Rajkot to Porbandar

Well,
we were sad to leave Rajkot and the new friends we had made, but we packed up our SUV with all of our luggage (on the roof, thankfully), and stuffed eight people in. It wasn't that bad spacewise, but the bumpy roads on the way to Gil Forest really played havoc on my tailbone! The driving was terrifying enough to have Bill and Renee shutting their eyes while our driver played chicken with 5 ton trucks and daredevils on scooters. We saw our first mountains, and drove through a small fortified town with a large stone fortress. Being a big history buff, I sorely wanted to visit, but the lions awaited, and the last bus into the reserve was going to be a close catch. We entered the reserve, and the guard told us the bus had already left, but we were able to catch up with them before they entered the fenced area and board it.

It looked like an African safari except for the trees, and wildlife abounded. Several types of deer wandered in and out of the bush eating grass, and wild pigs would come to take a look at us before bolting back into the tall brush. And then there they were. Four lions reclining under a large tree, lazily cleaning themselves and eyeing the tourists with little interest. We only stayed for about five minutes, and probably snapped 50 pictures and several minutes of video, but it made up for forgoing the nice new road to Porbandar to see them. Seeing lions in the wild, and having them be the last wild Asiatic lions, was really special.

After several hours more driving, the scrubbrush desert parted abruptly to reveal the ocean. The clouds looked like an oatmeal crust, with the sun punching through in hundreds of Jacob's Ladders. The water was a very light blue, and the sun played on the gently breaking waves. Very peaceful.

Porbandar was announced with a large concrete factory, and we met our new hosts on the outskirts. We said goodbye to Rajesh and Kitan (sorry if I mispelled you, but I don't have my business cards with me!) sadly, and went with our new hosts to tidy up before their Rotary meeting that evening.

We had two hours to rest, so I chose to update my journal on the balcony my new room had. Everywhere we go, we displace family members so that they can offer us a bedroom to ourselves. Here, I took the children's bedroom, and it has a nice little balcony that overlooks the city. In the setting sun, the buildings really showed in their faded yellow, and the sounds of the traffic below were strangely soothing now, after a week in-country. It wasn't ten minutes before Kitan's son Math (pronounced Mech, with the end almost like you are clearing your throat) was in my room with his sister Henne and cousin Herch (pronounced Hersh) to pepper me with questions about where I was from, my name, etc... I realised that not much writing was going to get done, and broke out one of the picture books I created to illustrate who I was, and started showing them. I got all the way through before Kitan came in to shue them along, and I had enough time to relax from the trip and get caught up in my writing.

The meeting was held in a very old building, easily over 100 years old, with charming architecture, and the patina that only many years of honest use could embue. We were led out the side door to a well lit grassy area where they had two serving lines set up to distribute dinner. The weather just after dusk is perfect, with gentle breezes and the temperature just about right. We mingled with our new friends and got to know them and their families a little better, as they brought their spouses and children to the meeting. The english proficiency here is a little less, being farther away from the tourist and business centers, so we amended our speeches to accomodate.

After the meeting, we went to the waterfront to see construction progressing at night on a beautification project the government was paying for. After that, we were taken to our new homes to get some much needed sleep. This day started at 7AM, and ended at midnight, and is fairly representative of how stuffed full of activities our average existence is here. Every new city wants to show us every special place, as well as their places of work and worship. It's exhausting, but it's fascinating, and we wouldn't have it any other way.