Day 2 was full of sightseeing including the following:
Nisargadhama (an ecological park) – We started our day at this popular ecological park. We heard that it had a deer park, boating, and elephant rides. We visited specifically for the elephant rides. Once inside this ecological park I felt like I was in 3rd grade visiting Harry’s Woods in Clarksville IA, just on a smaller scale. It had the typical river, a lot of trees and benches to sit on, some flora and fauna, and deer. The deer were huge. We could have gotten into the river, but I don’t feel any desire to get into a muddy river anywhere so we skipped out on that part! The biggest drawing card, the elephant rides, was shut down as they did not have any elephants. Bryan was disappointed but we knew there was another chance to ride an elephant at the Dubare Elephant Camp.
What we did not expect at this ecological park was to be the object of so many people’s desire! I’ve heard and Bryan has experienced locals wanting to take pictures of or with Americans. Obviously, we stick out and while there are a good number of expats in Bangalore, we are less common in rural areas. At first some people approached and asked if they could take our picture. We happily agreed and went on our merry way. Then, a group of 6 people wanted our picture and we agreed again. Bryan was sure that “this” was what Kim Kardashian feels like. I assured him it was not. There were a few people who chose to hid behind a tree or not-so-discretely take our picture which was just awkward. We decided we would much rather have them ask to take our picture. At the deer park we stumbled onto a larger group of 12 or so people who each needed their picture with us individually and then in random groups. Really people? You can’t take our picture and share it with your friends? At some point we told them we were done taking our picture and walked away. Then, a tour bus full of high-school age boys noticed us and came charging at us. We took a picture with the first boy (it pays to be past and observant) and then I told them they would have to ask their friend for the picture. Then I changed my mind and decided I would rather that they stood back and took our picture while peering from afar!
Dubare Elephant Camp – Since there were no elephants at the ecological park Suresh took us to an elephant training camp that also had whitewater rafting. I did love whitewater rafting, but again, I’m not doing dirty muddy water and this was more like rafting than white water rafting so we just hit up the elephants. To get to the elephants we had to take a boat across the river to the training camp. Bryan really enjoyed riding the elephant with 6 or so of his (now) closest Indian friends as they were really sandwiched on top of the elephant!
Abby Falls – Our last stop of the day was a waterfall. We drove up a different mountain and Suresh parked and then we walked down the mountain to be at the base of the waterfall. It was misting but the views were amazing!
Day 2 in Coorg ended as we celebrated our first month in India. Our time has gone by fast and we are excited to plan some more trips to take in as much as we can before we have to head home.
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