Chris with leech socks We got up early and headed to breakfast around 7:00 AM. As we had a schedule hike, we put on our leech socks before heading out. The dining area is all open air and has a great view of the river. So while eating our breakfast we watched for birds and listened to the morning chorus. There were 6 other people in our group with Donny our guide…a couple from England and a family with two girls ages 8 and 10 from Malaysia. Our scheduled activity for 8:30 AM was a hike up to the lodge viewpoint. It was steep uphill climb (and very hot and humid), we decided not to go. The couple from England had the same thought and the lodge found us another guide for a morning hike. Trail We walked through the jungle for 3 hours (about 2 miles) at a slow pace to watch for birds, animals, and insects. We had on our leech socks and did encounter some leeches. The tiger leeches sit on leaves 3 feet above...
I am starting this post off with a map of India. Before this trip, I really had no idea exactly where the cities were that we were going to visit. So this map should help orient those of you that have not yet visited India. I have circled in red the places that we are visiting in India. Gas is $1.30 per liter or approx. $5 per gallon. Auto insurance doesn’t get raised for an accident. There are a lot of signs about drinking and driving but guide said if you had an accident you run away, pretend someone else was driving and come back for your car in the morning Upon arriving in Delhi, we once again boarded buses for our 4-hour drive to Agra. Our new guide once again provided us with many interesting facts. Delhi has a population of 25 million people (2 nd largest in the world after Tokyo) with 7 million autos, mopeds and scooters. There is a new rule that will take affect soon and any car older than 15 years must be scrapped....
We woke up this morning to dense fog which followed us until late afternoon as we sailed north in the Barents Sea heading for the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Both the air and water temperatures had dropped by at least 15F since we left Norway's mainland and passed from the warmer Gulf Stream current into a cold arm of the south flowing Arctic current. We passed by Bear Island which is supposed to have lots of nesting birds, but the fog was too dense to even see the island. It is the southern most island of the Norwegian Svalbard Archipelago which was discovered in 1596 by Dutch Explorers and named after a polar bear they saw swimming nearby. "Despite its remote location and barren nature, the island has seen commercial activities in past centuries, such as coal mining, fishing and whaling. However, no settlements have lasted more than a few years, and Bear Island is now uninhabited except for personnel working at the island's meteorological station Herwigh...
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