I meet the Minister of Tourism for this part of India.

It’s another early morning – and when we arrive at reception – there’s a crowd. I spot a man carrying one of the those massive birding lens – and ask – Wow – 600 or 800? Answer – it’s 800.

Abi quickly joins us to introduce me to the Minister of Tourism and I take in the rest of the crowd. There the manager of the Retreat, several staff, lots of police looking ‘protective’, and us.

Oh – hi.

The Minister gets into his jeep, most of the rest get into their jeeps – and the three jeep parade takes off – heading for the entrance to the Park.

Abi says – ok – here’s the plan – we need to try some off the path trails to avoid getting stuck behind those guys – our goal – be in front!

So we quickly load up and leave. The Minister and his entourage haven’t gotten far – they found a bird in a tree right outside the retreat, so we scoot past and head for the park.

After yesterday – our decision is not to do that long drive again – not worth it. Instead we want to explore the paths less visited around the park.

And it’s a winning decision. Lots of great photo opps – although we sadly don’t see any monkeys. I’m getting a lot better at spotting the birds when Abi points them out – and also getting better at using my cameras.

I’m up to about 1000 photos to edit – but some of them are winners.

The highlight for me of our two safari’s today – besides dodging the Minister’s party – is our rest stop.

We are parked on a higher ridge line overlooking the river – just enjoying the view of Butan and enjoying a brief snack. In the distance in the river there is a solitary true Buffalo with his giant horns – and in the far distance two juvenile Rhino are playing in the water.

After a bit – Diplip says – excuse me – I need to use the little boys room. On one side of our admittedly tiny hill is a guard house – on the other side is a path down to the river. And there’s a bit of shade.

Diplip gets out of the jeep – walks along the ruts on the ridge line about 25 steps – and then quickly hassles back to the jeep! There are 2 Adult Rhinos just behind the guard house.

We slowly drive forward to take a look at- then Abi says – Back up Diplip – they are going to go around the back of the Guard House. We return to the shade of our tree – and are treated with 2 HUGE Rhinos just munching their way thru the back path of the Guard House, around to the ‘front’ yard right under our noses. One has a single horn – this is the older of the pair.

We shoot and shoot and shoot.

They hear the noises of our cameras – but can’t quite figure out where it is coming from – so we get full face views!

Awesome.

After a bit the Rhinos decide that they would like to join us on the ridge – Diplip slowly and carefully moves out of their way – and with surprising speed for such massive beasts – they run up the jeep path – up and over the ridge – and head down the way towards the river.

Perfect.

Absolutely Perfect.

We head back to the Retreat for breakfast/lunch – a break – and then we head out again. Before we go – I’m tasked with ordering dinner. And I ask if they do Tandouri Chicken. Turns out they just got a Tandouri Oven – so the answer is yes! It’s Chicken tonight people!

After this morning’s adventures – the afternoon is quite relaxed. We spot up close a true Indian Buffalo (not a Guar) with it’s Magnificat horns spread about 5’ wide – have a face to face encounter with a Guar with only one horn who poses for pictures, and find more stunning sunset pictures.

Tomorrow we’re leaving Manas for another Park – and 8 hour drive away. So at least I’ll get to sleep in until 5:30… but then I must pack.

Dinner was predictably delicious – Helmut even gets a Cold Beer – not the easiest thing to find apparently – and we are all happy campers.

Signing off – The Soup Lady

It’s another glorious sunrise – I just love my room, now that I’ve had a chance to actually look at it. King Bed, tons of space, private bathroom with a lovely shower and for some reason a bucket in the shower with a small scoop.

When we gather to meet our driver – this time I get his name – Diplip – which means King – I ask and am told – that’s if you don’t want to use either the shower head or the hand held. Oh. Or – you can use it for washing your clothes. Oh again.

This time we have agreed to meet earlier – 5:30 – because we’re going to drive an hour (this I didn’t know until we did it) to another entrance to the Park. We’re told that this entrance is less frequently used – and we should have the park to ourselves.

Today is Sunday – and it’s 5-30 AM – and we are the only car on the road. Everyone else who is moving around – and there aren’t very many people about yet – are either walking, setting up shop, riding bicycles or riding in Tuk-Tuks. The roads aren’t crowded – in fact – they are so quiet that the driving danger comes not from the Tuk-Tuks but from the small mostly black goats. Apparently they think they own the road and stand, walk or sit on it. In large groups of maybe 7, or as individuals. And Diplip just casually steers the jeep around the groups, acting as if this is completely normal.

I suspect it is normal.

Half of the road is brilliantly paved, flat and lovely, half of the distance to the entrance is potholed and Diplip has to serve from side to side – not only to avoid the goats – but to avoid the worst of the potholes.

I smile and wave at everyone. I figure – if they smile back – it will be good day. And it’s a brilliant day. At least half of the people smile back and wave too. Not just the kids – but adults as well. I’m not sure if they are just shocked to see folks like us up and around so early – or if a crazy white lady in a Tiley Hat waving madly seems like something worth a smile. But it works!

We get to the entrance, pick up an armed guard after some discussion – I think so few folks use this entrance that they are amazed we actually went to go in – who again has a rusted rifle – and we head into the park.

The good news is- there are no other tourists. The bad news – there are no animals either.

A very disappointing Safari.

We eventually give up – repeat our hour drive back to the Musa Jungle Retreat – and get to eat breakfast/brunch.

The vote is to NOT repeat that trip – this afternoon we’re going back to the main entrance and just deal with the crowds.

To make up for the disappointing morning – this afternoon is amazing. We finally find the Elephants – and gets some great shots. There are two kinds of Elephants in the park – Domestic and Wild. They look just alike to me – except the Domestic ones have chains around one of their ankles. The guards ride them during their patrols of the Park, or use them to do heavy lifting when trees fall down and block the jeep paths.

Speaking of the guards – there are guard posts located all thru the park. These are ‘man caves’ where the guards live during their ‘duty’ weeks. And they are what you’d expect from a ‘man cave’ with no running water except from a well, outdoor toilets used only by guys (nope – I didn’t go it – Helmut checked), and a fire pit for cooking.

But the guards are so proud of their post. When they are in their kaki uniforms they look quite dashing – but often we spot them in more casual wear. These guard posts are their homes!

We spot more birds. There is a tree I call the Tree of Life that sports 2 Peacocks, an Elephant at the base, and countless other birds in the branches. It is stunningly beautiful.

We hang around a lake/pond for a while – just clicking away at the lovely reflections – and Abi gleefully identifies all the different birds we see and hear.

As the Sun starts to set – we head back – to find our way blocked by a family of 5 elephants! Mom and what we eventually decide is also Mom, and 3 juveniles of decreasing age. The pose for pictures coming straight at us – and Diplip slowly and oh so casually backs up the jeep to avoid them charging us. They continue to ‘follow’ us – and Diplip continues our retreat until they get bored with the game and turn off to much some particularly yummy grass.

Whew! Diplip puts the gear into forward and we slowly drive around the group, staying on the road as required.

30 minutes of bumpy path back to the gate in the dark with only our headlights to see the way – then home to the Musa Jungle Retreat.

Dinner at 6:30 – my butter chicken, and a real treat called Smoked Chicken and Pineapple that we all agree is totally delicious. Abi introduces us to some of his friends (fellow tour guides that he’s grown up with), and the manager of the Musa Jungle Retreat joins us for a bit to ask if we are having a good time.

I feel like a very important – but very tired person.

Helmut’s watch reports that he’s walked 16,000 steps today. That’s what that bumpy road apparently means to our Apple Watches!

Home – bed – and another early morning tomorrow.

Signing off – The Soup Lady

Today starts off bright and early! 6:00 AM and the sun is just starting to rise. As asked – we gather at the reception area of the resort, are greeted by Abi, and load up our personal 4×4 Jeep.

The lovely driver will be with us for the next 3 days – so today is a ‘getting used to the tourists’ day for him and ‘getting comfy with our cameras’ for us.e

Our transport is an open air jeep with three rows of 2 seats each. First row is for the driver on the right side, and there is a passenger seat on the left.

Helmut opts for the middle seat – behind the driver on the right – Andrea wants to sit in the back next to Abi, and the passenger seat is reserved for the park employee who is tasked with keeping us safe.

He is carrying a rifle. I’d feel a lot safer if the rifle weren’t rusted, and looks like it dates back to the days of British control of India. But Abi explains that the guard is just there to fire the gun if an animal attacks – not to actually hit the animal. The noise will scare them off.

We’re talking tigers and leopards and Rhinosaurs here.. and Elephants. There is no roof to our 4×4 jeep – and as our driver says – it’s seen better days. Lots better. Maybe better years. Maybe 30 years…

But we are not here to worry about the luxury of our travel – we’re here to see animals.

As with Safari’s I’ve taken in Africa – you get up early, return for breakfast/brunch, rest for a few hours, then go out again in the evening – and that’s the plan here as well.

Our ‘retreat’ is just around the corner from the entrance to the Park, and at 6:00 there’s no traffic. So we zip out, and are quickly at the entrance.

Our fees have been pre-paid, so we are simply waved in – and Abi directs the driver as to which path to take. The roads in the park (and you aren’t allowed to drive off road like we did in Kenya) are poorly maintained and very rutted – so I have to brace my knee against the metal door frame. It’s actually not uncomfortable. But to take photos – I generally need to stand on the seat – which means taking off my shoes!

Today we spent quite some time taking pictures of monkeys – they aren’t spoiled brats like the ones in Bali who will attack you – these guys are simply adorable. Doing their things in a monkey way. I got some great shots.

We also passed a very touristy Elephant Ride activity – but in the morning haze – the pictures looks awesome.

Abi is a bird fiend – and we stop time and time again for him to identify and get us to see (trust me – the latter was the hard part) – bird after bird after bird.

We wind up actually in Butan. There is a National Park in Butan that shares a long border but only one entrance with the Manas National Park. We pose for pictures at the border, but can’t cross – there’s a lot of paper work involved for non- Indians.

Eventually it’s home for lunch and a break – then back on the road again. This time we score an Elephant family (Mom, Dad, Junior) who pose for pictures for at least an hour. We also take a photo of a lovely butterfly, some other birds, and then end up at sunset in a grassland area with a stunning sky and wonderful trees. I go snap happy!

Then we spot a guard tower (these are all over the park – and free to climb) – and see a herd of Guar headed our way. Yup – they have two kinds of buffalo here in the Manas Park. These giants have white socks on all 4 legs, and smaller horns then the true buffalo of India. Their horns curl out and up and they are generally found in herds.

They move closer and closer until they are just maybe 30 feet away. Our guard is not happy that they are this close – but clearly we have parked the Jeep where they think they should be walking. We take pictures – say good bye to the guard house and the Guar – and head home.

The rutted roads of the Park taken at speed feel like those exercise machines that jiggled you to take off wait – and it’s about 40 minutes in the dark to the park gate. My watch asks if I want to record my outdoor walk!

An early night. Can you believe it.

I’m so happy I can’t stand it.

For dinner I order Onion Pakora – and a Ginger Soup. Abi thinks I’m starving myself – so under pressure I add Butter Chicken and Rice.

We have WAY too much food. The Butter Chicken goes back to the kitchen to keep for dinner the next night – and I gleefully scarf down the best onion Pakoras I’ve ever eaten.

It’s bed time – I’m done. I transfer my pictures to my ipad, plug in my batteries to charge.. and drop.

Signing off – The Soup Lady