to the wave to catch it. Mid way over she started pointing beyond the wave and doing what I thought was a brown claw... This confused the hell out of me as we had talked at great length at how stupid it made people look. I looked again and down by the rivers edge a black bear and its cub where drinking straight from the river. Ellie managed to catch the wave and had a perfect view of it just ten meters off to her side! as the flotilla of rafts caught up they soon made a run for the trees. A couple of hours later we hit the camp and quickly got to work putting up raft shelters and making our own cosy shelters for the night.
 |
| The best shelter we never slept in. |
It quickly got dark and we where all unwinding around the fire. Suddenly we heard a loud roar off to the other side of camp. Me, Ellie, J.P and the guides quickly ran over to investigate. I armed myself with a paddle (useless but it made me feel better.) we stood at the bottom of the sandbar probing the area head torches and for a couple of seconds we managed to catch the leopards eyes in the light. We moved closer to within 25m of the leopard and heard lots of grunting and strange noises, the guides concluded that it probably had itself a meal and would not be leaving anytime soon. It let loose another roar which quickly caused us to retreat.
A discussion quickly ensued on what was our plan of action. We had 20 young people wrapped up in sleeping bags (pigs in blankets) facing directly towards the leopard. We discussed the possibility of evacuating the camp but that also presented a considerable risk. In the end the shelters where all moved into a horseshoe shape so it would be easy to keep watch whilst the leapord continued to growl in the background. taking advice from the jungle book we set up 3 fires around the camp to keep it away. It was also decided that 2 instructors would remain on duty all night to watch out for any signs of movement. J.P and I somehow managed to pull the 1am til 3am shift and we had a brilliant time. between ensuring that the 3 fires where burning brightly all night we had a lot of time to talk. It was a great experience that I feel brought us closer, we talked about everything and nothing.
The next morning as the night gave way to day we set about searching for signs of last nights disturbance. We found prints of the cat and signs that it had been dragging its pray away. As well as that about 100m away we found that the tracks where accompanied by a smaller set of prints.
Its a good job we said goodbye to Bobcat the day before as apparently they are a leopards favorite meal. which is why alot of dogs where collars like this:
 |
| Leopard proof collar. |
The rest of expedition went smoothly and we where soon back at base camp. The next day we took the group to the local school in Shivpuri where they had the opportunity to interact with the local children. Despite challenging circumstances these children study 3 languages along with a whole host of subjects. The headmaster found it highly amusing when I described how big Singapore was... just 45km from coast to coast.
Comments
Post a Comment