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Trailing the Tiger !








 

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Trailing the Tiger !

Author: Roozbeh Gazdar

So there are destinations and destinations, each offering their distinct USPs. Hot attractions that draw tourists seeking an �experience� to carry home � a trophy to substantiate a battery of travel yarns. But in this craze for acquiring the best seller, our jetsetter often overlooks the finer details � colours that give a place meaning and significance. After all isn�t the great thing about travel, the joy of savouring an authentic experience in its entirety� like the succulent slice of a fruit, stones, rind and all?

The tiger is undoubtedly India�s most charismatic export and the twenty seven odd tiger reserves dotting the country cope with a steady file of tourists descending with the single-minded determination of encountering the big cat � an encounter resourcefully �arranged� by guides and rangers with persistence to match.

Make no mistake. To a wildlife freak - and I belong to the species - a tiger sighting is the climax of the safari, the delectable icing on the cake. Often however the obsessed tiger chaser, fanatically pursuing his quarry, remains obdurately blind to the countless other wonders that make up the typical Indian jungle experience, a realization that sank its teeth in during our first trip to the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

Kanha is beautiful; a glimpse of its ancient forest giving way to open meadows and again erupting into thick sal or bamboo, suffices to counter any residual hangover of braving the hazards of Indian state transport travel. And queuing for entry to the safari, even the jeeps seem to purr in suppressed expectation.

Kanha has often been described as the best place in the world to see a tiger; alas during our visit it did not turn up even an apology of a pugmark, let alone a whisker. And we were not alone. �Seen any?� �No, you?� None� was the common refrain between jeeps. �It seems to be one of those days when for some unexplainable reason no tigers are spotted any where in the park,� consoled the guide. It was true. During the three days we were there not a single self-respecting tiger chose to disclose itself, not even as far as the Mukki range on the other side of the park.

A wasted trip then? Sure, if you discount the sambar, herds of gaur, and hundreds of chital and langurs and peafowl. Any rare sightings? Not unless you include the barasinghas (Kanha is the only place in the world where you find the hard ground variety of this species). At the very beginning we impressed upon our guide that besides the top cat, we were also interested in the other lesser creatures that constituted the food chain. Luckily he took our request to heart so that we were amply rewarded: a black necked stork wading in a stream, a collared scops owl simulating a dry tree stump, a crested serpent eagle surveying the terrain, nothing missed his trained eye. Suddenly he would motion the driver to stop and point. Only after following his frantic gestures and urgent whispers would we see it. A barking deer, outline barely discernable, crouching in a bush. A monitor lizard clumsily scampering over a rocky slope. Or a woodpecker excavating its larder.

Today, many wild excursions later, nostalgia relives golden memories of that first trip. Like the herd of gaur, calves and all, which grazed on unconcernedly letting us approach close. The glory of the evening light on their backs as they ambled away followed by a flock of cattle egrets. The unexpected sighting of a lone old bull foraging down at a waterhole, magnificent even in the past of his prime.

On our last evening in Kanha we waited by a stream, praying for the tiger our guide suspected was around, to appear. After a certain point it did not matter any longer and we simply surrendered to the electrifying atmosphere, jungle silence broken only by the repeated calling of a jungle fowl, as darkness quickly descended and our driver rushed to get back before the gates closed. The next morning Kanha saw an unexpected drizzle of rain. The temperature dropped sharply and an uncanny hush pervaded in the jungle. Few animals were about and on this last safari we saw a different side of the forest, eerie almost forbidding.

Later at the gate we met with the question again, �Any tigers?�
�No, tough luck�, I said, �But what the hell!�

For those interested, www.traveljini.com extensively covers destinations in India including wildlife.

Roozbeh Gazdar

About the Author

Content writer working with www.traveljini.com, a travel portal in India. Keenly interested in wildlife and eco tourism.

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One for Ten Cabin Fever in Haines Alaska








 

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One for Ten Cabin Fever in Haines Alaska

Author: www.adamlongnecker.com

One for Ten: Cabin Fever in Haines Alaska
by Adam Longnecker

05/05/2001

Mountains, massive piles of rock and earth shaped by glaciers, erosion, and weather; can conjure feelings of awe, enlightenment and fear in people. For millions of years weather systems have shed soft crystals of snow on these massive peaks, and now we stand as mere specs in the history of these giants, aloft on their high ridgelines. As we descend a sensation secretes from our brains pulsing throughout our bodies as adrenaline, sculpting our passion to return to the top of these towering peaks over and over again.

Jason Shutz waited a long time for this turn. Photo: Longnecker

Pursuing their love for the mountains, Jason Shutz, Bill Buchbauer, Annie Fast, Chris Ankeny and Tom Routh headed for southeast Alaska in late April� Haines, Alaska to be exact. Haines has been moderately popular among the ski and snowboard film crews for years, but still contains plenty of pristine wilderness only attainable by glacier plane and split board. The posse, made up of Montanans, headed to Haines for an affordable backcountry trip aboard Cessna ski planes. They were armed with split boards, mountaineering gear, and winter camping equipment. During the first two weeks of April the group bagged a lot of great sunny days up on the glaciers, split boarding new lines and eying up lines for next year.

After a full day of Air Travel from Montana I arrived in Haines, Alaska aboard a single engine Cessna. Haines is positioned at the North end of Alaska's Inside Passage and at the Northern end of America's longest Fjord. The town shares its border with 20 million acres of protected wilderness: Glacier Bay National Park is 25 miles by air, and Canada's Kluane National Park and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park are just up the road. A Bald Eagle Preserve is also just outside of Haines giving the area an amazing collection of dramatic scenery and plethora of wildlife.
Day Two of my trip was like 99% of Alaska days: it rained. The Montana posse that I came to hook up with spent the day recuperating from a 4-day backcountry camping /split-boarding trip. I sat and listened to spook stories about new uncharted areas with sketchy snow pack, hairball plane flights onto glaciers, and all the great runs in between. Make no mistake; no matter where you ride at home, Alaska is bigger. Everything in AK is big: the mountains, the fish, the wildlife, the trees, everything is just so damn gigantic. The air was getting cold and it was snowing on the peaks; our conversations turned to the next mission once the sun broke again and the stoke began to build among us.

This would have been an action photos, but it's raining. Photo: Longnecker

The rain continued for the next eight days with little sign of the sun. Chris, Annie, and Tom went home leaving Jason, Bill, and I to wait for the sun. Pool, darts, scrabble, ping-pong, eating, reading, beer, coffee, beer, coffee, fishing, hiking, and hacky sack became the motion of the days. Cabin fever can invoke some strangeness in people and after eight days of rain and no riding; the walls were closing in � I can't take it, I can't take it. Freaking out and pounding your head on the wall is no way to deal with it, sowe ran around in the rain for a few hours. But that was a bad idea. We ate again even through we'd eaten an hour ago, and two hours before that. We were beginning to lose our minds and we only had two days left; The northern lights are out that evening and it was clear � would it be clear in the morning? That was the question.

We talked about just taking some heli runs if the sun did shine because your chances of getting to fly in the heli in moderate light is better than it is in the ski planes. The ski plane pilots need very clear days in order to see the ever-changing landscape that they are landing on, where with a helicopter you don't need a runway to take off and land. Besides after you land in a plane you usually still have to hike up to the top of your line. The drawback was that there was only one helicopter operating in town and there were six groups wanting to go out. We hoped that the Men's Journal Adventure Team which was there with a group of ski racers and ski legends would go for their main objective � a peak on the coast; which would mean a lot less of a cluster getting onto the heli.

With the original plan for some glacier plane trips into Glacier Bay National Park for split boarding and a winter camp squashed by the weather, and the chance to heli jaded by the adventure boy team, the drinking waged on and on. The locals say that you can drink it blue.

When it's good, it's great. Photo: Longnecker

Well, after nine days of drinking, the sun finally shone, and we headed to the heli at 33 mile for day ten, the last day in Haines. Being on the not so special list, we finally got out at around 4:00pm for two runs with our ultra-cool guide Jim: the first was on "Deflowered" and the second on "Hangover Helper" � short runs in Alaska standards, but pretty damn big anywhere else. The snow was blower, lots of new snow from the eight days of precipitation and just enough cold air to keep it light and fluffy late in the day. All of a sudden it was 7pm and we had to haul ass to catch the ferry. Cramming all of our stuff, the three of us, and Jason's dog Chewe into the helicopter pilot's 1970's Subaru was a bold task, but we got it done; and off to Juneau we went to catch the plane home.

After nine down days I was leaving Alaska 1 for 10. Two long powder runs in the bag made for a relaxing ride to Juneau on the ferry, and many daydreams longing for more on the plane ride home.

Alaska is a land of adventure. You don't have to be loaded to ride high powdery peaks in Alaska; you just have to have solid backcountry knowledge, glacial travel experience, and knowledge of the local mountains. Three people can catch a ride on a glacier plane (Drake Olson / Earth Center Adventures ( 907- 723-9475) at one time and depending how far you go into the mountains, you can expect to pay about $300 each for the roundtrip in and out. Once you're there you can explore via split board for the day or camp out for as long as you like; just remember tent fever comes on a lot quicker than cabin fever!

About the Author

Adam Longnecker, www.adamlongnecker.com, is a professional snowboard and skateboard coach. He travels the globe in search of the ultimate rush on his boards while enjoying incredible sites and people along the way. Expression through stories and photos is his way of sharing his ride with you.

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