В путь (Let's go) - Alexandrov Ensemble

 

Let's Go - Alexandrov Ensemble

I don't understand Russian, but this is great music! 

Replacing Tires on the Land Cruiser

 Unlike most North American Land Cruiser owners,

From my experience, I have good things to say about the Dunlop Grand Trek PT22 OEM tires

They took us safely through -22 degrees C through two Canadian winters,

 

And almost 50,000 kilometres of highway (and a little off-road driving in the Canadian Rockies) 

 

Not once did I lose traction or feel uncomfortable driving the Dunlop tires even on ice!

 

Of course they didn't look very capable. But looks aren't everything.

Driving is also about the driver, not just the tires!

 

I could easily do another 30,000 kilometres, but the chance came to replace them.

So at 49,184 kilometres, here are the Falken Wildpeak A/T4W tires (Made in Japan)

Btw, the 4W in A/T4W stands for Wear, Winter, Wet, and Warranty. 

What else does a driver we need? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking at Silver Creek Conservation Area

 Been looking around for places to hike nearby (within an hours drive) that we haven't been to,

And found Silver Creek Conservation Area 

 

 

 

Free parking on the road 

 

 

The trail is nice, very few people at 9:30 am

 

Approximately 6.8 kilometres up and down

As we were walking I suddenly grabbed Anna's hand and said, "snake"!

We stepped back a few feet (it was going to cross us on our path, and it turned back)

We stood still and focussed  

A decent hike 

 

 

  

 

 

After driving in the mountains in British Columbia, 

13.2 kilometres per litre is the best mileage so far in the Toypta Land Cruiser! 

 

Flying Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1041

I've been flying since I was a child, at least for 57 years!

I love planes and airports and have seen many. 

Still remember flying BOAC (before it was called British Airways).

In those days my dad and I would swing by the cockpit, 

To say hello to the pilot and captain. Those were the good ol' days of flying!

(These days you shouldn't even utter the word cockpit, or you may get arrested) 😊

I have seen the Alps from the cockpit of a Boeing 747. 

 Today (30th May 2026) we are flying Qatar Airways QR767 from Doha to Toronto.

 

 

Our Airbus A350-1041 minutes before landing at Pearson, 

Your can see the runway we are going to land on which is 06R 

 

At approximately 1:03 you can see the City of Mississauga and Square One

 

Happy flying!

Making More Memories: Road Trip to the Jungle

It's been four years since we experienced the peace of the jungle. 

This is the second trip to experience wildlife in their natural habitat. This is not a zoo.

Kabini (approximately 200 kilometres from Bangalore) is world-renowned as one of Asia's premier wildlife destinations.    And this is the legendary Kabini River Lodge, located on the backwaters of the Kabini River in Karnataka, India. This 54-acre property was once the private hunting lodge of the Maharaja of  Mysore.

The tree below is a Gulmohar (Delonix regia) commonly known as Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant, or Flame of the Forest. 

Below is a sandalwood tree. 

Sandalwood is the second most expensive wood in the world.

Prized for centuries, it is legendary for its rich fragrance

Our rooms for the next two nights are the Maharaja Suites 

(Maharaja is a Sanskrit word meaning great King)

Each three hour jeep safari takes you to specific zones A or B of the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve (approximately 644 square kilometres).  

This is what our jeep looks like. Plain, simple and capable. 

Yes, the sides are open. 

And I'll never forget I was to a tiger on the last trip!

 

 

It is warm and humid and approximately 37° C nearing the end of summer.

 

On this trip we saw many elephants, probably 30 of them at various locations 

And hundreds of Chital (Axis axis) also known as Spotted Deer 

                 

 This is a magnificent adult male Chital (Axis axis), also known as a spotted deer or axis deer. 

 

                                                      

                                  

     

These are Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), the largest living land mammals on the Asian continent.

       

    These Chital were making alarm calls, probably because there was a tiger or leopard nearby

 

This is a Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela)

This raptor specializes in hunting snakes and other reptiles, including lizards and frogs 

 

        

These are Dholes (Cuon alpinus), also famously known as Asiatic wild dogs, Indian wild dogs, or whistling dogs.

They are probably resting after hunting the previous night! 

This is the same moon we see in Canada :-)

More deer ...

               

 This is a male Grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), 

a wild ancestor of the domestic chicken native to peninsular India

 

         These are Indian black turtles (Melanochelys trijuga), 

also widely known as Indian pond terrapins

    An Indian boar (Sus scrofa cristatus), a distinct subspecies of the wild boar native to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

  🦚  We saw so many peacocks, close to a hundred over the past few days 🦚

They are so common here, the locals don't even give them a second look   😊

 

   In this courtship display, 

both peacocks are actively fanning out their massive upper tail coverts (trains) into large, semi-circular fans to attract females (peahens).   

Peahens carefully observe multiple males, 

choosing the peacock with the longest, most symmetrical, and vibrant train, 

which indicates strong genes 🦚

                                                                                        

 

 

 

                                   Saw a barking deer, along with peacock and jungle fowl!

Below is an Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis), a strikingly colorful bird belonging to the roller family, Coraciidae

   Below is an Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis), a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family.

           

And here is a Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), also famously known as the Asian king vulture or Pondicherry vulture.

 It is standing on a shoreline of the Kabini river eating a large carcass.

                    Minutes later it is joined by two Black-headed ibises (Threskiornis melanocephalus)

 

 Below is a Red-naped ibis (Pseudibis papillosa), 

also known as the Indian black ibis or simply the black ibis. 

It is a large waterbird native to the Indian subcontinent.

        

Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), a large species of deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

  The White-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

 

We didn't come across any big cats on this safari. 

But we saw many tigers and leopards on the previous trip!

Check out the last trip here 

and the closest I've been to a tiger!

 

Let me know if you are interested in visiting here, and next time we'll go together!