DAY 21 - Monkeys and Elephants and Boars, Oh My!

It's a new moon today and also a national holiday, Republic Day. Melissa and I have planned a day trip to Bandipur, a National Wildlife Reserve about 2 hours out of Mysore. It's an interesting drive: long and very hot, with heavy traffic, construction, and really bad roads. We're both downing motion sickness remedies and fidgiting with too many layers of baggy clothes and scarves. When we get there we realize we're the only visitors on our safari bus who are not Indian, so we are getting as many looks as the exotic wildlife. I guess I'm their glimpse of the rare blond species, ha!

On the safari ride, we find that they are doing some kind of controlled burning in the reserve that is totally smoking us out, and all the animals, too. Hmmm... In the areas away from the smoke and fire we do get to see some animals: there are monkeys who drink out of water and juice bottles like humans, wild boar, spotted deer, some kind of big bird, a large mystery animal kind of like a deer but bigger and darker (big bird and snufalufagus!), black-faced monkeys with long, light fur, and best of all, an elephant taking a bath! She is splashing around in the water and exclaiming, making all kinds of noise and apparently having loads of fun. It's pretty awesome, she's the highlight of the trip!

So, the park was a nice day trip, but seeing animals are actually a common part of everyday life here in India. Here's a list of things I've seen: cows (cows walking in the road, cows laying on the sidewalk, cows eating out of trash bins, big cows, little cows, baby cows, bright yellow cows, cows wearing flowers, cows happily eating beautiful flower garlands off the front of parked buses). Also lots of dogs, who all kind of look the same and seem happy and are incredibly brave when running across the street through crazy traffic, and they like to take naps on the side of the road when it gets really hot. We also have a dog that hangs around the shala, he comes into the courtyard in the morning while we are waiting on led days and wines and nudges us until we pet him. Sheep, loads and loads of sheep, and on the way home from Bandipur I saw a tiny little baby one drinking from it's mama, so sweet! Wild boar, often seen in families with baby boar, and I hear they can get protective so I try to steer clear. Monkeys, naughty monkeys! On Chamundi Hill, one walked up to my friend Emma, reached out, and took her juice right out of her hand! Horses, one just laying down for an afternoon rest next to the coconut stand, and also, most memorably, a very small horse just trotting down the middle of a busy street along with all the crazy traffic one night. People riding camels. People riding an elephant. And last (my least favorite), cockroaches so big that they seem more like small animals than insects. I'm sure the list will keep growing...