Wednesday, June 16th, 2010. - Day 25

16:30 Hrs. City of Mysore, Karnataka, India.

The next morning, June 10th, we had a most terrible time getting out o the boys dorms because the rains had created quite the mudslide. fortunately Manoj seems very experienced and we soon joined the girls for breakfast. Afterwards we finally got a glimpse at some maps from Siddapa and understood our surroundings a little better. Instead of taking the van today (too large to off-road in BRT; very well protected) we loaded into jeeps! True safari style. Squished in the middle of the front seat trying very hard not to get in the way of gear shifting by Madeva, our driver, we headed out.

A brief digression. India has a four-step hierarchy for protected areas. At the bottom is the Reserve Forests. Next follows National Parks such as Bannerghatta. The third level is Wildlife Sanctuary such as BRT, which begins to have much more serious protection, many permits were reluctantly given for foreigners to be here, and even then rarely on foot. The final level is Tiger Reserve, such as Bandipur, our stop after Mysore.

After a beautiful ride through lush forest, though incredibly bumpy (there wasn't really a road), we got off at the beginning of a long staircase down. Siddapa told us to watch for leeches. We were in moist to wet deciduous forest after all, and we knew this tragic day would come. The paranoia set in with everybody. Small inch-worm like critters covered the ground, feeling around for delicious human flesh. After some initial dramatic reactions by most people, Andrew and Bradley decided to self-inflict themselves and hold a friendly competition. In an attempt to see who's could get bigger, they voluntarily placed a leech on one arm each. We trekked down the steps and reached what the locals call 'Doddasampagi', a Mikilia Champaca tree that was around 2,000 years old, and very sacred. Decorated in garlands, stones, and tridents of Shiva, the tree commanded the respect of the entire peaceful, Riparian area. As we climbed the other side of the hill, we passed some Soliga women at a watering hole filling jugs, and methodically setting them on fabric rings on their heads. Beautiful and shy, they are forest dwellers; experts at simple living. As we passed a few huts and Soliga buildings, coffee plants grew rampant around us, and evidence of a village increased. We arrived at the school room (a hut made from sticks that was empty) and the village head spoke through Siddapa to us about his community.

Loading back into the jeeps, we made a few stops at breathtaking overlooks, spotting shola forest and distant mountains, all the while removing the onslaught of leeches from our shoes and legs. A wild boar managed to get stuck on the road in front of our first (of two) jeeps and with thickets of Lantana on either side the boar was forced to keep running like someone running from an oncoming train with no means to jump off the tracks. Entertained, we snapped pictures as the boar ran off, finally finding an exit through the thorny wall. We stopped at a small estate with some beautiful white temple structures which appeared to no longer be in use, and grabbed some bananas from the nearby store.

Another jeep ride and we arrived at Honnamatti Betta (Betta is hill in Kannada), another breathtaking overlook and forest service watch tower. Sitting at the level of the clouds blowing past us, we ate a delicious lunch off biodegradable leaf plates (made from leaves from Butia Monosperma aka 'Flame of the Forest' stitched together with dried plant sticks). There was an enormous monolithic vertical boulder sitting at the edge of the hill. Siddapa told us to take a rock and hit it. I couldn't believe my ears, the boulder made a hollow, metal clang. Truly fascinating. BRT we've noticed is notably cooler and mistier than our previous locations, and up here we certainly felt it.

Another stop for a few more bananas and we began our afternoon travels. Now it was safari time. We traveled through BRT and spotted chital (spotted deer not unlike our white-tailed), an elusive langur that jumped across the road and back into the brush, some massive gaur, and a couple of eagles. As evening approached we returned for some tea, a toilet break at our own quarters, and got more comfortable for a cultural night back at the field site. Shortly after returning, various Soliga arrived, quickly made a fire, changed into tribal attire (body paint and leaf headdresses) and kicked off the musical evening.

After a few numbers, they added dance as they chanted and played (drums and cymbals) around the fire. We did our best to quickly catch on, and having been exposed as dancers after our MM Hills escapade, joined in. An amazing evening. If Geeta doesn't come back to help make a CD of these guys with the next study abroad, I certainly will. An amazing night. During dinner, Geeta told us we'd be visiting another school tomorrow so we should prepare songs to sing. Not wanting a repeat of Old MacDonald at Kanakpura, we went late into the night suggesting and veto-ing song options, settling uneasily on Bohemian Rhapsody, and the Star-Spangled Banner, using my iPod and Bradley's portable speakers as backup.

~Desparate not to disappoint Freddie Mercury...,

- David