Rescue Mission

Ok lots of gossip here from field base.


More arrivals!
One to watch.........Dave a Project Manager arrives early full of laughter and complete with 1001 travel stories to keep us entertained. He has been travelling in India prior to his arrival with us, revisiting a project that he was involved in back in 2004 run by SIFF (Save Indian Family Foundation). The project involved the construction of 1500 replacement homes after the devastation of the tsunami. The successful project has now completed and he is overjoyed at the results.

We also welcome Claire our photographer to the expedition. She arrives complete with her camera, yoga mat and chant book straight from the Sivananda Ashram in  Neyyar Dam. So it looks like the yoga morning sessions are on!

Onto our next story.........

Anyone got a compass?

Our first rescue mission occurs here at field base. However rather than concern for our red faced victims they receive banter and gentle teasing at their expense. Anna and Claire our keenest members at field base head out at sun rise for a light 10k run but somehow in their enthusiasm lose their way. Claire realizes that they are off the beaten track and suddenly nothing looks familiar in any direction. Panic! Every route looks wrong! Eventually a local village is found (I would like to give you more details of the whereabouts of such village but the location is still unknown and selfishly Claire didn’t have her camera on her run). The arrival of our runners is the ‘talk of the town’ and they are treated as new celebrities as news spreads within minutes to the next village of the two lost western women in their jogging pants. Despite the excitement of the locals of the debacle no directions materialize and instead only cups of tea and much interest are offered to our lost staff! Luckily a phone call is made and finally a land mark that everyone can indentify is found and the rescue mission is completed by our very own hero and Country Director, Mark. A clear indication that exercise and keenness in the early hours of the morning should be avoided at all costs. The first of the many lessons that I shall be taking away with me from Raleigh!

I was suppposed to be telling you about the Hindu festival that I went to yesterday but in my excitement to shame my colleagues I have run out of time. I will keep you posted after I return from Mysore. We are off to buy meat for a well earned BBQ.