Weekly Round Up and a Bit More

Firstly a big thank you to Dog on the Blog for the Haribo - don't tell the others but you are a bit of a favourite here at fieldbase! We even have a message for you below.

So what is everyone up to? Time for a big round up in the venturer's  final week of phase 2...

Charlie 2.

Charlie 2 have been on a trip to Ooty also known as Snooty Ooty for its historic Britsh connotations. The Lonely Planet Guide describes Ooty's charm as follows

"Even the typical chaos of India becomes somehow subdued in the shadow of the hills. Therin lies Ooty's charm especially when you throw in her quirks a jumble of Hindu temples and ecotourism, overlaid by a veneer of manicured British aesthetic and for the hell of it a garden dedicated to thread."

The group relaxed here after all of their hard work, tootling around on pedlows on the reservoir. Although it is time, I am afraid, to name and shame, Sophie Cragg, our very own field base finance wizard and now turned PM who chickened out of going on one of those very scarey pedlows. Sophie, shame on you!

It gets even better for Charlie 2 as the group saw an elephant roaming through the tea plantations on their way back to Kudimery.

As for the progress on the project it is all going to plan. Floors are cemented, painting is completed and roofs are repaired. Well done Charlie 2!

Charlie 4

Charlie 4 have also been on trips. They have been to the golden temple at Bylakuppe to see the 18 m high gold plated Buddha and yesterday they were treated to a trip to the Mysore Palace as reward for all their hard work.

Progress at the school is also coming along tremendously well and the group have dug three cess pits, the foundations for the walls of the building are built and the group hope to get the pillars up today.  Hard work but very much worthwhile.

The group have also been managing to spend as much as 4 hours a day teaching  the school children. More on Charlie 4 later this week as there is an opening ceremony on Wednesday. Look out for the photographs. They will be coming soon but for the time being here is a quick photograph of  the group.

The Trekkers.

The trekking groups have had a lot of coverage this phase so only a brief one on them this time, Tango 7 embarked on their bamboo race. I know that Lucy's team were victorious so we offer our commiserations to Benn's team. There appears to be a common theme of the girls winning out on the water although I am informed that the teams this time were indeed mixed before I get into lots of trouble for my sexist remarks!

Tango 6 plough on and they address a 26k walk today. They started at 3am so hopefully most of this distance is behind them already. Good Luck Tango 6, my thoughts are with you but my feet on this ocassion are happily resting!

Echo 4 and Echo 5 ...

The Echo groups have settled into their new homes at Kottakkadavu and they swiftly dealt with the dead snake in their water source! They are also collectively calling themselves "Echo 9" as the groups are so close together.

They have hit the ground running as already they have cleared a massive 200 metres of land in preparation for the elephant fencing and I understand that the fence poles are going out today. Claire and James are out with the groups as we speak and will return with more photographs tomorrow. Watch this space.

Which brings me swiftly on to drawing your attention to an article that was featured in the Telegraph which discusses the huge problem of elephant and human conflict.  The article heartbreakingly tells the story of a farmer whose crops were destroyed three times by the elephants. As the elephants returned for a fourth time the farmer chose to attack the elephant electrocuting the elephant to protect his livelihood and family. The farmer now faces three years of imprisonment. This is an ongoing problem in India as 29,000 elephants compete with 1.2 billions people for land as elephants frequently invade crops and kill 200 - 300 Indians every year.

To read more you can find this article at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7541596/Tuskers-in-trouble-man-and-elephant