By: Peyton
We left Delhi at sunrise and drove across the plains into Corbett National Park. As soon as we stepped out of the bus, we breathed in fresh air unlike the dirty, smoggy, hard to breath air of New Delhi. After we unloaded our bags from the bus, curious monkeys surrounded us. It somehow felt like home, but the monkeys were like the squirrels of India.
Within in minutes we were down on the banks of the Kosi River skipping rocks, having some laughs, and then we ate lunch. After lunch we returned to the river, this time to cross it. We crossed the rapids and stood on the other side at the bottom of the cliffs. The cliffs are part of the buffer zone to Corbett National Park. We crossed so that we could search for tiger pug marks in the river mud at the bottom of the cliffs. We were asked to stay close the river, by the hotel staff, but that didn’t stop Harry and I from noticing some deer prints, possibly some tiger prints, maybe even Big Foot’s or a distant cousin!
We walked down the river until we found a good swimming hole. We started swimming around, and Barker got the idea of jumping off of a cliff next to the river. That encouraged a lot of us to do the same. My first jump reminded me a little of back home, jumping off my dock, but this was a whole new experience. The water had a strong current to it. Climbing up the cliff and finding a good spot to jump off of was different than jumping from my dock. It didn’t feel scary; it reminded me to try new things. It was like a leap of faith. This whole trip is like a leap of faith in some ways. I didn’t really know what we would be doing, and now that I’m here I’m having one of the best experiences of my life. So, I encourage everybody to “jump off a cliff”, even if you don’t know much about it, it might be one the best experiences you have ever had.
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