6am safari to end my stay at Bera Safari Lodge on 17 April, 2022. The owner told the driver not to end this safari early because the nasty American was complaining again. Here is my driver (who was never introduced to me, even though I asked) and the Jeep in the dry reservoir at the Dam:
Anyway, he also told him that I wanted to see the Jawai Dam, but he should take me via a Leopard viewing route.
A few words about the Dam.
It is over the Jawai River which would repeatedly flood before the dam was built. The dam was conceived in about 1906. In the late 1940s the then Maharaja of Jodhpur began building it as a source of water for the Pali community. He eventually ran out of money and the project was finally completed in 1957. Even now due to climate change, the reservoir is so dry in summer that they grow crops in it. When the rains start it fills up and even the spillway has water in it. When I was there it was very dry, but there was just enough water to support bird life and crocodiles… a lot of them.
But I get ahead of myself.
We left the safari lodge and went along the way to the quarry to see if any leopards were receiving visitors. As you may remember, this was not my favorite spot and today we were again unlucky. A leopard was spotted on the other side of the hill, but it never came over into our area, so we left unfulfilled.
The way to the Dam took us through my safari guide’s village (I didn’t get the name). It occurred to me along the way that village people don’t have water to their homes, they must go to the local pump or river or lake and bring it back. I noticed most of the women carrying vessels on their heads as they walked to the water source.
At some places men were bathing by the pump. The men, mostly shepherds, wore a sort of red and very impressive turban that looked very fluffy. I never got a really good picture, but can show you one for context.
Along the main road we saw shepherds with flocks of water buffalo or goats or cattle. Also, cattle on their own just walking down the middle of the road.
We were on the main road until we got to the Dam and then started off roading through the reservoir which was now full of crops. The crops were mostly cucumber, melon and corn. The surrounding hills were almost surreal, full of the granite and marble outcroppings. It looked a little like a Martian landscape
I would never have believed that plowed fields could be SO bumpy. On top of everything else, before leaving I drank a whole liter of water which was partially frozen, hence the first ice I’ve had on this trip:), so the bumpy road didn’t help me to think less of having to go to the bathroom….
Regarding fauna, the big draw is the crocodiles.
They were rather timid and floated away as I walked closer. (Ok, why would I want to walk up to get close to the crocodiles - that’s a subject of another blogpost)
It was an area for birdwatching. We saw hornbills, storks, geese, ruddy shelducks, pied kingfishers, ibis, and herons.
At 7:30 he showed me his watch to show the safari was over. Nicest thing was that we were the only Jeep in the area today. We drove back for breakfast: cheese omelet, local breads, masala chai and really good cappuccino
At 10am Manoj and I left for Pali and Mihir Garh, my final hotel in Rajasthan.
Nothing much too special about the route
Turns out Mihir Garh is part of Relais & Chateaux Hotel Chain and I had a very nice room there.
Amongst other things, the owner is a Marwar horse breeder and has herd of about 25. They are distinctive because of their ears which curl in and the breed was almost extinct until rich people started breeding them again. I was interested in riding, but was told you need to at expert level, so gave that a miss. They are beautiful though.
Instead I decided to take a safari at 1730 to see the local black bucks and birds of the area. I couldn’t believe this area of India was hotter than Bera, but it was and even more dry.
I started getting hungry about 3 so checked out the hotel restaurant. I had mint cucumber cold soup and a caprese toastie - a nice break from curry. It was delicious, especially because fries came with it - funny how everywhere in the world French fries taste great.
We went out in a Jeep, just the hotel manager and I. The Jeep was far nicer than what I had been in the last few days and he kept the windscreen up, so I sat in the front seat so I could see. While out we saw all sorts of birds. The Green Bee Eater is my new favorite after the rose ringed parakeet. This one had a snack in its mouth.
Other birds included different sorts of bulbuls - yellow vented, red vented and white cheeked and a rosy starling. I never got a good picture of any of them and they aren’t flashy like the bee-eater, so won’t include a picture here.
We saw several blue bulls, they run like a horse, but are part of the cow family. It is the largest Asian antelope and is called a blue bull because its hide can have a blue tint to it.
Then we came upon the black bucks and some babies, not more than 2-3 weeks old siting in the field, hiding. Their herd was split in two, probably about 40 animals - 39 of them the female harem of the one male which had beautiful horns. We couldn’t get close enough to get a good picture, so I googled one of the male, just to get the horns.
The fields we were driving through were crops of sesame, both white and black.
The most interesting flora was the Eucaliptos gigantica with a very pretty flower
As with most days, today had a beautiful sunset
The final stop of the evening was to visit a Bishnoi community. The local rich guy (owner of the hotel) has a good relationship with them and guests of the hotel are tolerated to come satisfy their curiosity. Some more information about this interesting people: Bishnoi (also known as Vishnoi) is a Hindu community found in the Western Thar Desertand northern states of India. They follow a set of 29 principles/commandments given by Guru Jambheshwar (also known as Guru Jambhoji, Guru Jambha Ji) (1451-1536).[1] They are a sub-sect of the Vaishnav Sampraday.[2] As of 2019, there are an estimated 10,00,000 followers of Bishnoi Panth residing in north and central India.[3] Shree Guru Jambheshwar founded the sect at Samrathal Dhora in 1485 and his teachings, comprising 120 shabads, are known as Shabadwani. He preached for the next 51 years, travelling across India. The preaching of Guru Jambhoji inspires his followers as well as the environmental protectors.[4][5] Bishnoi Community consist of people from all the North Indian castes but most of the Bishnois are from Jat caste of Rajasthan.[6]
They are anamists - worshiping trees- and most interesting is that in marriage they are very progressive - women choose the men and the men pay the dowry to the women. Ladies wear a distinctive nose ring and used to wear a sari skirt in specific colors - black and red edge I think. Their living areas are made of beaten cow dung and the houses are thatched. Their beds are made of woven cotton fibers that are tightened (sleep tight) by hand.
This was the only time during my trip I saw a cat, so had to take a picture. They have about 20 cows which they manually milk twice a day. The milk buyer comes by on his motorcycle and they have a liter measure to measure how much milk is sold which is noted by the seller in a small book they keep. The family manually separates the cream and churns by hand to make clarified ghee and cream. Only recently electricity came to their houses.
We came back to the hotel where you could see the shrine lit at night
It was a full moon, no stars visible
You’ve read all this boring post because you are curious about its title. Well, I was contemplating a moonlight skinny dip in the pool and came back inside to sit and stretch my neck a bit. I felt something crawling on my neck, so I swiped it. Then it was on my chest so I took a tissue and wiped my chest when I felt something in the tissue, so I closed it in the tissue, ended up killing it and looked at it. It was some small yellow/black bug, about half an inch long and I thought it might have bitten me. I take it to the front desk to ask the manager and he says it’s a bee and gets me some pills in case I have an allergic reaction to what turned out to be 2 bee stings (I would sting too if the thing I was sitting on squashed me). I go back to the room, and here’s the part you’re waiting for, I close the door and see this HUMONGOUS spider. It looked ugly. I looked it up and believe it was a camel spider which are venomous. Here’s a few pictures with my hand for context (yes, why did I get my hand anywhere near it)
Even looking at these pictures makes my skin crawl!
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