But what we really see in the mangroves are birds, waders and water fowl of all sorts, in huge numbers. Half a dozen black-headed ibis sitting on a pole, storks and cranes with their huge wings, possibly an osprey (but we didn't get a good look), birds with long red legs, birds with very distinctive black bibs who may have been plovers, flamingos and pelicans, at least 3 sorts of herons and 2 sorts of egrets, many we couldn't identify at all as we sped past, and a snake bird. It was quite frustrating not to be able to spend an hour or so with the binoculars and the library's bird book.
Our first short visit was to a temple, in honour of a friend of Krishna. I keep meaning to ask someone why Krishna is always given a blue face in the paintings. The grounds were quite large but we were (as ever) rushed through and we dared not linger behind too long. This is because we were being allocated to a group of tuk-tuks who had instructions to take us to Gandhi's house. They are two-stroke, of course, and clearly Porbandar has no laws about emission control! Just getting in and out was a test for my knees, but it was a very enjoyable ride because you feel so close to everything going on around you.
The house where Gandhi was born was quite a good size, three stories, with separate quarters for men and women. His father was the chief minister in the local diwan. But the rooms were tiny and dark - to keep them cool - and the stairs were very vertical: just like ladders on a boat. Around the house, quite a large courtyard has been built to include pillars with his sayings about his philosophy of non-violence inscribed in Hindi. (I wondered what he would have made of India today). There is also a kind of shrine with his picture, and around the whole complex are symbols of many religions - but I failed to see any Christian or Islamic symbols, so maybe it's just the local religions of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.
Notable, women go confidently with uncovered faces and heads while wearing beautiful and varied saris. But a large poster in the market square was an exhortation to abandon female infanticide and abortion, so it would seem women and girl children are not actually vaued equally to men yet.
A stroll through the market nearby brought India home to me. Life everywhere, existing cheerfully side by side: goats, bullocks, dogs, women, children and men (the stall holders). The people of Gujerat are very friendly, and many women wanted to shake my hand, while the children wanted their photos taken and to know which country we came from. Conversation stopped at this point, however, which was a shame. I photographed the carrots, too: they were extremely long with not a blemish on them, and bright red! In fact all the fruit, vegetables and herbs looked to be a of a very high quality, and they certainly smelled delicious. Gujeratis are vegetarians and eat not only no meat but no fish or eggs either, we were told, so their diet is almost exclusively vegetables. Even their cheese is vegetarian.
There were fishing boats in the harbour, but we were told the fish is dried, saved for the monsoon season and exported to the rest of India. There is still some evidence of ship-building here - wooden dhows - and Porbandar used to be a large centre for making these boats which are used off all the coasts of the Indian Ocean. But mostly the industry has turned to maintenance, and just along the coast is the largest ship-breaking yard in the world. The almost complete absence of safety measures and ecological controls mean this is an easy country on which to dump all the problems of a more affluent society.
On returning to the ship, I found I had left my camera on ISO400 all day, so quite a number of my images will be too grainy. Rather foolish. I'd like to go back and revisit, but it's not possible.
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