Raspberries and man-eaters The decision to take another day off was not a hard one to make - I was on holiday after all. The birding crew were off looking for the illusive Ibisbill again so once Mark had his morning dose of breakfast brownies, I waved them all goodbye and went back to bed. I spent a pleasant morning sat on the verandah blog-writing and worrying the hotel staff as usual. Obviously not used to having someone spend the entire day at the hotel rath...

Buffet brownie bonanza Please someone remind me what I was doing getting up at 4.30am whilst on holiday? Married to a birder, I'm used to early starts but this really takes the biscuit. And...and the darn hotel didn't even make good with the biscuits and cup of tea they'd promised! That is my excuse for spending most of the morning's drive to Corbett asleep or at least, what passes for sleep on India roads. Whilst I was out for the count, we drove past a partic...

Scream if you wanna go faster... The day started promisingly clear for our boat trip on the Chambal river. The big species to see was the Ganges River Dolphin, another one which probably won't be around for much longer - the Yangtze River Dolphin is already sadly gone for good. We are however, now being blamed by our guide for bringing the rainy weather with us from England. No sooner had we reached the village, than thunder rolled and a flash flood looked immin...

Big, white and symmetrical The dining room was already occupied when we came down at 5.30am - by three fast asleep occupants. Our bewildered looks from the door were spotted by the morning waiter, who promptly woke them up and herded them into the kitchen in a rather clipped fashion. Feeling hideously guilty, we munched our toast in the dark (electrics out again) hoping that the kitchen staff wouldn't get their own back on us later. When Mark returned from his ...

My adopted family Rudely awoken this morning by the lightbulb in the lamp above the bed falling out. Narrowly missed husband's head but that was his fault for taking up all the space as usual. Bleary-eyed, we ate our breakfast in occasional darkness as the electricity cut out intermittently. I'd made the sensible decision to skive off again today and catch up on my writing/reading/lazing while Mark cycled round the wetland sanctuary on a bike, hopefully avoiding...