Special guest blogger: Alpha 4 Project manager Ivan Phillips(Pictures courtesy of Ivan and Neil)
Tuesday morning saw the Alpha 4 crew of Ivan, Neil and Jenny – and 09C photographer Ann pile into trusty Bravo 1 with 60-60 driving, for the 3.5 hour drive down into the Nilgiris Biosphere wildlife reserve to the small tribal village of Anaikatty, situated on the Silgur plateau at the foot of the Nilgiris Mountains.
After a quick stop at the nearby Elephant training camp (and a heartbreaking farewell as Neil had to say goodbye to his latest admirer in the form of an orphaned elephant), we arrived at Anaikatty village.(Right: Neil and a baby elephant.)
Enduring searing heat and lack of shade, Alpha 4 were shown some of the 5km (now not-so-electric) elephant fence that we would be working on, by our WWF project partner Ravi.
It’s safe to say Alpha 4 didn’t anticipate the extent of damage, to the now not so electric elephant fence, and were committed to making this project a success, thus allowing the local tribe to return to the agriculture which is so critical to their livelihoods. (Left: Anaikatty Village and the Silgur Plateau.)Along with investigating the fence Alpha 4 also had to identify possible living quarters for the Venturers. Ann was busy at work taking plenty of photographs for the later planning stages, whilst Jenny and Neil looked at health and safety risks, camp layout and aspects of integration of the camp with the local village.
Ivan (ed: who has been dubbed ‘Bear Grylls’) meanwhile assessed the logistics involved in constructing each campsite, in terms of water availability, camp size, emergency access for vehicles and helicopters. The group also had to assess how to construct the camp with minimal impact on the environment.(Left: Ann and Ivan assessing one of the campsite options.)
Having met the local Forest Department Range Forest Officer,
keen for the project to be a success, the group retired to the nearby Forest Department Guest house and cooked their dinner out on the veranda on trusty trangia stoves. The warden explained how often tigers, elephants, deer, water bison and other animals often came past the guest house, but we only saw a few water bison and a couple of dear. (Right: Anaikatty Guest House.)
Following a trip to Masinigudi to assess the local amenities, it was game on and Alpha 4 cracked on with more investigations into accomodation options. Hygiene is a primary concern and the group looked at several locations for washing clothes or areas where the group could go to bathe.
Following a planning meeting with WWF partner Ravi, sunset saw Alpha 4 go for a meeting between the Tribal elder, local tribesmen and Raleigh. We were soon seated on plastic chairs alongside the head of the tribe with various village men all standing in a small crowd. Ravi and 60-60 started off by introducing Raleigh before acting as translators for us so the discussions could begin in earnest. Despite Ann and Jenny feeling a little uncomfortable as no women from the village present, Alpha 4 decided show how on the project women would be equal to the men and they got stuck into the meeting as well. Not speaking the language, meant the only clues as to how the meeting was progress was the body language of the Tribal leader and the crowd of men.
The meeting broke halfway through for a ‘chai’ break (hot sweet tea) served by one of the villagers – during this time no discussion took place, the tea drinking taking on an almost ceremonial nature. At the end of the meeting Alpha 4 and Ravi had several notes, even more requests to take back to ‘Mr Gavin’ for approval, but a feeling that the villagers were highlyy committed to the project and that it should be achievable within the three phase deadline.
The team headed back to the community centre to setup camp; mosquito nets suspended over chair backs and dinner cooked on the trangia outside. Early the next day, Alpha 4 set off for fieldbase stopping en route for breakfast of Masala Dosas in Masinigudi and a hospital ‘recce’ in Gundlupet. (Left: Loading Bravo 1 with our kit.)
A tired but happy team arrived back at fieldbase around noon eager to get on with the planning process proper and ready to make the Elephant Proof Fence the best Alpha project in Raleigh India 09C.
If you want to know how the Alpha groups get on with this and the other Raleigh India 09C projects then stay tuned to this blog for further updates from our resident PRO guru during the course of this expedition.
