Wettest place in the world?

Cherrapunji, India,

whilst chatting to Jeff in Sisters some one asked where the wettest place in the world was, in a flash I had the answer, Cherrapunji, India, how did I know? I have been there, a bit of a long story but basically I and a friend of mine, Neil, were 2 years or so ago doing some research on the river systems and fish populations in the areas of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh for the Indian government, there should have been millions of liters of water an hour passing over this cliff face, but it was as dry as a bone! this was the only significant amount of water we found there, Cherrapunji in the State of Meghalaya has for long been regarded the rainiest place in the world. Its annual mean rainfall based on the 30 years data (1931-60) is 1156.5 cm while that based on longer-term data (1851-1960) is 1131.4 cm, in one 4 day period 3.721metres rainfall was recorded, to put that in context the average annual rainfall in London is only 750 mm, less than a meter, afternoon tea in Assam, myself and Anil from the government, catch of the day! I tried casting a net like this with absolutely no luck what so ever! crossing the mighty Brahmaputra, it is about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) long, the river is an important source for irrigation and transportation. Its upper course was long unknown, and its identity with the Yarlung Tsangpo was only established by exploration in 1884-86. This river is often called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra river. In Bangladesh the river merges with the Ganges and splits into two: the Hugli and Padma River. When it merges with the Ganges it forms the world's largest delta, the Sunderbans which is known for tigers and mangroves. While most Indian and Bangladeshi rivers bear female names, this river has a rare male name, as it means "son of Brahma" in Sanskrit (putra means "son"),

satellite map of the Brahmaputra river,

why was it always my turn to dig out the jeep?

whilst there we went to one of the national parks and saw the rare one horned rhinoceros,

this is a shot of a mother and sister, in the nineteenth and end early twentieth century, the Indian Rhinoceros was hunted relentlessly. Reports from the middle of the nineteenth century claim that some military officers in Assam individually shot more than 200 rhinos. In the early 1900s, colonial officials became concerned at the rhino's plummeting numbers. By 1908 in Kaziranga, one of the rhino's main ranges, the population had fallen to around 12 individuals. In 1910, all rhino hunting in India became prohibited, today thanks to conservation numbers are up to 2500 individuals in the wild,

a rare shot of me at work,

ops! caught working again!