The Loop-the-Loop to the Alpha Groups

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning myself (Suzee the photographer) and the Assistant Logs Manager Ian dragged ourselves from the warmth and coziness of our beds into the Raleigh car to set off on our Loop visit of all 3 Alpha groups.

Or first stop was at Alpha 3’s Environmental worksite where we realized that we had left all the creature comforts of Field Base behind. On arrival to the worksite I got to work taking lots of pics and recorded some video footage.

Ian had the work boots and gloves on and jumped straight into work on the site. The building of the Anti Poaching Camp was coming along a treat and the team were working extremely well alongside the local masons. We stayed in the Inspection Bungalow that evening and Alpha 3 cooked up a mini feast for us.

Not too early a start the next morning we were back on the road again and on our way to Nanjangood where we stopped to have a look at the temple and have tea. We carried on through the beautiful rural countryside where the roads may be bumpy but are lined with banyan trees and fields of sunflowers.

Alpha 2 Project Managers gave us a tour of the 25 rain water harvesting units in the village and we got to meet the different teams working with the families and locals. At lunch time the group descended on the community centre where a delicious curry lunch is provided local cooks. Just as we were about to depart again for an afternoon of hard work the monsoon rains kicked in.

Some local village members and masons took this opportunity to entertain us with singing, dancing and wheel barrow racing! Eventually the rain stopped so the fun was postponed and it was back to work. I also visited the school which was definitely an experience like no other – we sang songs with the children and 2 venturers were there to do English lessons with them.

Once the camera appeared I was completely mobbed but loved it just as much as all the kids. That evening we joined a cricket match with the community and later we all sat around a campfire where the group presented us with a cake to welcome us to their new home in Hediyala.

On the road again we were off to Alpha 1 where we were greeted by a hectic scene of building on the worksite and small groups working on their enteries for the fashion show they were putting on that evening. There was a fit of excitement as PM Rich built a runway and stage lit up by our cars headlights.

All the villagers lined both sides of the runway to watch the show. The local children sang songs as we waited for the show to begin and afterwards the local villagers and the Raleigh group sang songs and danced. As our Finance Manager Lorraine doubled as a Project Manager for the first 2 weeks of the phase she had to say her goodbyes to the group and the villagers.

Another early start Friday morning we packed up all of our gear and returned to Fieldbase just in time for the morning meeting where it was back to business as usual – well as usual as it can be here in India on a Raleigh Expedition!!!:)