Out of the Office

On Monday I'm headed out with the team to Diglipur on North Andaman Island. I will be gone until April 23. We will be meeting with communities, drilling a bore well, digging a ring well and installing a pipe system.

April 25th --- Fly to Kolkata
April 29th ---Train to Delhi
May 2nd --- Train to Mussoorie
May 5th--- Start Hindi Language Lessons

Shout Out to Phoenix and Other Random Pics

Phoenix Bay
(I told you I would be coming back to Phoenix)

Conducting a pond survey with Anand

Playing with Papa Rao.

Or is it play?:)

नमस्ते, Namaste, Hello.

This post is dedicated to all my friends from Phoenix.

Getting Around

To get from Port Blair (where I am living) which is on South Andaman Island all the way up to Diglipur on North Andaman Island the preferred method is via bus. But, you may ask, "how does a bus get from island to island." By taking two ferries (the bus comes along for the ride) and a handful of bridges. The major cluster of Islands are not actually far away from each other, maybe a few hundred meters. It is not recommended, or comfortable, to stay on the bus while it's on the ferry do to the heat, and it is nicer to get out and enjoy the ride anyway.

Another complication is that you must join a convoy in two places to get through the Jarawa Reserve. The Jarawa are an Aboriginal people group who's ancestry can be traced to Africa. Although once very aggressive towards anyone passing through their territory the convoy now is more for their protection. Sadly because of the contact with newcomers to the island, and the logging of their forests, their population size has plummeted to dangerously low numbers.

I didn't exactly feel safe on this ferry with 300 some propane tanks onboard...

But at least we had a good captain.

Ferry about to dock at Chatham Jetty.

Even the ferrys have to take a break.

Another method of getting from one island to another
(not recommended for vehicles)

This post is dedicated to Rachel E. who wants to know how to get around on the islands.