Elsietampong's Blog

We traveled higher into the mountains. We were going to Munnar Wildlife Sanctuary.

We passed by a waterfall as we went up.

After a few hours, we reached what looked like the entrance of the Camp.

The sign of the building said “Disaster Management Center”, but it looked like a welcoming building to me. We had come a long way to think of disasters at this point.

We passed by a white haired young man sitting at the side. Just a few feet away sat an equally bored monkey, also white haired.

A sign showed that there were a lot of things to do in this mountain.

We checked into our Camp. There were others who were there, but it was a small camp.

After leaving our things in our rooms, we decided to do what we were expected to do:  look for game.  This was going to be exciting, if we will be successful.  The roads were very narrow, a cemented road good enough for two jeepneys.  We passed a jeep with people looking for game.  Our guide has been here many times.  From my Kenya experience, you had to look for the watering holes if you wanted to spot animals. Animals always went there to drink and bathe.

We were excited to see our first deer.  Then another with his family. Then another. Pictured above was my favorite shot: a deer with antlers, and gorgeous spotted smooth skin. A lemur shot up a tree, but he was too fast for my camera to catch it.   We drove on.  A peacock! It had a bright blue head with a crown, black-and-white wings, and a green tail.   When it fluffed out the feathers, the peacock was a sight to behold.

We went on to see more animals.  Would we ever get to see an elephant?  Just when the sun was slowly going down, an elephant appeared from our left!  We got out our cameras ready and started shooting this video.

We were so happy to have been able to catch an elephant up close.  In a few minutes, more elephants appeared, all eager to get to the watering hole that was across the street from where our jeep lay.  The guide was happy that his customers were happy. It was worth all the trip up the mountain! You can tell that I was taking a video, since you can see my green jade bracelet taking the video. But my camera wouldn’t save it to my directory because my storage was too small.

The guide and my companions decided to have a celebration dinner!  We were going to have roasted chicken with beer, in addition to the usual rice and condiments.  They put out a bonfire in front of our rooms, but I stayed inside my room, worried about dengue and similar sicknesses.  My hosts couldn’t understand why I was so worried about getting bitten by a mosquito.  But they accepted my explanation that “local mosquitoes” would probably be thrilled to bite an “imported” blood.  So I should keep inside where there were less mosquitoes who will target my unusual blood. Honestly, the locals just ignored the mosquitoes. I saw the pests everywhere: in the city hotels, in the rural hotels, in the camp.  But you could tell that the mosquitoes in India did not feel threatened by the locals. They were easy to kill.  The mosquitoes that lived with people who killed them instantly on sight, usually were quick to evade being killed.

When we left the camp, we went to a building that showed a lot of things that the Munnar Sanctuary wanted to do:  preserve the cultures of the two tribes who were there, provide skills to the tribesmen so that they could be economically capable in the fast modernizing world, and for the tourists, to show the archeological heritage of this part of India.  Ecotourism was the key word.

He was undeniably the love of my life. He gave me everything I needed: stability, unquestioning love, happy memories of a solid family life…. I considered myself lucky to have had him in my life.

It happened all to quickly. In five minutes, he was gone forever.

We had gone to Siargao Island, touted to be the “next big tourist attraction after Boracay and Palawan.” It was just Lori, who was on her Thanksgiving weekend leave, Love and myself.

His mind was not on this trip.  A few days ago, the water started gushing out of the latest pump that he installed.  Water!  Water! The gates to success were finally opened!!! For three years, he tried to have a steady source of water, without which he wouldn’t be able to make his farm a success. Now, it was happening… Water! Water!…

Water was also what did him in.  The tsunami waves came, two stories high.  Our boat just lost power, and the anchors had hit corals.  We were truly doomed.  The waves came — ONE, TWO, THREE– Each time, I asked myself, “Until when can I hold my breath?”  But I held on as long as I could.  Finally, my head bobbed out from under the upturned boat.  I gulped in as much air as I could before the next wave overpowered us again.

Finally it was over. The people on the beach watching us, ran to help us as soon as the wave disappeared.  They knew that, if another wave would get us again, we would be lost in the sea forever.

When I saw him at the corner of my eye, I thought he was walking.  “Thank God, he’s safe,” I said to myself.  When he passed me by, being held on both sides by the rescuers, his feet were dangling. I knew inside my heart he was gone. He had atrial fibrillation, a heart condition which meant he had irregular heartbeat. He was on a vegetable diet, and a blood thinner. He must have suffered myocardial infarction. Deadly for him who already had several episodes of strokes.

But he is not gone. It is now two years, and yet, I know he is with me.  I have pursued his dream of making his farm a success. My life is now two lives, his and mine. I took over some of his projects, so he has to be with me to run them the way he wants it.  I have not taken to self pity, why should I?  I have challenges to face, and face them I do. There is no time for weakness. I must be strong.

But it is goodbye, in the sense that I will never share laughter with him. I will never feel his strong hands giving me support when I walk up hills, to stop me from stumbling over holes on the streets.

So I thank you.

https://elsietampong.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/touring-kerala-in-a-houseboat/

In India, the roads in the mountains and hills are barely enough for two vehicles. There are road signs everywhere : The first one is “Pin head bend” –which means the curve is as tight as a pin head. The next one says, “Sound Your Horn”. In all civilized countries, to honk your horn is a sign of rudeness. But in India, under the circumstances stated earlier, it is really imperative to sound your horn in order to notify the oncoming vehicle that you are veering in his direction and must take the utmost precautions. I took a picture of a vehicle with an order to “Sound Horn” to really show you I am not making this up.

Today, we were traveling from the east to the west of southern India. It took us ten hours, going through several national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and reserves. Since we would be in mountain areas for ten hours, I decided the title of this blog would be “Honking All The Way”.

India was under the British rule. The weather and soil was perfect for raising tea. So the mountains were covered with tea estates.

My newly bought (from Chennai) flaming silk red dress found a perfect backdrop in the verdant tea plantation. I quickly posed in the middle, and just as quickly, jumped back into the car.

Our driver stopped at a viewpoint, the Mettupalayam Viewpoint. This seemed to be a regular stop. But the fog covered the view. A waiting vendor was rewarded with a purchase of his “dirty ice cream” as we call it in the Philippines.

After a while, we found ourselves in the plains. Thank God for a respite from honking. The population was very sparse, cars were few. Then I was surprised by many wind turbines all over the place.

It made sense: land prices were low, and putting up a grid to produce electrity would be a good investment for the local government. There was one building with solar panels for its roof. But that was all I saw. Mostly it was wind turbines.

I closed my eyes trying to remember the studies on India made by the UNCRD (United Nations Center for Regional Development in Nagoya, Japan in the 1970s when we were there. Which states had higher income, which lower? I didn’t have time to answer the question because the honking started again. Yes, we had gone back to the mountains. Our next stop was Munnar, and the vision of tea-covered mountains sprang up once more.

We were back to “honking all the way”.

Just a few hours ago, I felt I was in Baguio. Now I was all set to take a safari.

We arrived in Tamil Nadu. After resting, a jeep came for us to bring us to another aspect of India: its wildlife.

Our first stop was the temple of Ganesh the Elephant God. It was on top of a hill overlooking the villages below it. Perhaps this stop was built for us to say a prayer for us to be lucky to see some elephants living in the wild mountains where we were going.

When we were living in Kenya, you would try to see the big four:– lion, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros. I asked the guide if there were lions here, and he said they were in another state. For tigers, there were only 77 in the two adjoining states, so, there would be little chance for us to see one. I didn’t ask about the rhino, because the answer was obvious.

So the (big) four that we saw in this trip were the elephant, many deers and bucks, a few lemurs, several majestic peacocks. There were wild pigs, too. I had a video of the elephant, but cannot attach it to this blog. Just accept my word that I had one.

So this is India. It is such a big continent, it is not surprising to have a little bit of everything. I am just on my second day of my road trip to the Southern India region. You will have more blogs as I go.

Maalathy, my host for this India trip, tried to make it look easy to pry herself away from her two boys. We were going to be away for ten days. The boys will stay with her mother, and her Dad was coming on this trip with us.

“Why does he have to go? ” I wanted to know. We were already going to hire a cousin who will drive.

“For security, ” she said matter of factly.

We watched the goodbye rituals–powder on the face and pootu on the forehead to keep them safe.

Our first stop was Ooty–the tallest point of India. It took us nine hours to reach there. It was 50 degrees Celsius, very cold for our party.

When morning came, we packed our bags and went to the Rose Garden.

The roses would only be ready in March. But as a gardener, I could take note of the preparations necessary for a good display.

From here we proceeded to the tallest point of India. It reminded me so much of the Mines View Park of Baguio, with all the stalls lining up to the top. The only ones missing were the children who would try to catch the coins that the tourists were throwing.

I felt very much at home here. The houses looked the same, the stalls were the same, the cold of the Baguio that I remember, was the same. It was truly a little bit of Baguio in India for me.