Day 6 - Panna

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Day 6 -Khajuraho-Panna

Panna was only a short drive away, so we were not setting off until after brunch. We were given the option of joining yesterday's lunch host Dilip for a painting class in his shop. Although we didn't have a go ourselves, we called in on some of our group and looked at some of the paintings Dilip had done which were for sale. He had a lovely selection of paintings on silk, old paper and postcards. We then met the group for brunch, which included porridge, and we set off to Panna.

Our accomodation was to be situated just outside the entrance, so the closure would not effect other activites we could try and do. On the way to the park, we made an unscheduled stop at a property which had been bought be the Oberoi hotel chain. It is an old hunting lodge, and more like a fort, on top of a hill, and currently building work has been suspended as there is a dispute with the Indian government. It clearly needs a lot of money spending on it, but will be lovely when it is finished.

We arrived at the lodge at the Ken river, and we allocated indivual cottages which were similar to those we stayed in at the Amazon. Strangely the doors bolt from both sides, which was unfortunate for Dan and Nikki, who got locked in when their bags got dropped off, and we had to free them! The proximity to the river also meant a lot of bugs, beetles, flies and lizards, which some of our group were less than enthusiastic about.

Our guide tried to compensate for the park being shut by arranging a boat trip on the river to try and spot a crocodile. We didn't see any, but managed to fool the other boat into thinking that "Jungle Russ" had caught a fish with his bare hands and had landed it in our boat. In fact the fish cost us 60 rupees from a local fisherman, and we had it for snacks before tea! The other boat stopped in the middle of the river and made land on some rocks and got out. We thought that Dan had spotted a bird and wanted to get closer. In fact they were sinking, and if Louise hadn't have bailed out for the entire journey they would have sunk! When we got back with our catch and back upto the bar which overlooked the river, we all saw a very large crocodile swimming where we had just been in the boats.

We next went on a nature walk, but apart from a few birds, really didn't see much more than we had seen in Orchha, and most of the group were not all that interested in the bird watching aspect.

Snacks of "Gerald" the fish, pokoras and chips were served in the bar, where everyone thought they were being eaten alive. We retired to the dining hall, where buffet dinner was served. After dinner, everyone was asking about dessert. Most of the group have taken a liking to an Indian dessert gulab jamuns, which are deep fried milk and flour balls flavoured with cardamon and rose water, and affectionaly known on our trip as "brown balls", and most other desserts are frowned upon by the group. After a just a couple of drinks everyone retired to bed, unsure of what sort of nights sleep they might get with our jungle friends.

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Photos

Row row row your boat
gentley down the stream if you see a crocodile don't forget to scream!