Mo's adventures have now spread to India (!)

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! 

Here we are in the hotel ready to hit Colombo's night life...

Buddhist Temple in Colombo


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

The latest round-up from Sri Lanka

Why do I always have to start with an apology?!  I know many of you may have given up hope of hearing from me again, but things here have been verging on the frenetic for the past couple of months.  Dogstar work never gets any less and coupled with an increase in MEF volunteers, the days just seem to fly past and I seem to be juggling tasks all the time. 

Generall, our volunteers are a lovely bunch and I currently have 12 to try and co-ordinate and look after.  Duties currently range from responding to calls at past 10 at night to remove large spiders, to travel guide, confidante and general sorter outer of problems.... Bookings for placements are good this year and we have volunteers booked through until next January so my workload is unlikely to drop significantly.

We have a lovely new male elephant at MEF - Saliya - who, with his mahout Vijay, is proving to be a big hit with both volunteers and tourists. Here he is below, complete with tourist!

Somehow it's very easy to became blase about these wonderful creatures when you're working with them all day - it's usually only when I'm doing something like writing about them that I realise just how great they are and how lucky I am to be working with them.

The volunteers and I went on a 2 day trip recently - firstly to Habarana, to look at human-elephant conflict and then on to Trincomalee up on the north-east coast to do preparatory work for 2 projects. The first of these is teaching English in an area which is only just starting to recover from the effects of the long Civil War and the Tsunami and the second will involve coastline conservation. We had a really good time - in Habarana it's very sobering to listen to accounts of elephant attacks (2 people have been killed in the last year by wild elephant), but Trinco was much more fun, visiting a local village where a school would be established, bathing in sea that was as calm and warm as bathwater, and wandering along the beach watching a fishing community at work.  Here's a selection of photos of the beach:

 

In the Fort area of Trinco is a wonderful Hindu Temple which is set high up on a hill - it was very hot while we were there but the views down to the sea below were amazing!  Hindu Temples are always very colourful as you can see.

Devotees leave prayer messages written on tiny scraps of paper which are then tied to a sacred bush - here's the one from Trinco.

Here are the views down to the sea:

The last thing you may expect to see in the middle of a large town like Trinco is a herd of deer, but there are numerous groups wandering the road and living up in the Fort where grass is plentiful!

Sadly, evidence of the war is still around - from the plentiful roadside checkpoints to damaged buildings along the main highway.  Here's a soldier having a quiet rest, and some ruined buildings that are testament to just how awful the Civil War here was.

This was once someone's business....

....and a family used to live here.


It's not all doom and gloom here by any means - the animal and plant life here still amazes me.  On the way back from Trinco we saw a lovely grey langur monkey

At Kandy recently, I took a photo of a beautiful lotus flower.....

The little fellow below was an inquisitive visitor when we moved the Dogstar office into a new house we are renting -

There are also things here which I take for granted now but which I would never see in the UK - (in order below) cows in the main street, rice drying, real coconuts, rice paddies and (a photo taken when our driver had to visit the local hospital for anti-rabies shots after being bitten by a cat) smartly starched nurses!

You don't see these outside Tesco!

Rice drying in the sun....

Real coconut - still in its green casing

Rice paddies with mountain in the distance

Haven't seen socks this white in a long time! Very proud of their uniform too.

Not all wildlife is the sort you want to see all the time - last week (and for the first time since I've been here) we found a deadly snake on the garden which was quickly dispatched - seems you die in an hour from this one's bite ....don't want to see another for a while.

Well that's only one half of the job.......the other half is of course Dogstar work.  Rather than give you an instant cure for insomnia, if you want to find out what's been going on with the dogs check out my latest blog on the Dogstar website (http://www.dogstarfoundation.com/ - volunteer blogs).

I do hope that life with you all is good and thanks to those of you who keep in regular touch - whilst there are many things I don't miss while living here, I certainly miss all my friends!

Love Mo x

I'm still here!!

I know I always start off by saying the same thing (predictable to the last) - but I can't believe how long it is since I wrote my last blog from here.  For those of you who have enquired as to my health and wellbeing as I've been out of touch for so long, what can I say but thanks and sorry.  The past couple of months have gone by in a blur - trying to do 2 almost full time jobs has been almost as stressful as full time work in the UK!  Not very Sri Lankan.......

Volunteers have come and gone, some have been easier to deal with than others but overall a lovely lot of people. Most keep in touch when they go and am currently being urged to join 2 youngsters in India 'for a bit of a laugh'!!  Not sure whether time (or energy....) will allow.  Anyway, here's a photo of the last group who were with me - it's groups like this that make it all worthwhile (by the way, Dogstar's Sam is next to me).

The other big demand on my time of course is work for Dogstar ..... and that never diminishes.  Those of you who follow my blogs on http://www.dogstarfoundation.com/ will know most of our patients, but for those of you not familiar with our work day-to-day stuff revolves around treatment of skin complaints, vaccinations, wound treatment etc.   We've just been asked to help with the dogs at another local Temple - I went out this morning with the vet and for around 4.50 sterling each (less than the cost of a good glass of wine in the UK!) we were able to treatment skin problems and vaccinate against rabies.  Here's Midge, one of the temple dogs who was really in need of help.  I'll be visiting her regularly to keep a check on progress.

The Temple is in a lovely location with beautiful views across the countryside......

Much of the Dogstar work is carried out in the rural villages which are always good to visit.  It really gives an insight into the lives of local people - far from the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Colombo!  Here's Dogstar 1 - our regular transport - and one of the villages I visited recently.

Towards the end of April, Dogstar worked with another large welfare group - Tsunami Animal People Alliance - and Embark, in a joint venture over 20 days just south of Colombo.  During that time, around 500 dogs were sterilised and the Dogstar team treated 300 cases.  Here's one of the surgical cases:

The effects of the tsunami are still evident in some places and it was a sobering thought when visiting the area to treat local animals.

Apart from work with the other groups, we had our own Dogstar clinic at Hiriwadunna Temple on 22 May.  As always, this took a lot of planning but the outcome was worthwhile with 16 cases sterilised and a further 50 odd cases seen for vaccination.

The team are now operating on younger dogs - around  3.5/4 months of age - which is simpler than in older dogs, with a smaller incision and fast recovery.  For the little boys, no external sutures are used - there's just a tiny incision which is closed with super glue (excellent for keeping our the dirt!).

Here's a lovely little pile of pups in recovery.  These were 'left' at the temple and are now being checked regularly.  Dogstar are also looking after their vaccinations and this coming Saturday they'll be vaccinated against distemper and parvo - still killer diseases here.

It's not all dogs and volunteers - the programme still involves a lot of work with the elephants.  Sadly, one of our little males - Madhu - of 17 years has now gone back to his Temple in the hill country for the perahera season, but he'll be coming back with his mahout later this year.  Here he is being loaded on the lorry to take him back home:

Madhu is very small compared to our magnificent tusker, Raja.  Here he is enjoying his time in the river.

Finally (well, it has been a long time!) last week here was one of the main religious festivals of the year - Vesak Poya.  I managed to get 2 days off to visit a friend's coconut estate - which was just the haven of tranquility I needed.  During my brief stay, I was taken to see Dambadeniya Temple - a very old and important site - and climbed a local mountain with lovely views.  At Vesak, paper lanterns adorn houses, temples and every possible structure where they can be fixed.  Below is my friends lovely place:

Cooking here is still done in the traditional way on an open fire - something I've yet to try!

(P.S. The cat wasn't on the menu!!)

Cows are still milked by hand.....

Below are some images of the Temple at Dambadeniya and the surrounding views.

And here are some of the vesak lanterns - all made with a wooden frame covered with paper. Some of them must take ages to construct.

Well, that brings us right up to date!   The big news from here later this week is the International Indian Film Awards being held in Colombo with all the Bollywood stars in attendance - just hoping one of my Colombo contacts can manage to get me an invite (some chance....).

I now have a volunteer-free month which is nice in some ways - means I can catch up watching some DVDs in the evenings.  At least I hope to be able to keep in touch on a more regular basis.

Love to all.

Mo xx