Because of a change in flights our arrangements for the last day have had to change. Instead of walking at Jaisamand wildlife sanctuary we are up early for a 2 hour nature walk just a short drive from the hotel. Our guide was a hugely knowledgable man, now working as a consultant on conservation issues in India. His knowledge of plants, trees and all their uses, plus the local animal population and how to spot signs of them was phenomenal. Mind you he does have a PhD so should know, but fortunately he had the ability to impart his knowledge in a simple and straightforward way. One thing I learned was that some trees not only help to reduce pollutants in the atmosphere but can also help to deal with dust. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the tree he pointed out or how it actually works 😳
We saw a number of local tribes people carrying huge bunches of dried grasses on their heads. They are allowed to cut grass in this area and it is probably used for animal feed.
There are lots of leopards in the area but all we saw was the footprint of a juvenile, some scat and where they could see where a leopard and a blue bull (the largest Indian antelope)had had a scrap yesterday. The leopard was not successful, probably because the blue bull is large. There are also hyenas, jackals, wild boar and porcupine, evidence of the last 2 also being spotted.
Back at the hotel soon after 10.00 our travelling companions went off to finish their packing whilst we contemplated how we might spend the next 24 hours. The hotel is set in 75 acres and has a lot of facilities including an outdoor swimming pool. To get to and from our villa though we have had to use a complementary taxi service! We are going to see if there is a walking route, although I am not sure if I would want to use it after dark!
Farewells done, we took a taxi back to our little villa and whiled away a couple of hours on the balcony reading, blogging, keeping the washing in the sun to air! It was very peaceful and relaxing after the pace of the last 10 days.
At lunchtime we did find the way to walk down to the restaurant and had a snack before walking back and being lazy again. In fact the balcony became too hot to sit on! A shame really as tomorrow we head north and eventually to the foothills of the Himalayas where it will be much colder. Geoff decided against the pool as we weren’t sure it was heated and on the basis this is the end of winter the water might have been too cold! The water in the outdoor shower was most definitely cold😱😂😂
We had a bit of time to look up some things on Google (although I am trying to remember to use Ecosia rather than Google to benefit the environment!) One of the discussions this week was about what a bungalow was. No the origin of the word is not British and it is not necessarily a single storey building. According to Wikipedi: A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-storey or has a second storey built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows),[1] and may be surrounded by wide verandas.[1]
The style is derived from the thatched huts of Bengali farmers.[1] The British altered the style and built bungalows around British India.[1] The first house in England that was classified as a bungalow was built in 1869.[1] We have learned something!
We watched the sun set behind the mountains from our balcony and then headed to the bar for a pre-dinner drink and dinner at the restaurant. What a lazy day!
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