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| Villages along the way |
We had agreed to a short day with two hour out then back
birding trip as we were exhausted from 8-hour driving days, and had been told
that we would do this on the way to a tea plantation with excellent birding
along the road. The road turned out to
be more than three hours with no stops, and four hours including moderate stops
for birding. The last two hours plus were off the “main” road and on a dirt track
that wound up some spectacular jungle scenes, with many birds.
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| Lovely women who delighted in having their picture taken |
We arrived at a high point a few kilometers short of the tea
plantation, and our guide asked us to stop as there was some sort of
celebration going on below. He
investigated and advised that we were invited down for snacks and late lunch
with a group of about 50 people, men, women and kids. After being introduced to the leaders, one
being the local area deputy commissioner, and the other the first medical
doctor from that tribal area, we learned that his son had died a year before
and they were celebrating the one-year anniversary of his death in a happy way.
Many of the people had never seen white-skinned Europeans before, and came up
to check us out, particularly Leslie’s white skin. Leslie showed the ladies
some pictures of weaving in other hill tribes, and they explained their own
weaving and clothing and jewelry. Most tribal people are hunters, and we met
the macho hunter of the village, who had shot two tigers with a 12 gauge
shotgun. The brother
of the dead man is a national park advisor, so he told us they all knew it was
not good to shoot birds, but that hunting was a major part of the culture.
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| Enjoying a translated conversation about their weaving |
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