015 Elephant Attack!

So today was a long day, to say the least, filled a whole bunch of random activities that were both fun and exhausting. We started the morning – you guess it! – before the crack of dawn, and went on a safari at close to 6 in the morning. It was still dark when we left our rooms to get to the jeeps and not everyone was a happy camper. I don’t think any of us were expecting it be so cold, and it was absolutely freezing. Subzero temperatures, basically. Not really, but still.

Still dark when we left. NOT COOL.

We left the resort area and headed to another tourist-y looking place where I believe we had to pick up our driver and/or guide. At this point, there was a guy who approached our jeep with binoculars asking us if we wanted to rent them for some exorbitant price, but Jarred, who has no patience for hawkers, shot him down reeeeaaaal quick. It was one of the most simultaneously hilarious and painful situations I've ever seen. Jarred is already a funny person, but tired, annoyed Jarred with hawkers is even funnier. We debated about whether this stop was actually a ploy to get tourists to rent binoculars from the hawkers who collaborated with the jeep drivers, but we couldn’t be sure. It wouldn’t have surprised me though. I feel like I’ve been overly naïve about India. I came in believing everyone was super nice and friendly, and most of them are – just for different reasons. A little scary if you think about it. I absolutely hate having to second guess my every move and wonder if every kind gesture is genuine or made in a bid for tips/profit/something in return. It’s frustrating.

Anyway, the safari was a lot of fun. We didn’t see many animals unfortunately, and that might have been because we were being too noisy. Hah! It’s hard to stay focused in an open-topped jeep in 40 degree weather at 6:30 in the morning.

Here is a monkey we saw.

Pretty, but altogether useless scenery. Where were the sharks?

More of the above.

It took a lot longer than any of us expected so by the time we got back, we were tired and ready for some breakfast. After breakfast, most of us wandered back to our bungalows for (much needed) naps, Kaleah and I included. We just leave the heater on in our room, so it’s always absolutely delightful once we return. And it certainly was! We were told that some villagers had caught a wild tiger that had killed and eaten some people from the nearby village (what!) and that we would be able to see it in a cage if we went to the village quickly, so naturally the thought of the nap evaporated quickly and soon we were off to see a real live wild tiger – up close! Unfortunately, when we had gotten there, the tiger was nowhere to be seen, and we were told we would have had to wait another half hour or so to see it, but everyone was too tired to care/wait at that point, so we left with half-hearted promises of returning to see it later. The tiger had to be put down because it had killed humans and therefore recognized how easily attainable we are as prey (so true!) and would mostly likely kill humans again. Scary. This isn’t something that even enters the periphery of my mind in Fayetteville, Arkansas so imagining having to deal with the possibility of getting MAULED BY A TIGER on a daily basis is just crazy to me.

In any case, we returned to our resort, grabbed lunch and short naps, and before we knew it, we were up again for yet another safari…yeah. Like before, it was a lot of fun, but we were so tired that we weren’t really paying much attention anymore. We got to see some gorgeous scenery, etc. But yeah. It was tough to care.

I will say though – our jeep managed to find a wild elephant which was super awesome. Until it started charging at us wtfffff! Then it wasn’t so fun anymore.

AHHH! ANGRY WILD ELEPHANT!!!

Mind you I use the terms “charging” and “at us” very loosely. The elephant more like “sauntered towards us in our general direction”.

Clearly tried to kill us. Blurry picture is proof.

But at the time, we were convinced we were going to die if we didn't make a Matrix-level escape. This was made even more so by the fact that our jeep had to cross a river in reverse to get away, and pick up a couple who apparently had no concept of “if you don’t get out of the way of giant elephant, you will die”. The whole experience was very Indiana Jones-esque, and we were proud to show the other jeeps our footage and pictures. After seeing the elephant, we headed back to the resort. The sun had set at this point though, so it was back to subzero temperatures and of course, none of us were prepared. So we got back chilled to the bone and everyone ran to Kaleah and my room because as mentioned previously, we were geniuses and kept our heaters on the entire time.

After taking quick showers, Kaleah and I started packing as we were leaving Corbett later that night – except this time, we’d be SO PREPARED for the frozen bus. I left out layers and layers of clothing as well as my blanket and after handing our luggage off to be loaded onto the bus, we headed for the bonfire near our resort’s dining area and right by the river which was wonderful, again.

Happy thoughts.

There was a wildlife documentary playing once we got there and after watching a couple of minutes of it, we went to join our group for dinner. After dinner, it was back on the bus for another long, cold trip to Delhi. Whee. Except not really.