Jaldhapara

Baby elephants accompany us on our morning trail through the wildlife sanctuary.

First to be spotted was this Sambar.

Claire was very chuffed to see the Indian one-horned rhino first. It meant that we got at least a 5 minute view of the rhino whilst the others came to see it.

Rhinos are a little shy of the elephants, the camera flashes and us tourists, so we spent most of the time looking at its arse.

It was very cautious around us. It was a bit like a 5 year kid who covers his eyes playing hide and seek and thinks it can't be found. The rhino never wanted to show his face always hiding it behind the grass.

The elephants would periodically stop the procession to disgrace themselves.

At least they don't smell like camels.

Unfortunately the government own the rather inflated priced hotel that we needed to stay in and organise everything through.

After doing our tour on the elephant we found the elephant office that the government owns. They are separate, although the matching coloured signs hint towards the incompetence of the division.

Leopards come out of the sanctuary and have been causing trouble for the villages, so they have been captured until they are sorry and will be put back in the wild.... or maybe just left in cages for domestic tourists to spit at!

The Government hotel really prides itself in looking after its customers and as you can see here, it also take the same pride with its nature.

The local town Madarihat is a 5 rickshaw kind of place.

This rather desperate local decided to lay on the ground at our feet whilst we were waiting for our crazy bus driver. She took to howling like a child, turning on the tears in a hope that we would give her some money. It was quite a racket and somewhat embarrasing. It was definitely a performance saved for tourists.