A pretty dawn was breaking as we arrived in the outer roads of the approach to Porbandar with the front deck crew already busy preparing the multiple mooring lines.
In due course a tug came out to meet us where we might have expected a pilot cutter .....
But this was indeed acting as the pilot cutter and the pilot deftly stepped aboard over the large tyres protecting both ships from metal to metal contact. Again no sign of a lifejacket despite the precarious nature of his entry to our ship ....
We'd been 'warned' in advance that Porbandar was not a typical cruise ship destination and didn't therefore have the same port and other facilities we might expect of most other cruise terminals. I discovered after the event that in one photo taken during this exercise, a crew member on the tug obviously found our ship an unusual enough occurrence to warrant a bit of video, or maybe a photo, on his mobile phone ....
As we docked it became obvious, as described, that it was not like most of the ports a typical cruise ship would stop at, but all the better for that as it would no doubt give us a last view of the real India, rather than the tourist India we'd mostly seen so far. The close proximity of busses and cars ready for us implied we didn't need to enter the building behind with its collapsing roof! ....
As with every port a choice of tours was available, one of which was a relatively short bus ride to Gandhi's birthplace, Gandhi of course still very much revered in his home country as the father of modern independent India.
Our choice though was a spot of bird watching, the transport for which was the fleet of 4x4s ....
Setting off in convoy, four or five passengers per car, it felt a bit like the UN Peacekeeping Force convoys one sees on TV in war torn parts of Africa. ....
Some parts of Porbandar appeared relatively prosperous ......
But the majority of people around here clearly had far more humble abodes. This was a bit out of town but not uncommon.
Transport was mostly the ubiquitous tuk-tuk of course and motorbikes & scooters. .....
And the number of animals walking around in the roads was amazing, from dogs and cats to large cows. But no fatalities that we saw, though Barbara did see one dead dog, whether it was a road death or starvation though wasn't obvious - most animals were painfully thin and the people weren't exactly fat either.
After a rough and dusty drive past occasional little groups of waving children, we got to the first of several stops in the wetlands of Gosabara Bird Sanctuary.
There was a lot to see, both flying and floating, and a good guide who was pointing out the many interesting species. ....
As at Kochi, any body of relatively clean water seems to be suitable for washing clothes:
Everyone got excited when a camel was spotted ......
But then it wasn't nearly as much of a novelty when we saw a large herd .....
But it was the birds we came to see and they didn't disappoint, from large kingfishers .....
to this delicate little wader ......
Elegant egrets (possibly)?
Smallish flamingos (and European cranes), sadly some way off ....
More egrets (probably) and what I took to be water buffalo ....
And these elegant fellows ....
No idea what this is but he/she is also rather elegant ....
And the many pelicans(?) flying in were simply glorious ....
Something or other coming in to land ....
No idea what this is....
I couldn't help feeling I should know what these big things are? ....
More water buffalo?
Highly decorated trucks occasionally rumbled past and were very considerate as they passed our large group on the relatively narrow causeway. ....
The wildlife didn't seem unduly concerned by the traffic ....
All too soon we had to return to the boat so that the same cars could repeat the exercise for the afternoon group.
One benefit of this more informal port was that there were no elfs to stop me climbing a pile of rocks to photograph our elegant ship ...
In due course we left India to cross the Arabian Sea for our next stop in Dubai, two time zones away.
Oh and a little praise for the brilliant catering staff who not only produce lovely and varied food but amazing decorations as well. I can't help wondering though what the hungry little children we passed would make of this use of food?
In due course a tug came out to meet us where we might have expected a pilot cutter .....
But this was indeed acting as the pilot cutter and the pilot deftly stepped aboard over the large tyres protecting both ships from metal to metal contact. Again no sign of a lifejacket despite the precarious nature of his entry to our ship ....
We'd been 'warned' in advance that Porbandar was not a typical cruise ship destination and didn't therefore have the same port and other facilities we might expect of most other cruise terminals. I discovered after the event that in one photo taken during this exercise, a crew member on the tug obviously found our ship an unusual enough occurrence to warrant a bit of video, or maybe a photo, on his mobile phone ....
As we docked it became obvious, as described, that it was not like most of the ports a typical cruise ship would stop at, but all the better for that as it would no doubt give us a last view of the real India, rather than the tourist India we'd mostly seen so far. The close proximity of busses and cars ready for us implied we didn't need to enter the building behind with its collapsing roof! ....
As with every port a choice of tours was available, one of which was a relatively short bus ride to Gandhi's birthplace, Gandhi of course still very much revered in his home country as the father of modern independent India.
Our choice though was a spot of bird watching, the transport for which was the fleet of 4x4s ....
Setting off in convoy, four or five passengers per car, it felt a bit like the UN Peacekeeping Force convoys one sees on TV in war torn parts of Africa. ....
Some parts of Porbandar appeared relatively prosperous ......
But the majority of people around here clearly had far more humble abodes. This was a bit out of town but not uncommon.
Transport was mostly the ubiquitous tuk-tuk of course and motorbikes & scooters. .....
And the number of animals walking around in the roads was amazing, from dogs and cats to large cows. But no fatalities that we saw, though Barbara did see one dead dog, whether it was a road death or starvation though wasn't obvious - most animals were painfully thin and the people weren't exactly fat either.
After a rough and dusty drive past occasional little groups of waving children, we got to the first of several stops in the wetlands of Gosabara Bird Sanctuary.
There was a lot to see, both flying and floating, and a good guide who was pointing out the many interesting species. ....
As at Kochi, any body of relatively clean water seems to be suitable for washing clothes:
Everyone got excited when a camel was spotted ......
But then it wasn't nearly as much of a novelty when we saw a large herd .....
But it was the birds we came to see and they didn't disappoint, from large kingfishers .....
to this delicate little wader ......
Elegant egrets (possibly)?
Smallish flamingos (and European cranes), sadly some way off ....
More egrets (probably) and what I took to be water buffalo ....
And these elegant fellows ....
No idea what this is but he/she is also rather elegant ....
And the many pelicans(?) flying in were simply glorious ....
Something or other coming in to land ....
No idea what this is....
I couldn't help feeling I should know what these big things are? ....
More water buffalo?
Highly decorated trucks occasionally rumbled past and were very considerate as they passed our large group on the relatively narrow causeway. ....
The wildlife didn't seem unduly concerned by the traffic ....
All too soon we had to return to the boat so that the same cars could repeat the exercise for the afternoon group.
One benefit of this more informal port was that there were no elfs to stop me climbing a pile of rocks to photograph our elegant ship ...
In due course we left India to cross the Arabian Sea for our next stop in Dubai, two time zones away.
Oh and a little praise for the brilliant catering staff who not only produce lovely and varied food but amazing decorations as well. I can't help wondering though what the hungry little children we passed would make of this use of food?
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