Thursday 24th April 2025

We have five days left in India, so time is getting short, and already thoughts turn to tasks for next week, yes, I'm talking about you, Scully.

There has been an issue back home with insulin, and the upshot is that she will run out on Friday. This we found out just before we went to bed last night, so had to find a way to message the vets.

Let's just say that because you can only register two devices for internet, and I have logged Jools out of her e mail account, on top of which, many UK sites are blocking us when we try to get on them because of our Indian IP address.

After half an hour, we have a solution, message Jen, e mail the vets and hope that it will be sorted on Thursday.

It was.

So, another day with just an afternoon safari, so we lay in bed, not wanting to do anything else, as Andy and his wife both have Delhi belly again, and other than the park there is little to see.

We lay in bed to eight, then lollygag our way down to breakfast where only cereal, toast and coffee tempt us.

I back out of the short birding walk due to sciatica, so go back to listen to podcast sitting on the veranda, where I was eaten alive by mozzies.

We had lunch, then got ready to get back in the jeeps for our second safari here.

Corbett NP is hue, and has more tigers than the other three reserves, but what there is is spread out, which means lots of driving around and listening to alarm calls by birds and deers.

At least we entered by the nearest gate, and somehow we were the first Jeep in the park after lining up, we head off into unexplored lands for us.

More dry river beds, but more hills, covered in forest, and sliced through by streams that cut into the rock.

The tracks weaved their way through this.

Truth is, its warmer here than usual, and so the larger mammals, predators, sleep until its cool enough to hunt, which is when we have to leave the park at dusk.

We make do with the three species of deers, several bird species including the Crested-serpent falcon and Brown fish owl, who we saw as we left the park at dusk.

Not much animals to report, as even the monkeys and apes were having a siesta, with sightings only happening in the final hour or so.

We came across a group of four elephant, just visible in the scrub. Mahindra tried to call them, but they carried on eating. Until, suddenly, one of the adults turned, ears at 90 degrees, trunk raised and trumpeting for all its worth, charged us.

It soon stopped, but the driver took no chances and we were off down the track, before any of us had a chance to sit down.

And then a trundle back to the gates, on the way seeing many more of the same animals, including five peacocks after seeing none all afternoon, and two Macaque monkeys guarding a bridge, but charged no toll.