'Mist' Opportunities

Hello again,

Blogging again so soon? Well we wanted to share a flavour of our recent short trip to Nainital, in India, with you. Before we tell you more about it, here’s a quick update.

Schools are still closed for the monsoon holidays but we’re finding work to do in the office including planning, data analysis, and drinking chiyah (sweet Nepali tea) with anyone who drops in to see us.

Back at home we have cut back the foliage a bit in the hope that the resident leeches will have fewer places to launch onto us from. The termites are being evicted after munching through some paper kites decorating our walls, and turning them to dust. We’re continuing to see beautiful wildlife in our garden including parakeets, hornbills and bee-eaters and wasps that feature in our album.

Nainital: A ‘mist’ opportunity?

After our surprise 6 day, 12 hours a day training and no weekend, everyone agreed that we deserved a break. Where to go in the monsoon though? This is the time when roads are most likely to be blocked and distant views are less than spectacular. The choice wasn’t too hard though, because we’d heard about a beautiful mountain lake in India, only 8 hours journey away.

We realized we’d made the right decision not spend our time in Nepal when we weren’t able to get a bus to the border due to a Banda (strike) on the day we left (which continued for several more days). So we hopped on a rickshaw, and off we went.

On the first day, we were laughing. Who says it's silly to come to see the Himalayas in the middle of the monsoon? Look at this beautiful weather:

And look at this lovely night time shot. We were really looking forward to our hill walk with snow peaked views the following day.

In the meantime we enjoyed the view from our hotel bedroom window from where we could watch the locals in their ‘branch offices’:

After a few hours walking we reached ‘Tiffin Top’ (does that ring a colonial bell to anyone?) After tiffin on Tiffin, the clouds cleared enough for us to get a bit of a view of the valley below.

Not Himalayan snowpeaks but even so, by the time we reach the promised panorama of Land’s End (sounds all very British), the cloud will surely have cleared and those snowy peaks will surely be peeking out:

Well there’s always tomorrow. We can’t go wrong with a trip on the cable car to ‘Snow View’. Huh! ‘There’s No View’ more like!

While the views were sorely ‘mist’, walking in the clouds did give an extra special feel to our walks. It sometimes felt as though we were walking through fairyland with the ancient moss covered trees, occasional ruins and even a fantasy castle (well okay just a pretentious looking school). Here’s Steve away with the fairies:

There was lots of interesting wildlife to see including this eagle which occasionally emerged from the fog (eagle-ly awaited).

Critters

Hello once more from Mel and Steve.

It’s been a while since our school special posting, which is an indication of how busy we’ve been. This time, we’ll discuss some of the ‘critters’ that we have encountered so far here in Mahendranagar.

But first, a quick update on our adventures since last time:

Schools closed a couple of weeks ago for the rainy/rice planting season, although lots closed early because they have postponed end of semester exams (because of lack of textbooks, although since the exams are written by the teachers, we’re not quite sure how this works!).

Since then, we have been involved in a very intensive training schedule for some local ECD (Early Childhood Development - Nursery/Reception) teachers. Unfortunately, we didn't get any notice for this so couldn't plan what to do but, armed with a training schedule left behind by Robin and Eddie (former VSOs) and our own ideas, we cobbled through. The training was every day for 6 days from 7.30-5.00 so was very tiring, both for the trainees and us trainers. We were assisting Naranyji, the District ECD co-ordinator and song leader extraordinaire. We covered play related learning, simple maths and language demonstrations, stories and songs. Highlights included the building of some houses, complete with miniature furniture, by the trainees and the 'Hatti' (Elephant) song. Photos in the album.

We have also been visiting local NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) and putting up displays.

Outside of work, we have visited 'Jalangypul' which, depending on who you speak to, is either the largest or second largest suspension bridge in Asia. It was impressive and only a few kilometers from our house. Again, photos in the album. We have enjoyed being out and about in the local area. The frequent rainstorms keep it from getting too hot and everywhere is lovely and green. There is lots of natural history to observe, which brings us to:

Mahendranagar Critters, large and small.

The monsoon season has encouraged a huge growth in the plants as well as lots of temporary ponds and puddles. This has led to a big increase in the wildlife that has appeared, as if from nowhere. One of the most obvious and certainly the noisiest, has been the thousands of frogs. They are EVERYWHERE. It's like something out of the old testament! From a few weeks ago, the nights started to be filled with loud mating croaks (which kept us awake - now we know where the term 'frog chorus' comes from!) The tiny resulting froglets are now hopping about everywhere:

Also out and about in some numbers are the infamous Nepali leeches. These critters hide in the soil for most of the year and emerge now. They like nothing better than hiding next to our gate and trying to suck on as we pass. Mel has already been 'leeched' and is now on permanent watchout. Here is one looking harmless:

This giant earthworm was actually spotted in Kathmandu but its mates live here as well. Related to leeches but much friendlier.

Some other, very common houseguests are several species of ants and termites. We have lots of fun watching their ant-ics. Some termites have constructed some passages, tunnels and bridges, out of mud, along our corridor. They are like the 'Doozers' from 'Fraggle Rock'. If any food is left on a work surface for more than 10 seconds, it gets thieved. Like this bit of coconut:




Some other, perhaps more beautiful, insects are also around in numbers. Each evening our garden becomes the scene of something out of fantasy when hundreds of brightly coloured dragonflies descend and skim around. Apart from being beautiful, they also do us a favour by eating mosquitoes, which are also doing very well.

And this flower and beetle need no other introduction.
Some larger critters:
This is also a good season for snakes. Steve has seen one but it zoomed off before a photo could be taken. Here instead is another shot of our, less camera shy, garden lizard (in display colours):

The nearby 'Sukla Phanta' wildlife reserve is home to herds of deer, tigers, rhinos and elephants. Unfortunately, we haven't been there yet but soon intend to. In the meantime, here is a photo of another critter that often wanders past our office door:

And finally, we did get a shot of the elusive and crafty 'mango snatching' critter:That's all for now. Don't forget there are more photos in the album and we'll blog again soon.