A Havelock Respite Revisited

Whoaaa. 2 posts in January and then 1 post in March. It almost felt like I'm neglecting my little pet project but swear, I'm not! Have been away from proper Internet connection for the last three weeks - tucked in the quiet and isolated Havelock.

First class India diving experience ;)

Havelock is a painful journey to get to - 4.5 hours of flight from Singapore to Kolkata/Chennai, then over two hours flight to Port Blair. Depending on availability of flights, you may end up spending a night in Port Blair to catch the early morning ferry (2.5 hours) to Havelock island.

Still, it's worth it. But I must admit it should have been highly unlikely for me to return so soon if it hadn't been for Mr K.

The Beach Life is the kind of routine you won't mind falling back on, day after day. On days that I don't dive (which is the majority, btw), I get up in the morning (hardly can sleep in as it gets warmer in the day), shower and head out to the cafe by the beach for an hour-long breakfast affair. I'll have a fan turned on while I wrap myself on to a comfortable armchair, or tuck myself into a hammock, stopping occasionally from reading to take in the beautiful beach. Life is good.

Some days I get a treat and we go on a different beach, another restaurant or something highly exciting like night kayaking and night jungle walk. Coz that's the kind of place Havelock is, quiet and unassuming. 

Night kayaking in Havelock is something entirely different. We head out before dusk, armed with oars. Paddled from the beach 800m out to where the thick mangroves action are at. The low-hanging trees certainly add to the mystery - which did not help matters when Tanaz, our kayak organizer, announced for us to not panic if there are snakes or birds that hang on to the branches....

Digressing, news of crocodile sightings sprouted a couple of days before our little kayaking adventure. Needless to say, all of us were on our toes, eyes open wide for any suspicious log-lookalike, hehe.

But we all got to a clearing safe and sound, the night is still and silent, millions of starts dotted the night sky and the phosphorescent plankton glittered when our oars brushed the waters. Beautiful....

The night jungle walk is another creepy affair. We headed out at 8pm (which is really 10pm, geographically) and got on to the forest trail, each carrying their own torch lights. After a short walk, I noticed drops of blood on the trail - they looked wet, fresh! That can't be good. We walked on, carefully landing on the slippery moss-covered stones. Then what we saw before us was mind-blowing beyond reason. 

A fallen tree covered in blood, appendages of a carcass lay before us, along with two sets of flip-flops, a machete and two bulging plastic bags. Unanimously, we decided to head back, pronto. That was an eerie sight, and knowing that the poachers were probably hiding and spying on us!

Meet Buffy - the menace.

Sam the gentle giant. This is one of his unusual poses. Usually he is found lying on his back with all  fours in the air, an open invitation to rub and scratch.

:)

And Frodo the Loyal. He is utterly attached to Vinnie, follows him everywhere like a shadow.

Buffy looks a little retarded here, but then again, she always is the odd one out, heh.

Surprise, surprise, the only food porn photo I've taken this trip. A South Indian breakfast of dosa in a little, run-down eatery where the cook bustles about in a longyi and singlet. While we munch on our breakfast, a juvenile goat strolls in and pokes its head into a carton of tomatoes. It got shooed away at the first tomato, but is unperturbed. When our longyi-clad chef disappears into the kitchen, the little kid trotted purposefully to the next basket full of okras where it happily chewed at least a dozen of them, heh.