Kabini lake

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Today we are in a new state, Karnataka. The drive this morning inclused a very attractive countryside section. This was introduced by what looked like hay spread out over the Tarmac road. Our driver told us that this is lentils. The cars and the traffic drive over and this seems to be part of the threshing process. Very unusual. The cows seemed to be enjoying eating the lentil stalks. There was also a section of the road with an avenue of banyan trees forming an arch over the road.

The lodge where we are staying is a luxury place, unusual for this trip. We have our own veranda with a view of the lake. There are hammocks and even a free mini-bar! We chose to do the jeep safari early tomorrow afternoon which gave us time to enjoy the facilities here. The lake was quite low, but we walked over and on the way spotted a large black ibis on the grass. There were more birds on the lake so we walked along the lake shore. There was a large grey heron, the same as in the UK, but also a much smaller heron. There was also a very large egret, small cormorants and different kinds of small wading birds. In addition to the water birds there were terns and swifts. As we walked back to our cottage we heard monkeys above us in the trees. These were the common monkeys we have seen before, but their behaviour in the trees was much more interesting than their roadsidE behaviour. They were eating the leaves of the tree and breaking off small branches and eating those. While sitting outside on the verandah in the evening the insects were coming into their own including a moth drawn to the light.

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