After getting out of the hospital I spent six days relaxing back at the Eco Camp. This time I didn’t stay in one of the big canvas tents but in a posh room on the ground floor of Andre and his wife Meg’s house. I figured that with the back injury a little luxury (having a bed and an on suite bathroom) was in order.
My days were pretty quiet there with frequent lie downs to relax, afternoon naps (uncommon for me) and lots of reading (also uncommon for me). I unfortunately had less connectivity to the online world as I could not get a cell signal in my room but later found out that if I sat out on the patio that I occasionally connected. I had gotten quite used to communicating with my family and friends while I was in the Geetanjali Hospital...I guess I was a bit of a captive audience!
The big excitement that occurred during this week was waking up from a nap, going outside and discovering that the hillside below the Eco Camp was on fire! Smoke and ashes billowed over the trees and house. However, it was a “controlled burn”...as controlled as they get here. No actual firemen watching over it but it was deliberately set and no one seemed alarmed. I previously mentioned in a blog entry about the practice of torching the hillsides here every year to supposedly prevent unwanted animals around town (still not sure if that really is the case).
Fire on the Mountain!
I walked down to the edge of camp and found Andre and a Russian pilot, Valentin, both holding garden hoses, watering down the green vegetation on the property as a preventative measure. Thankfully the flames were kept at bay but I couldn’t help but hang out there and watch for a while as it was amazing how quickly the fire whipped up the hill...creating its own pressure vacuum up the steep cliff causing the winds to fuel the flames even more. There were some large soaring birds just hanging in the air above the smoke...I think looking for some freshly barbequed food!
The resulting scorched earth:
I must give a huge thanks to Andre and his wife Meg for helping me over the last few weeks. This was yet another experience where being a solo traveller is challenging. When you can’t physically perform normal day to day tasks such as getting food from the store, it’s amazing when new friends bend over backwards for you (maybe I could have come up with a better expression!).
Fellow Canadian Andre on his deck with a spectacular view:
Merci beaucoup!!!
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