After we hit the rock cave temple, the family split up again, and the kids, Tharangi, Jon, Marsh, I and T's brother-in-law Guyan decided to visit a nearby national park to do some elephant scouting. The fear had been, due to the rain, that they wouldn't be out and about (where they go, I have no clue, where does something that big hide?) but after talking to some locals, they made the call to at least try. They didn't want Marsh and I to leave without seeing some elephants. :) Though, technically, we had seen some the night before on our drive. Literally standing about by the roadside, just at the edge of the trees. Wild ones. Very cool sight, as the biggest thing you have to dodge on the highway in Wisconsin is a deer, a raccoon or maybe a black bear. (ask Marshall that story sometime...)
So off we went to the animal park, where we picked up a tracker first. Tharangi was adamant that only an idiot goes into the park without one. Not only do they know how to find the elephants, vastly more importantly, they know what to do if one finds YOU and gets ticked off about it. Wild elephants can attack, pull things out of cars, trample you if you're out in the open, and play chicken with a 2-ton SUV. Basically, they can ruin your day. Since we had the kids along, and they didn't want us dying by mad elephant on their watch, we picked up a tracker at the main station. And interesting tidbit, the tracker is free, he is an employee of the state, like a Park Ranger.
The park was muddy, as there had been heavy rains the prior weeks, and what passed for trails were super deep furrowed ruts criss crossing all over. We were in a Land Rover, military issue, and a 4WD Mitsubishi, so we got through pretty well, but some of the passings were pretty scary. Especially when we had to drive through a RIVER. But they sent someone through on foot, to see how deep it was (who volunteers for that kind of job I ask?) and we gunned it through - much to the delight of T's nephew who was busy videotaping the whole thing. I hope to get a copy of that video myself, it was pretty cool. Guyan was having a ball driving around like a madman in the mud. Jon was jealous. I think he wants a Land Rover for Christmas. :)
But we got lucky on elephants, seeing a group of them wandering past maybe ten minutes into our excursion. A group of females, but we didn't see any babies. The males are kicked out of the group after they reach essentially adolescence, so a loner is usually a young male. So I got some pics of a herd, and a loner. And what I think is a peahen (as opposed to peacock) which are also wild here.
And, by the way, the whole time we were watching these, the Elephant March from Jungle Book was going through my head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQQZuLru9s if you need a refresher. :)
We also did some hiking, heading up a big rock outcropping to see the view. There were interesting holes in the rock that filled up with rainwater, so Marsh had fun posing. The tracker also said the elephants would come up here to drink, and I'm not sure what else, check out the view? But there was a nice big elephant poop up there, so as bizarre as it seems to have an elephant on top of this big rock, they must do it. On the way down, I spooked something in the grass - maybe a snake? Tharangi is deathly afraid of snakes, so she made Jon carry her down. :)
On our journey to the second hiking spot, we came across a bit of a disaster. Pictures can't do this tale justice. Having mentioned the muddy, rutty disaster the trails were, it isn't surprising we came across someone stuck. Hard. There were already two other SUVs stopped trying to help this guy pull his truck out of the mud, while his hapless passengers - what we took to be two Brazilian tourists - watched helplessly.
The good news was that Guyan's Land Rover has a winch. This is a bad ass truck, so they hooked it up and attempted to pull it out. Fast forward half an hour.... Not working. So we go around behind the truck, and attempt to push it out from the back. Fast forward another fifteen minutes. Nope. Then they hook up the winch again and try to pull it backwards, since forwards was going up hill a bit and they figured they'd have more luck this way. Mud is spraying everywhere, there are several guys in there with the winch cable, and straps, trying to push/pull/dig this sucker out of the hole its in. And Guyan is pretty ticked off, as he feels the driver was an idiot to come into the park with a 2WD truck. And a cheap low powered one at that.
FINALLY - we got it pulled out. Great shouts of joy and relief all
around. Especially from the poor people stuck in the truck.
We wrapped
up our winch, high fives all around, and started heading back the way
we came to get out of the way so the other truck could pull forward.
And we hadn't gone 20 feet when..... BANG!
We blew a tire....
Yes, the gods were angry.
So Guyan told the other driver, "We pulled you out, you help change the tire." So the same poor, tired, muddy, sweaty guys now had to change a tire. In the rain. With dusk settling in. Oh joy! First they had problems with the jack, then they were missing some parts, then they couldn't get the lugnuts off, then the jack didn't hold the car up high enough to get the new tire on so they had to dig a hole to get the tire jammed on. It took at least an hour, and for awhile, we didn't think it would even happen. But who are you going to call out here in the middle of nowhere? Its not like Marlin Perkins is on speed dial...
So they finally got the tire on, and we could mop off the mud and pile back into the car. And might I point out, that during this whole disastrous endeavor, my mighty husband, and Jon the Giant Norseman - both of whom could probably have been useful in this process, stood and drank beer! Actually, I was highly jealous, since boys can pee pretty much anywhere and I dared not drink any as I was not about to bare my hinder in the tall grass. Poisonous snakes? Malaria mosquitos? God knows what else? Nope. As much as I would have loved a belt, I declined. Sigh. Made a long day even longer, but oddly enough, we both had a great time. Then again, we weren't doing any of the work.... :)
So off we went to the animal park, where we picked up a tracker first. Tharangi was adamant that only an idiot goes into the park without one. Not only do they know how to find the elephants, vastly more importantly, they know what to do if one finds YOU and gets ticked off about it. Wild elephants can attack, pull things out of cars, trample you if you're out in the open, and play chicken with a 2-ton SUV. Basically, they can ruin your day. Since we had the kids along, and they didn't want us dying by mad elephant on their watch, we picked up a tracker at the main station. And interesting tidbit, the tracker is free, he is an employee of the state, like a Park Ranger.
The park was muddy, as there had been heavy rains the prior weeks, and what passed for trails were super deep furrowed ruts criss crossing all over. We were in a Land Rover, military issue, and a 4WD Mitsubishi, so we got through pretty well, but some of the passings were pretty scary. Especially when we had to drive through a RIVER. But they sent someone through on foot, to see how deep it was (who volunteers for that kind of job I ask?) and we gunned it through - much to the delight of T's nephew who was busy videotaping the whole thing. I hope to get a copy of that video myself, it was pretty cool. Guyan was having a ball driving around like a madman in the mud. Jon was jealous. I think he wants a Land Rover for Christmas. :)
And, by the way, the whole time we were watching these, the Elephant March from Jungle Book was going through my head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQQZuLru9s if you need a refresher. :)
 |
| Jungle Book Elephant March kept running through my head... :) |
 |
| A peahen, and yes, it looks like a turkey. Or at least I think so. Guess I'm not much of a birder. ;) |
We also did some hiking, heading up a big rock outcropping to see the view. There were interesting holes in the rock that filled up with rainwater, so Marsh had fun posing. The tracker also said the elephants would come up here to drink, and I'm not sure what else, check out the view? But there was a nice big elephant poop up there, so as bizarre as it seems to have an elephant on top of this big rock, they must do it. On the way down, I spooked something in the grass - maybe a snake? Tharangi is deathly afraid of snakes, so she made Jon carry her down. :)
 |
| Elephant poop. Who knew they were such hikers.... :) |
On our journey to the second hiking spot, we came across a bit of a disaster. Pictures can't do this tale justice. Having mentioned the muddy, rutty disaster the trails were, it isn't surprising we came across someone stuck. Hard. There were already two other SUVs stopped trying to help this guy pull his truck out of the mud, while his hapless passengers - what we took to be two Brazilian tourists - watched helplessly.
The good news was that Guyan's Land Rover has a winch. This is a bad ass truck, so they hooked it up and attempted to pull it out. Fast forward half an hour.... Not working. So we go around behind the truck, and attempt to push it out from the back. Fast forward another fifteen minutes. Nope. Then they hook up the winch again and try to pull it backwards, since forwards was going up hill a bit and they figured they'd have more luck this way. Mud is spraying everywhere, there are several guys in there with the winch cable, and straps, trying to push/pull/dig this sucker out of the hole its in. And Guyan is pretty ticked off, as he feels the driver was an idiot to come into the park with a 2WD truck. And a cheap low powered one at that.
 |
| Tharangi's family drivers, watching and waiting.... |
 |
| Success! |
And we hadn't gone 20 feet when..... BANG!
We blew a tire....
Yes, the gods were angry.
So Guyan told the other driver, "We pulled you out, you help change the tire." So the same poor, tired, muddy, sweaty guys now had to change a tire. In the rain. With dusk settling in. Oh joy! First they had problems with the jack, then they were missing some parts, then they couldn't get the lugnuts off, then the jack didn't hold the car up high enough to get the new tire on so they had to dig a hole to get the tire jammed on. It took at least an hour, and for awhile, we didn't think it would even happen. But who are you going to call out here in the middle of nowhere? Its not like Marlin Perkins is on speed dial...
So they finally got the tire on, and we could mop off the mud and pile back into the car. And might I point out, that during this whole disastrous endeavor, my mighty husband, and Jon the Giant Norseman - both of whom could probably have been useful in this process, stood and drank beer! Actually, I was highly jealous, since boys can pee pretty much anywhere and I dared not drink any as I was not about to bare my hinder in the tall grass. Poisonous snakes? Malaria mosquitos? God knows what else? Nope. As much as I would have loved a belt, I declined. Sigh. Made a long day even longer, but oddly enough, we both had a great time. Then again, we weren't doing any of the work.... :)
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