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Finally, yesterday afternoon, after the delivery of the SD card reader, I was able to upload hundreds of photos from the card to my new laptop. I am having trouble sorting photos easily using Chromebook and Google photos. It’s tricky and not as easy as it was on Windows. So it goes. You trade one set of technological problems for others.
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| The weather is much warmer in Udaipur, and we’re able to dine outdoors without bundling up. |
Eventually, I’ll have more time to figure out a better plan for managing photos, but for now, I am making a mess in Google Drive with our busy schedule, which I’ll have to clean up down the road.
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| More views from the restaurant at night. |
Usually, I wouldn’t have any trouble figuring this out, but getting a new operating system after using Windows for the past 20 plus years. I have no difficulty using Chromebook, just the photos storage and uploads for easy access. It could result from a poor WiFi signal since almost every task on Chromebook requires being online.
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| Sagar Lake at night from the hotel’s restaurant. |
So this is the way it is. At the moment, I have to figure out how to store photos I’ve already used in our posts to avoid repeats. Thus, in the interim, if you see repeats, please bear with me. I’ll get through this.
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| Our shadows are shown in the photo, but the floor lighting was worth a shot. |
Tomorrow is another long travel day with two flights with a layover in Kempegowda as we head to Chennai, where we’ll stay for three nights, checking out on March 7th, our 25th wedding anniversary.
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| A vulture was preparing to fly. |
Today is our first “free day” where we don’t have any scheduled tours. We’re thrilled to have this day to unwind, relax, and get caught up on some tasks hanging over our heads. We walked across the road for breakfast at 8:00 am and will return for dinner at 7:00 pm when it re-opens.
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| These brown and white deer are called black deer. |
We’ve both managed to find something suitable for dinner, but breakfast has been touchy for me with only eggs and runny plain yogurt on the menu to hold me for 11 hours. This morning I ordered a four egg vegetable omelet, which should get me through the day. There’s no bacon or chicken sausage served in this part of India.
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| A peacock was strutting his stuff with two peahens at a short distance. |
We’ve found cultural differences in various parts of India, not unlike in parts of the USA and other countries. Grits aren’t popular in New York but are often a popular addition to meals in the South and, it goes on and on.
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| Two turtles, basking in the sun. |
Dialects and accents are difficult to decipher in certain parts of India. Tom’s hearing problems (after years on the railroad) often leave me to translate for him, but usually, I don’t understand what I’m being told and have to ask repeatedly until I finally get it.
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| Once again, it was hard to see elephants performing labor, as shown in this photo, carrying a log, but it’s a part of Indian culture to domesticate elephants. |
As we mentioned earlier, we’re the visitors in a foreign land, and we must adapt to their ways, not ours. And if they speak poor English, that’s our problem, not theirs.
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| Male and female wild dogs were spotted in Kanha National Park. Its repetitive whistles are so distinct that they can identify individual members of the pack. Habitat destruction is a significant threat to the estimated 2,500 Indian wild dogs remaining in the wild. They are found mainly in protected reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. |
The customer service in most venues is on “island time,” as we’ve experienced in many other parts of the world. We have to forget our American expectations and “go with the flow” during more relaxed service.
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| The proud male wild dog seemed unruffled by our presence. |
We prefer coffee/tea (that’s how they say it) before our meal, but it is often served after the meal in India. Again, we are patient when we may have to wait 15 to 20 minutes to get our coffee/tea before breakfast, even when there are few customers in the restaurant.
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| There he was in all his striped glory, our fifth tiger sighting in India. |
It’s a cultural thing centered around the Hindu philosophy and way of life consisting of low stress, going with the flow, gentleness, peace, prayer, and harmony. And even during the crazy traffic and horn honking on the roads, we’ve yet to see a single incidence of “road rage.” They are peaceful people, and we’re humbled to be among them during our 63 nights of travel in their country.
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| He was yawning at this point. All the safari vehicles were jockeying for position. We were in the wrong spot for better photos, but you take what you can when it comes to tigers. |
We’re over halfway through our time in India, with many exciting tours upcoming on the horizon. Tomorrow’s post will be prepared in between flights and waiting times. But, we’re anxious to share some beautiful photos from yesterday’s tours as we head to yet another location.,
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| The Indian safari guides call these “owlets,” an actual term in nature depicting baby owls, one we’d never heard before. |
Enjoy your day and evening in peace and harmony.
Photo from one year ago today, March 4, 2019:
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| Tom called me outside to see the tiniest baby kudu we’ve seen to date. For more photos, please click here. |