Well, we're nearly ready to go again. So much has happened in the last three months that, all things considered, it was touch-and-go whether I would cancel this trip at more than one point. In the end though, Dad would have wanted me to go, no matter what happened and that's what I've decided to do. There might even be a little bit of my usual nervousness having been responsible for my doubts along the way.
It's tricky, when everyone around you is either telling you that India is wonderful or that India is terrible, to come to your own view without actually going and seeing for yourself. I only have my travelling companions to truly rely on in this regard. Fred has consistently repeated, time and time again, that he really doesn't like India, for a number of reasons. However, he keeps coming up with an excuse to go back, meaning that there must be something really worthwhile to draw him, despite his reservations.
This time, that was a set of photos on a trip report made by some of his friends on Trip Advisor. All he had to do was show them to me as well and I was hooked. While the main focus of this trip might be those huge striped cats, there does really seem to be so much more to be seen.
Our trip will be a little bird-heavy. Sometimes this is a complaint, especially when it is in a place that you've visited before, but India's birds will be mostly new to me and that's just fine. I've called "Jungle Fowl" in almost every country in Africa, only to be consistently told that the roadside chickens aren't native. Now's my big chance to tick it off the list once and for all. That's probably also true for peacocks and pheasants.
So, I have my passport, I have my Visa and I have my yellow fever card. Cameras have been checked, new batteries have been purchased - at great expense - and my laptop has been cleared for the influx of photographs. I'm as ready as I'll ever be to experience India on my own terms and I'm ready!