5.45 the alarm went off, a quick cup of tea followed by teeth clean and a splash then down to reception for the start of our walk up the solid granite “elephant hill”. A whole 750 steps with some walking in between. We started to climb about 6.30 and half way we stopped to see the sun rising, then on we went higher through a narrow section with a bit of rock overhanging on which of course Alison actually gave her head a slight knock.
Once we arrived at the top seeing the elephant the satisfaction of actually doing it in 1/2 hour was immense. The views were spectacular and we sat and had some chai and biscuits. A squirrel came to say hello and he had small piece of biscuit.
As we started to make our way back.down we went to the Shiva temple where the bell got rung and the drums were struck many times to wake him up. Whilst the guide was praying we were sitting crossed legged on the floor also saying our prayers . They were answered as Alison’s knees didn’t crack or give way once whilst walking down all those steps (twice as many as Petit Port steps and more besides).
We were back to the hotel by 8.15am were we sat in the courtyard for a few minutes. In celebration we ordered Marsala omelettes with chilli (of course) and tried the tomato and beetroot juice for a change.
Back to our room for a rest, shower then down to the pool and by 11.10 we had both done 2 lengths of the pool and now we are chilling out. It’s 11.55 and we are both enjoying a lime soda plain.
Just received a WhatsApp message from our driver, who also seems to have problems with predictive text:” hello mr. Peter tomatoes 10:30 ready” . We think that means we will be leaving at 10:30🤨
At 4.30 we went along to the courtyard and met up with the couple who had just arrived from Fort Barli, and then set off in the Jeep with a Belgian couple who had also just arrived.
Through the village until we got off road, eventually getting to the lakeside, having seen bee eaters, hoopoes, laughing doves, egrets, greater egret, cattle egret, herons, an osprey on its nest and plenty of other wildlife.
We had tea under a portable gazebo: crisps, dainty sandwiches, banana bread and biscuits. The driver drove through the gazebo and we all got in while he drove further along the lakeside before doing a five point turn, before heading back to the hotel by a different route.
We skirted a granite quarry and were buzzed by a fruit bat. We arrived back and saw the preparations for tonight’s Stepwell dinner. We met our driver who confirmed the 10:30 departure. Our favourite Barman gave us our room key and it was back to our room to reorganize the packing, before returning for some supper.
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