Day 11 - Back to Delhi

I think it says something about elephants.

Our third safari tour was this morning.  We debated about doing 2, 3, or even 4 safari tours, but settled on 3 (obviously) knowing the morning and afternoon tours should be different and usually the mornings were supposed to be better.  Anyway, up at 5, showered (with warmish water this time) and picked up at 6:15.  We had the same driver and guide as last time (wondering if we over tipped the first tour?), and they were both in the vehicle when it arrived.  Our driver drove like we were late to a very important function most of the morning.  There was very little wait to get into the park, and then we RACED to the check point to get into the zone we had planned.  The guide jumped out of the car (before we stopped) and RAN to the office to be first in line.  Then we hit the trail, again at full speed!  40-50 KPH (25-35MPH) doesn’t seem fast unless you’re in a “jeep” going over unpaved roads with no seat belts.  We darted and dashed to one tiger lookout point after another, but with no indications.  Soon, we took off in another direction.

Surprise!!!  (They did NOT like surprises!)

As we headed down one path, we saw more and more fresh elephant dung.  We careened over hilltops and across rocky bridges, and into a narrow path through the forest.  Around a bend we skidded to a stop face to face with two alarmed female elephants and one calf.  The ladies were none too happy to see us so abruptly, and began making moves to protect the calf.  This is where things got awkward.  We thought “Let’s just get a quick snap shot and get the heck out of here!”  Our guides…well, this is their business.  So, we quickly backed off and turned around.  Then we backed toward them.  Except the guide was telling the driver “Fast Fast!!”  The explanation wasn’t fully clear but we think he was suggesting the mother might charge us, so we were “charging” her first.  This did have the effect of getting her to stop, and so did we.  The mother squawked to summon other females to help protect her calf.  We watched, kept a distance, and another female arrived on the scene.  One of the adults then headed into the trees, seemingly satisfied the danger was not immanent. 

She is actually BACKING into the forest.  (Started eating about one minute later.)

Just a random scene in the forest.

After a short while, we pulled away, and found the male maybe 100 feet into the trees and just having his meal oblivious to us.  By his ”meal”, he was tearing branches off of trees and chowing down.  We continued on our way, and saw several other jeeps coming our way.  No idea what our team said specifically, we noticed they used hand signals from 50-100 feet away to signal the animal.  A scratching “paw” meant tiger.  A flapping arm apparently meant elephant.  Anyway, we seemed to alert the other parties what was there and then gave them specifics and went on our way.

Jackal trying to "hide",

It was both good and bad.  It was, of course, exciting to see elephants, especially with a baby.  It was also alarming for both them and us, so adrenaline spiked probably all around.  It was exciting for Bill, but of course it all happened about 7:15 to 7:30, so, really, what was the next 2-3 hours to hold but anticlimax?  Well, we went on, looked for tigers in a few other spots, and  after an hour, we took a short break at the “guest house” with free Chai (tea) or Coffee.  Sure the coffee is free, but the term “black” seems to have no effect on coffee orders as they come with as much sugar and milk as the Chai, so, Bill just got the Chai and accepted it wasn’t going to be coffee anyway!

A bird.  Just taking off!

After the break, we asked to be back to the hotel by 10 so we could have breakfast and get checked out (Checkout time is 10AM, and we already pushed them to give us until 11:30).  Back at the resort, we washed hands and headed back for a breakfast of dosas.  Bill asked for BLACK coffee, with NO MILK.  The server repeated as if to understand, and off he went.  He came back after many minutes, with TWO cups of jet black coffee, with NO trace of foam, cream, milk, or any other contaminants!!  It looked beautiful!!  One sniff, and OH YEAH…this is gonna be great!!  A quick sip and…WHAT???  So much sugar!!  I asked for coffee not candy!  The pineapple juice helped to cut the sweetness of the coffee (sigh).  I know…literally “first world problems”.

Suddenly, the four of us in one "jeep" seems spacious. 
Both of the vehicles in front of us had 10 people!

Yes, that's a bamboo ladder!!!  (and an aluminum one)

Back in the room, everything went into the bag while phones stayed plugged in until the last minutes…when we discovered the switch for that outlet was turned off.  (facepalm)  Our driver stayed at the resort in the dormitory adjacent to the parking lot and was ready to go when we got back from the tour.  Loaded up, we hit the road about 11-11:15 for our 5.25 hour journey.  Total wrong turns?  At least 3.  Number of times he got off the main road to take a “shortcut” of 0.5% on bouncy potholed roads crowded with pedestrians, scooters, bicycles, tuk tuks, big trucks, and the occasional animal drawn cart?  Once but that gained us 45 minutes on our total time.  What’s an extra 45 minutes if it saves 0.4 km from a 250 km trip?  So both there and back he managed to take 1.25 hours longer than planned (Facepalm).

Traffic in India.

The Ganges River Bank and all its glory!

How many lanes are there??  Per the stripes, only 3.

The joy of burgers and fries!  (just not really hamburgers)

Finally in our hotel (Aloft again), we could begin sorting, and staging for the big pack tomorrow.  But first, dinner!  We headed to the local food court and found a “burger” joint.  Well, Theresa tried the “mushroom” patty and Bill had the lamb patty.  No beef and we’re chickened out.  It wasn’t bad.  It was also $13 for two “burgers”, fries, and a couple of drinks, so no bad.  Back to the room, the first thing Theresa noticed was the noise.  We were on the second floor facing the street and tuk tuks don’t have much in the way of mufflers!  She went down to the desk and got us moved to the 7^th floor!!  Now we wait until almost midnight to check Bill in for tomorrow’s flight!