Let's get the usual apology out of the way - I know it's been a very long time and yes, I know I owe a lot of people a lot of emails but life seems to just get crazier out here. As it's been about 3 months since the last blog, this will probably read like War and Peace!!
We've had lots of volunteers out to MEF to work with the elephants and generally speaking they've been great, worked hard and had lots of fun. Many of them are exceedingly jealous that I'm able to live and work here (so am sort of watching my back.....). The job is far busier than this time last year and we're already booked out for many weeks during 2011 - so much so that (sadly) my work for Dogstar is taking a very poor 2nd place. Here's the latest group of volunteers (and 2 visitors from Vietnam) - lucky Paul I hear you say!
We try and take the volunteers on field trips once a month - generally to see elephants in the wild and we've found a great treehouse near one of the National Parks that we rent overnight and where I usually sleep outside. Something magical when the last things you see at night are the stars twinkling above you and waking up in the early dawn with spotted deer wandering about below.
Home for the night.....
Relaxing with the local brew - French volunteers and local staff
Last week we had a 2 day trip (back to the treehouse....) with the current volunteers to Kaudulla National Park. Despite the torrential rain, we had an amazing time standing up in the safari jeep and saw well over 100 wild elephant - the biggest herd I've ever seen. Lots of babies too.... We counted ourselves extremely lucky as most trips we only spot 20-50 elephants. Not the best photos I've ever taken (well, let's face it I never take great photos!) but hope you get the idea.....
In September I paid my first visit to Galle, in the south of Sri Lanka and boy what a place! It's steeped in history having been colonized by the Dutch and the British and it has a wonderful laid-back feel. When I was there only saw about 4 other tourists (which is 4 too many....) but hey you have to share places sometimes. It has a wonderful array of buildings - from the dazzling white mosque, to the fabulous lighthouse and the Dutch church. As I love wandering around the backstreets and explore it really suited me and I have another visit there planned for early December just to chill out with the locals. Found a superb cafe run by a Sri Lankan and his English wife which also doubles as an art gallery and bookshop so will spend time there with a beer or three, listening to some soft jazz and pondering the meaning of life. Here are some shots from my last visit:
It's meant to be this way........
The lighthouse
I loved the Vice Squad office - doesn't look like there's much vice in Galle....!!
In October one of my best friends from the UK, Karen, paid a visit to Colombo en route home from India and we had a fantastic time balancing culture and shopping! Went to some fabulous temples in and around Colombo, feasted on prawns on the beach one evening and I stayed with her at the expense of Johnson & Johnson (well I am an ex-employee!) - nice to have 5 star luxury after my usual very basic way of living!
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Here we are in the hotel ready to hit Colombo's night life... But THE highlight of the blog just has to be my trip to India last month with a group of Sri Lankan friends......I'd forgotten just how amazing the country is and the trip was full of lots of OMG moments.... We got off to an inauspicious start when delayed at Colombo for 5 hours (Sri Lankan Airlines are not what they used to be.....), finally leaving at 5a.m. That meant we missed our connecting flight to Nagpur from Mumbai ...... Soon managed to organise a later flight and got to Nagpur in the evening. At that point, I'd been suffering from the worst cold/cough I think I've ever had so had a couple of hot toddies and turned in for the night. Next day we were driven the 6 hours or so to Kanha National Park, which was the setting for one of David Attenborough's films on tiger for the BBC. Great location......here's where we stayed.  We had 6 game drives during our time at Kanha, and it was always great fun in the jeep as you can see below (what wasn't so much fun was getting up before 5a.m. every day and the torrential rain every afternoon....):  We saw a great selection of wildlife at Kanha including bison like this handsome young man:  The main aim of the trip was to see tiger - and boy were we not disappointed! Even though it was the wrong season, the elephant trackers did their best and found just the most beautiful tigress resting in a tree - we were then taken by elephant to see her and take photos and got to within 6 feet or so of her. It was just one of the most amazing moments in my life and I can't wait to go back in the right season to see more of these fabulous but sadly endangered animals.  After 3 days in Kanha, we did another long road trip to Pench where we stayed at Pench Jungle Camp in rather nice tents....  Had a few more game drives but sadly no more tigers at close range, although others visiting had more luck - we did spot another making his way silently through the undergrowth but not close enough for photos. Sadly, our time at Pench came to an end after meeting some amazing people there..... Then off to Nagpur to catch a flight back to Mumbai......rather more populated than where we'd been but stayed in a great hotel and I loved the buzz and feel of the place (despite not being a townie...). Couldn't really leave without doing some shopping so did a mix of market/local shops and a great shopping mall...  Here's one of the rather more precarious places to live....  ......and where Mo did what Mo does best (shop!). It's only 2 weeks since I left to come back to Sri Lanka, and whilst my love affair with here continues there are just so many things about India I miss and need to experience all over again (so much so that I'm already planning the next trip!). Well that's the round up of the past 3 months - am waiting to see what the next few have in store as am pretty much having a ball just now. Thanks to everyone who keeps in touch with news from the UK - whilst I miss you all, I wouldn't change a minute of what I'm doing right now. I think I'm blessed to be spending my time with the majestic elephants, some inspiring volunteers and to have such close and caring friends in my life from many different countries. Just how good can it get?! Love to all Mo x |
