Greetings from Kumily, India, near the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, one of 28 Project Tiger areas in India. Tomorrow I head out at 5 am for a “jungle safari” through the Western Ghats, a mountain range smokily meandering over the border between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I have serious doubts we’ll see tigers. I may not see anything, as the 5 am departure time may have me nodding off the rest of the day.
So for now, part two of beach languid in Thailand, and then: ELEPHANTS!
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In the bay Le Passe Temps faces, craggy limestone islands jut up through the waves like the mossy teeth of a sea monster.
Katie and I at the boat – just like in Brooklyn, but with less clothes!
Amélie lounges while the pod chair considers whether she’s heat-stunned enough to be eaten without putting up much of a fight.
Starfish ooze themselves into the mud to stay cool during low tide.
Katie showing the love to the mom of puppy Siam. It could also be Siam’s grandmother. There are three generations of spotty gals at Le Passe Temps.
If something were to go terribly wrong at our idyll, there was always the Lord of the Flies option. That conch is mine.
This temperate-climate mammal has realized that most of the day in tropical climates is spent regulating one’s body temperature. Okay, my body temperature. Thankfully, we had a pool just steps from our bungalows.
Katie rises.
We shared the pool with fat beetles, laughably inept flyers who splashed down every night. It was actually in the water that they showed a modicum of grace, serenely swimming around for hours.
Amelie menaces one.