Kaziranga National Park.

This morning began at 430 for a cup of tea and jeep ride to the elephant safari area. We went on a two hour safari at sunrise into the grasslands among the Rhinos, Deer, wild buffaloes and loads of birds.The swamp deer were barking alarms of a nearby Bengal Tiger but it  never left the cover of the grasses so we could see it. We did see a half dozen Rhinos including a mother and baby, Water Buffalo, Swamp Deer, Hog Deer and Sambar Deer, loads of birds as well. The Rack that is used for sitting on an elephant is not made for a tall people and was a bit uncomfortable, I was able to put my legs forward as I was sitting in the front so i was bearable.After the elephant safari I went on a jeep safari deeper into the park. Very impressive, even though the grass was still very tall I saw lots of wildlife.
I took an afternoon walk till dusk along the river past small villages and fishermen working the river. I watched a local tribeswoman that was married to the lodge chef work a loom, she was creating Gamosa which are traditional Assamese scarfs given to guests of honor. I headed off to a tea factory to pick up some Assam tea then back to the lodge for dinner about 830.This all .made for a very full day but fantastic wildlife and culture.

Kalimpong to Kaziranga National Park

Today I left Kalimpong and headed down the valley to Bagdogra to try and work out an alternate way to Guwahati Assam in order to meet my driver for Kaziranga National Park. Luckily another airline had a flight that got me into Guwahati around three pm. Called the driver to ensure they were aware of the change so they met me with no problem. The trip started with no great issues, the guide assigned to me was excellent and we started birding as we were driving away from the airport. Typical insanity rules on the road but not much worse than I have experienced in other places. I am amazed though at the acceptable tolerances of distance between moving cars, people and animals. We are talking inches here does not matter what speed or possible consequence of error. You come barrelling down the road into a village with horn blasting and headlamps flicking on and off into the main street packed with people, rickshaws buses you name it. At the very last second a small opening appears just large enough to fit the vehicle then closes immediately behind it. Mirrors must be drawn in for certain or "somebodies gonna get hurt real bad"( apologies Russell Peters).
Back to the trip at hand, things started getting interesting when it became dark. Almost immediately a storm blew in with torrential downpours and driving winds. Nice! Visibility was non existent but we kept motoring on,with road construction, potholes, really poorly marked construction detours and rain pooling feet deep in any dip in the road. Sure would have been nice if even half of the lorries had rear lighting, add the people on the road, rickshaws, cows which don't move for anything and the odd goat and dog it was a zoo, literally and figuratively.
So yep the rain stopped, whew! The driver although good at missing all the obstacles thus far, was completely baffled by roundabouts. He screwed up at every single one. In the newly created 4 lane highway separated by a meridian he misses yet another roundabout so veers left at the next possible moment. Right into the wrong way lanes of the highway. Turn around? bah, no way we just keep rolling down the road. His preferred method of signaling oncoming drivers is to turn his lights off and turn on a signal light. Ya that's it, turn the headlights off on a highway going directly into traffic the wrong way at highway speeds. Two oncoming lorries side by side, neither of which looking like they are going to slow down to let the other into the lane thus avoiding a head on collision.... Ok I've kind of been an adrenaline junkie my entire life but this was giving me a pucker factor so bad I was actually creating a vacuum that was bonding me to the seat.Thankfully after 8 or 10 kilometers and a few more close calls we came up to another roundabout, Oh yes he was consistent, screwed up again but at least corrected to the right side of the road.
When we arrived at the lodge I had a gin and tonic, then realized this place is nice, very nice so I immersed myself in the opulence had a great traditional meal, class of wine and a cigar on the balcony overlooking the river. All traces of the night drive from hell, washed away by the jungle sounds.

Neora Valley trip

Today Mr Ganseh Mani Pradhan and I sat for a 5 am breakfast, then headed out for a bird photography trip to the Neora Valley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neora_Valley_National_Park. The trip took us to Lava where we switched to a four wheel drive vehicle suitable for travel up into the valley. We stopped regularly on the way up to photograph birds, butterfly's and orchids. On the way back down we ran into a few wild boars as well. Great Day! Had yet another fine traditional meal for supper. Unfortunately shortly thereafter, I found out my flight to Guwahati Assam was cancelled. I had to leave earlier than intended the next morning so I headed off to pack up. Sorry the pictures will get cleaned up and a few more added soon, I am posting this via wifi hotspot I set up on my phone, 3g service in this park is spotty at best.

Ganesh Mani Pradhan

I take this space to describe a man I feel better off having met.

Mr Ganesh Mani Pradhan is now retired however, the GaneshVilla Nursery business is capably managed by his son Mahindra.and the Orchid Retreat is managed by Mahindra,s wife, Honey. 

Mr Pradhan is an educated man and based our conversations and the books in his personal Library, very well read. His knowledge of an extremely wide range of subjects from the latest in computing, photography, Botany, Ethnobotany and Birds led to an interesting range of conversations..  He has a strength, dignity and wisdom that brings a great deal of respect from the people with whom he was engaging yet he carries no air of self import. I very much appreciated the even manner in which he dealt with people and began conversations with just about everyone he came into contact with, most often very shortly they were chuckling.

Mr Pradhan was exceptionally hospitable to me,and I was honored to have had the opportunity to spend some time with him.

The Road to Lava

Today I left at 5 am to go bird the road to Lava, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava,_West_Bengal it was a great walk in a heavily forested road that climbed approximately 2000 feet. As I was driving to my drop off point I called home to get some great news, Lynda is medically cleared to travel so she will be meeting me in Delhi for the Bhutan leg of the journey. Best birthday present ever! In high spirits then I walked the last 12 km of the road to Lava gaining 1500 feet of altitude along the way, it was so much fun I went down 3 km and 750 feet to do the summit stretch a second time. The birds were great, again no photo keepers due to distance or lighting but great fun! After a nice lunch of Momos at Lava I headed out to visit a few Monasteries. I had to take a picture of the most incredibly redundant sign of all time for India. Next I expected to see the sign  "Breathe"

Gangtok to Kalimpong

Today like most I began with a stroll as sunrise for birds and to listen to the town wake up. After breakfast the driver that I was out with the day before picked me up for a 3 hour drive to Kalimpong in West Bengal. The place I am staying here is The Orchid Retreat, http://theorchidretreat.com/home.html The Pradhan family run a Nursery http://www.ganeshvilla.com/. Mr Ganesh Mani Pradhan is an avid Bird and Butterfly Photographer and showed me around the forested area of his property and pointed out some of the resident birds. Later in the evening I sat with him to view his collection of bird photographs. The organization of the pictures into bird types alone was phenomenal and caused me to reflect on the sad state of affairs in terms of my own pictures. He has some amazing photographs, the variations and bright colouration of some of the birds in this area equal any that I have seen. As an added bonus, a highly interesting coincidence, a while ago he had created a poster of a Himalayan Griffon in flight, with the added text " not all who wander are lost ". this blog title phrase.
Dinner was fantastic assortment of traditional foods, who said I was going to have difficulty finding food I would enjoy? Oh that was me, anyway the key is to simply ask for  food to be not spicy. Duh.
Mrs Pradhan told me that she generally does not cook spicy anyway.
My cabin is low down on the property and the balcony overlooks the forested area so I have great birding right from my room. I just love this place, mostly all I see are trees even though were are just outside the city.

Orchids