Breaths of fresh air!

Last week I (Ted) went to Corbett National Park with 60 6th graders. It was the middle school's Week withOut Walls program (WOW). It was a lot of fun and great to see a much more beautiful, wild and clean side of India. Just as the pollution and smog started to settle on Delhi in earnest, I escaped the city and greeted blue skies such as this one:

 Here is a shot of the Ramganga River. We stayed in two locations, including a resort (a better word than "camp", to describe our accommodations) on this river. In the middle of the picture you can make out a small village half way up the hill. One day we hiked into this village (there are no roads into it) and spent some time talking with villagers and visiting a school.

 At the other location we spent some time bathing an elephant.

 The highlight of the week was our two safaris into the park. We did not manage to see any tigers, though we saw fresh pugmarks. We did see wild elephants, deer and lots of monkeys. It was absolutely beautiful and we (the Lawsons) plan to return this winter.