Wednesday 23rd April 2025

Suddenly, we have a surfeit of spare time.

Due to the change in plans, for the next three days we only have one safari per day, and today that was in the afternoon.

So, a morning free.

So, a lay in?

Not quite.

It was suggested to do some birding at just after dawn, so meet at reception at nine for a short walk to the river.

Only my back said otherwise, so I bailed and sat on the veranda watching the birds come and go, and the camp wake up.

Toast for breakfast, and a piss poor cup of coffee, but its all we need, as next item is a trip to the nearest town for some shopping.

The nearby town is fairly large, has a great many shops and businesses, a bus station with the main road running through it.

I said on Blue Sky earlier that it was hot, dusty, busy, colourful, and friendly.

All true.

The bus came for us at eleven, and dropped us on the main street, where it was already approaching forty degrees. Apparently folks come up here to escape the heat of the plain.

I don't know about that, but it was hot enough for us.

John had to get some painkillers, Jools wanted some material from quilt-making back home. And Ian wanted saffron.

We had parked outside a pharmacy, so John got his pills. We walked on but the mix of shops, smells and colour made it hard sometimes to know what some shops sold.

We couldn't have done it without our fixer/guide, Mahindra, who acted as translator.

On one corner of the street, on the kerb, a guy was fixing and cleaning shoes, using his feet to hold them in place, while on the other corner, a man of similar age was repairing a cheap suitcase.

No doubt it looked new when he'd done.

With Jools buying material, Mahindra and I went on the search for saffron. The most expensive substance on earth, pound for pound.

Just one shop sold it in the town, as Indians don't eat much of it. I got four packets, which will last.

Even here in India, its very expensive.

We walked back to the material shop, then to the main road, where the bus was called for, and in the midday heat, we stood and waited until our mini-bus appeared.

We climbed on, turned the air con to max, and we were driven back to the hotel, where it was nearly time for lunch.

Lunch was the same. Tasty, but still curry.

And at half two, we assembled for the 18th safari of the trip. Corbett NP is much larger than the three previous ones we visited, so meetings with tigers are much rarer. And the gate we had to use this first time, was a 35 minute drive from the hotel, through the backstreets of the town, and into the countryside.

Into the park, and right away we see a herd of 5 elephants heading to a watering hole, and witness their joy as they plunge in drinking and splashing.

Driving on we came across a group of monkeys, one female had a new morn in her arms, that screamed for her to hold tighter.

We took shots.

We saw a new species of Bee-eater, and that was about it.

Come five there was rumours of two tigers on the move, but with several watering holes they could have chosen, we and the other jeeps drove in circles for an hour with no sightings reported.

We then had an hour's drive back to the hotel, across the park, then along the country road and into the town, before a final twenty minutes on the main road to the resort.

In the gloaming it was almost beautiful, but as the sun set and dusk settled, traffic got heavier as we neared the town, the chorus of horns, and most vehicles had no lights on.

It was chaos.

Madness.

Into the town, and along narrow streets with scooters overtaking us, and more coming the other way, horns blaring and lightless.

And then the joy of the main road at night. Let's just say we were glad to get out safe and sound just after seven, still alive.

More curry for dinner at eight. We have now drunk the resort out of Coke and are now on Sprite.