Wednesday – Safari Browser(s)

Our schedule has changed – the original plans for today flew out the window and instead we will be going on a safari.

In a few minutes we will by FaceTiming a life group from home and shortly after that we will be in search of some lions and tigers and hathi!

That was the only hathi (elephant) we got to see on this safari. We walked down to the pond were the crocodiles were…

Then we boarded a bus (of sorts) for an hour drive through the jungle (well, actually more like a woods, but jungle nonetheless). The first area we went into was for Mixed Herbivores (each area had a paddock area where we had to open the first gate, drive in, close the first gate, and then open the second to drive into that area.

The mixed herb eaters we saw were deer, peacocks(and hens), and monkeys.

The second area we visited was for the Asiatic Black Bear (Balu)…

The driver tried REALLY hard to get his attention so that he’d face us, but the guy was just not that interested in cooperating.

We then drove into the Leopard area. The ones that were out loose did not show themselves, so we drove over by the caged area and saw one up close – but he was on the other side of the bus and I couldn’t get a good picture.

Lastly, we drove into the tiger area. We saw two tigers up close.

After our hour in the bus we walked a little bit. First into a garden of medicinal plants, but it was fairly overgrown. Then we walked over to an aviary. I apologize that the cage obscures the view of the beautiful birds, but still recorded it to get a taste of the wonderful sounds.

We bid farewell to the jungle and drove back into town, stopping at the Vega Mall to get lunch at the local KFC. Here’s our intrepid group, having a great time of fellowship around a tasty meal.

We headed back to our hotel, watched The Apostle Paul on Apple TV, planned what we might talk about with our friends tomorrow, and are eating dinner as I type this blog.

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Siliguri. Thanks for the prayers so far, they’ve been effective and kept us going. Please continue them!