The two week journey from Hong Kong to Mumbai was great … I had opportunities to meet fabulous people from around the globe (including across Canada) and I have to thank Holland America for allowing me to share my passion for photography, natural history and big picture global issues through my series of lectures delivered to the thousand or so passengers on the MS Amsterdam.
That said, I was particularly excited to disembark in Bombay (Mumbai) and kick off the second phase of my journey through Asia. I spent my first evening with members of the Rotary Club of Thana West (one of many Rotary Clubs in Bombay) attending their weekly meeting and presenting “A Rotary Scholar 25 Years Later” which is an overview of my career since benefiting from two educational opportunities provided by the Rotary Foundation in the late 80s and early 90s. The first was an exchange to northern India (Group Study Exchange) in 1988 followed by a scholarship year in Africa a couple of years later where I studied at the College of African Wildlife Management in Tanzania.
The Diu airport is small… to say the least … and I was a bit worried that I may not be able to find transport but I grabbed my bag and headed out to see what I could find. There was no tourist info, no taxi stand … but there were a few tuktuk drivers lined up outside the airport gate. As soon as I stepped outside the gate I heard, ‘where are you going sir?” … to which I replied ‘Sasan Gir … where can I find a bus or taxi to Sasan Gir?”. They drivers looked at each other and then explained to me that there was a bus from town… and that it would be 2000 rupees by taxi … but one of them offered to take me by tuktuk for 1500! I pondered my options (noting that if I agreed that would be like taking a tuktuk from Vancouver to Hope - more or less) tried to talk him down to 1000 rupees but to no avail… and decided to throw caution to the wind and agreed to give it a whirl. The adventure was about to begin!
We stuffed in my luggage, stopped to fill up with fuel at the local petrol station and headed out. It was a scorching hot day but the tuktuk was covered (and I was wearing way too much clothing!) but there was a cool breeze as we puttered along.
Ashhok, the tuktuk driver, was good as gold and took great care of me en route. He quickly figured out I was keen to observe and photograph birds and scenes along the way so he offered to stop whenever I liked – ‘No Problem’. I just love looking out and seeing the people and landscapes pass by. I was able to lean out the side of the tuktuk and also take some photos through the front window as we slowly buzzed our way north.
I saw some camels in the field adjacent to the road and was snapping some photos which he saw in his rear view mirror … so he asked, ‘do you want to go see them?’. I said sure and out we went to meet some of the local nomad camel and sheep herders.
There are a number of nomadic communities in Gujarat some moving with their cows and others with sheep, buffalo or goats. This particular group had a herd of sheep as well as a dozen or so camels. Ashok did the introductions and not long after we were invited to sip on camel milk tea (which was fabulous) and I was sent off with a bottle full of camel milk to use as I saw fit. A fabulous experience.
It ended up taking us 5 hours to get to Sasan Gir (we stopped for tea a couple of times … as well as a short visit to a gorgeous waterfall a couple of km off the route (no extra charge). Once we arrived in the village Ashok drove me around to a number of hotels to find the best option available. If you are ever in Diu, India, Askok is your man!
If you want to see more photos from the TukTuk drive from Diu to Sasan Gir, please check out the Facebook page:
www.facebook,.com/CattTrax
