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We're back in Fort Cochin again after a few days away. We decided to head up north (about a 7 hour drive!) to a place called Wayanda, to try and experience some wildlife. We had met a really nice girl called Sarah who decided to come with us and when we got to our little chalet/guest house, high up the mountains in the middle of nowhere, there were others there too which made the trip all the better.
On the way up we stopped at a domestic elephant camp, where we saw quite a few elephants, which we could actually touch and get photos taken with, but they were chained to the trees, and although they couldn't be released into the wild as they'd never survive, it just didn't seem right to see them like this, although they did appear to be well looked after. We've asked a couple of times about riding elephants but with the looks and comments we got from some tour guides, makes us think that this isn't favoured. So although the domestic elephants were great to see, we decided to head to the forest and go on a little bit of a safari and try to spot them in the wild, so thanks to those of you of kindly bought us an elephant ride as a gift as we put this money towards this fantastic trip!
We went out at dawn, dusk and at night on the back of a jeep looking for wildlife. We were lucky enough to see monkeys (white and black faced ones - which came really really close to us), huge red squirrels, deer, peacocks and hens, woodpecker, wild boar, byson, porcupine, mouse deer, and yes, we did actually spot elephants. What an experience. To be honest, it was just so much fun looking for them that we weren't even bothered if we didn't see them, but when we did, it just made it all the better.
Someone had told the guide that one had recently been spotted so we leaped into the jeep and raced up the dry dirt tracks in pursuit. It was mighty hard trying not to fall out of that thing with the speed we were going, but it was great fun. And then we saw it, just eating among the trees. And as we were all trying to get the cameras out in time for a photo, it spotted us and started to walk towards us. It was a huge male! The driver then started moving the jeep further up the track - which I was a bit annoyed at cause I wanted a photo - until it was pointed out that the situation was rather dangerous, and that's when it hit me......this wasn't in a zoo or even with an elephant that was raised by humans and chained to a tree, this was a wild animal - and a big one at that. And then this big grey giant decided to come out from the trees and walk straight across the track behind the jeep. I think he was just letting us know who was boss. We got the hint and stayed back a bit and just watched him for a while, plodding through the forest, flattening everything in his way (now I was glad we had moved!!). After a while we drove on to see what other stuff we could see and we spotted loads of deer with babies and there was even a couple of males fighting - great to watch although it was a bit of a distance, however I think now I understand it's better to have these things happen at a safe distance away from you - it's just not worth losing a limb to get a good photo! The deer and monkeys were soon forgotten about when another jeep passed us on the track saying they'd also seen an elephant - so off we sped again, chasing them down. And we were lucky enough to see more. This time with a little baby one. The didn't come so close but we could see them moving behind the trees. Although this was all great, my favourite has got to be the night search. We got wrapped up (which was nice in itself - such a nice change to be cool rather than sweating constantly!) and loaded into the jeep with a guy hanging out the back with a huge light ...... and us with our little hand torches! We just stuck to the road on the outskirts of the forest sanctuary area cause it's not safe enough at night. It was great fun searching for reflections in the trees, and then trying to see what animal the eyes belonged to. Lots of deer seems to come out at night, but during the hour that we were out we we managed to see another elephant and then another one 10 minutes later. We couldn't believe our luck. They were so close. And cause it was night, it was that quiet you could hear them eating. They didn't seem too startled by the big flashlight that was shining on them and they happily pulled trees apart and ate for a while before slowly plodding off deeper into the forest. We spent so long watching them, that we became aware that we hadn't thought to check the other side to make sure there wasn't a herd of them ready to charge at us because it was so dark everywhere else, you could only see what the light was shining directly on to - but thankfully the driver had been keeping a look out.
We returned back and bought some celebratory beers (which the host had to get by driving across the border into another state for us!). We were so happy we saw some elephants on the last two trips out on the jeep, as on the first two there were none about at all and we thought we'd come away without seeing them. However on the second trip out we did see elephant poo which looked quite fresh so we thought we might get lucky then, but they didn't appear!!!
So we've come back to Fort Cochin again for a couple of nights to recover and recharge the batteries before heading off again. It was such a good experience - I think I've found my 'calling' in life. I am now sure I am meant to be a wildlife photographer and spent my days hanging out of a jeep, racing over rough terrain looking for a variety of animals. I could think of worse jobs!!!!
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