The Loopy Loopers Return

Our trusty Bravo, driven by Prashanth, was packed full to the bursting on Thursday night in preparation to visit all the projects on 11E and 11F. On Friday morning we set out at 9:00am (after a swift repack of the Bravo) and headed to Banasura which, was where the Tango 6 trekkers were to be camping overnight. We had a few stops on the way and arrived with Tango 6 by late afternoon to find them taking the opportunity to have a wash in the local river. 

Tango 6 had spent the day cycling which, according to them, was a welcome break on their shoulders after carry heavy backpacks and dodging leeches over the previous few days.  After setting up camp for the night they tucked into a dinner of egg fried rice cooked to perfection by Doug. After tidying up the group were ready for bed as there wakeup call (Catherine giving them a friendly shout) was coming at the pre-dawn time of 4:30am. The early start was to ensure they had plenty of time to complete their 13K trek to Meenmutti which included a 1000ft ascent!

Here are a few photos of them all so you can see how they are doing for yourselves!

Us loopers bedded down with Tango 6 on the Friday night in our very own tent and were up bright and early to wave them off the next day. Next on our trip was Tango 5, they were on their survival day in Kunki which meant they were not moving for a whole day- lucky them! On the way over to see them we stopped off to pick them up some fresh fruit vegetables we also had a very special treat with us for Oli as it was his birthday, a big bar of Dairy Milk. However when we arrived we found we had been out done by Tango 5 as they had made Oli his very own energy bomb cake. 

Next on our schedule was Foxtrot 1 in the beautiful village of Ponani, Foxtrot 1 have their base overlooking a tea plantation and have the most picturesque walk to work I have ever seen. But I have a far better person to tell you about Foxtrot 1 and what they have been up to, Alice Bayfield one of the venturers from Foxtrot 1 has written about their experience at Ponani so far:

“The day Foxtrot 1 arrived in Ponani was one I don’t think any of us will ever forget. We were welcomed with blessings, flower garlands, bindi spots and cheering from locals and school children alike – absolutely amazing. Our house, high up in the tea plantations with some of the most spectacular views imaginable was soon made into “home-sweet-home” as we all strung mozzie nets side-by-side and had our first meal off of banana leaves using nothing but our hands to eat.

The weather is usually pretty sunny and humid but everyday there is a guaranteed downpour – that never puts any of us off. So far as a group we have worked our socks off (sometimes literally from the smell of them) digging out 11 4x4x4 ft cess pits and moats for foundations, we’ve built up seven foot walls on all the sites and learnt loads of skills in the form of cement mixing and brick laying. The locals are wonderful and we have all become very friendly with lots of them – the fortune telling wise man, Sandy and Sheila in particular.

As for the food, being cooked delicious curries or chapattis by the local ladies every lunch and tea is certainly a perk. We have all also used some of our time to get to know the local children who are all adorable – but this usually means getting completely thrashed at cricket. A welcome break comes in the form of our camp duty which gives all a chance to relax on our much loved tarp and wash some very dirty smelly clothes, clean up around the house (yes including scrubbing the toilets and poo bag burning!) and if you are lucky enough to have VM Sally you may even get a very exhausting custom made circuit training workout.

The evening are hilarious, often playing cards, mafia, and some mad game VMs Hayley and Sally have come up with. The loop even got treated to ‘Ponani’s got talent’ which everyone got involved with and went down a treat. They also give us a chance to review the day, update on progress and allocate the ‘toilet brush of shame’ that is the person who has done the silliest thing has to have on their person all the next day. The group definitely enjoyed our day trip to the CTRD hospital, head-quarters and a tea factory and are eagerly awaiting the next one to an elephant sanctuary and the town Ooty.

We have all learnt so much already – about ourselves and the culture around us and have loved spending this time helping here in Ponani. It will be sad to leave but we have definitely made our mark and are eagerly awaiting the adventure challenge which, with as close and strong team that we are, we are sure to win!”

After a night at CTRD’s head-quarters Charlie 1 was the first and only stop of the day. The loop visited them at the community of Kotapadi where Charlie 1 is making excellent progress building the four toilets, which are to be completed before they leave. Charlie 1 has also been making friends with the people in the community and have been invited into several homes for tea. We left Charlie 1 at lunch time to a very delicious lunch, cook for them by one of the village ladies. The loop headed back to field base to restock the shop ready for Monday's visit to the environmental groups. 

On Monday morning we set out at 9:00am, Echo 3 was the first stop of the day in Huskurhadi. Echo 3 have really settled in and there camp is brilliant. As well as making excellent progress on digging trenches (25 out of 51 ft so far) they’ve had a superhero dinner party, a quiz night on India and some of the group have been up to the local school to do some teaching. Here are some photos of what they have been up to since arriving.

Foxtrot 2 by Rachel Libby Mills

This country is full of contradictions, as I am writing this a vast downpour has expelled any reminiscence of what was a gloriously sunny morning, leaving a murky hue on what was a clear horizon.

This morning we had our usual wakeup call by the pesky crows who insist on squawking their arrival each day. But the bad mood never lasts long, after waking to a gorgeous view of the sun rising over the cotton, turmeric and ginger crops, and eating a hearty breakfast of porridge a la sucre  we are always ready to start the day with a smile on our faces.

Each day we have an elected team leader who is in charge of deciding group allocations for digging the trench. And they get to look important in an orange hi-viz jacket!

We stick to a routine of working mornings from around 8:00am with a break at 10:30am and then work unitll lunch at 12:00. It tends to get boiling hot from 11:00 to 15:00 and too hot to work without getting heat stroke or sunburn! So after 1:30 we have free time to relax, write journals, do washing and there is always a queue for the shower – we are rationed one bucket of water each per day!

The evenings are when things get interesting as we are forced to entertain ourselves. A combination of hard labour, sun and the repetitive shrieks of Foxtrot 2’s theme song in the style of Jessie J which, is passionately sung each day sends a kind of lunacy through the camp, and when the sun goes down, leads to hilarious renditions and adaptations of old classics on the ‘Basava Pura’s Got Talent’ stage every Sunday, and hysterical Chinese Charades which ends in fits of giggles.

It’s strange, because having no home comforts of radio and tv and mobile phones has been one of the most comforting experiences. Having no distractions that take over our modern society we are forced to sit together, learn about each other and spend our evenings chatting and playing cards until we can’t keep our eyes open any longer (which, in case you are wondering, is usually around 9:00pm). So we are well rested for the next day and whatever is thrown at us!

As you may know we arrived at our location eleven days ago to be presented with a field and a lorry filled with around 200 lengths of bamboo, some blue tarpaline and basha canvas. Then the construction began…

It took three days to construck ‘Trunk Town’ as it was christened, which included 16 bashers named using the phonetic alphabet with names such as ‘Romeo Rachel’ and ‘Juliet Joanne’. We also constructed ‘Kilo Kitchen’, ‘Bamboo Bistro’, ‘Sierra Shower’, ‘Lima Longdrop’ and ‘Tango Toothpaste’. The perfect home-from-home!

                                           

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how all the groups are getting along. Just to let you all know on our visits we collected lots and lots of messages for you all and I hope to get these up later on today.