A touch of celebrity

From the moment they all arrived our volunteers were informed that before they reach their project they would be receiving some special entertainment, but I was keen to keep them in the dark about what exactly it would involve.

The afternoon of day one was reserved for a very special local celebrity; Mysore’s own Snake Shyam. 

Shyam is famous for rescuing snakes from all around Mysore, normally people would kill any snake they find in their home or garden. He claims to have saved more than 25,000 in his career and dedicates much of his time to educating people on the snakes place within a delicate eco-system and to remove their fear. 

Our volunteers got the same treatment as Shyam brought a variety of snakes to Fieldbase and spoke about how to identify them and avoid getting bitten. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see these elegant creatures up close.

The highlight came at the end of Shyam's presentation as he brought out one of the 'big four' venomous snakes in India the incredible Spectacled Cobra. 

Raleigh India's sure cure for jetlag proved effective once again as all our volunteers faces lit up with a mixture of fear and intrigue. If they encounter any snakes during their projects they will now be a little better educated on how to behave and hopefully treat the animal with the respect  it deserves. 

Coming up next time a report on the two day training hosted by our project partners MYKAPS.