Through evolution animal life has become diverse and a magnificent wonder of the world; the many millions of different species startle and amaze me. On this series so far I have been fondled by baboons in the African scrub, stroked a leopard, been scared witless by a hyena, and witnessed a leatherback turtle nesting in the middle of the night. And today we filmed painted storks nesting and feeding in a small Indian village, which was wonderful to behold. They are marvelous birds; so silky smooth in their flying style. Watching them soar high above I was also reminded of the theory of how birds have evolved from dinosaurs and how wonderful the whole process of life is.

However, then we went back to the clinic and I’m not going to dwell on the euthanasia issue as I’ve spoken of this at great length already, but another problem with the place became only too obvious: it’s full of dirty, disgusting, faeces loving flies. I hate the creatures. They’re horrid little things that buzz around polluting their soiled bodies on anything they touch. Just the thought of them makes me feel ill.

Oh and on another note Luke thinks that the painted storks are actually ducks. I think the word “stork” makes it pretty obvious that they’re not, but then I’m not a vet…

In my previous blog I talked about wonderful creatures and today I spotted another: Ants! Whilst waiting for Luke to recover from his Delhi belly upstairs in the hotel there was a swarm of them devouring a butterfly. They were crawling all over it and I think attempting to carry it back to their hill. I was hoping Luke would swoop down and save the poor thing, but sadly it was already dead…

There was a great bit of surgery this morning as Luke took a horn off a buffalo.

Amazing to watch, although not for the squeamish – there was blood galore as the Indian doctor decided it was a good idea to cut down to the skull, which I’m not too sure Luke was pleased about. But when you’re in someone else’s backyard it’s pretty difficult to argue.

The highlight of the day for Adam must have been his reminiscing about school gymnastics when he balanced on two parallel metal bars to get a shot of the buffalo surgery.

Oh I forgot to mention: Luke bought his second drum of the trip so far! The street sellers love him – following him around everywhere. He couldn’t resist buying it. Obviously one drum isn’t enough…

Luke today renamed me Navender. Brilliant, because calling me Bruce in front of all and sundry isn’t confusing enough. Oh well… In retaliation I’ve renamed him Problem Child, which in a way is also a compliment because he is like a big friendly child who is going around the world solving animal problems… or something like that…

Had a great day finishing off all the stories at Karuna: the tuk tuk donkey looks healthy, the one-horned buffalo is healing well and the disabled dogs are still alive. It’s been a great start to the trip and i’m really looking forward to our ten-hour trek south to visit the next charity first thing tomorrow morning.

Wow! What a change of scenery. After a long car journey and some dodgy Indian food in a roadside restaurant (my stomach is still feeling blurry 24 hours later) we arrived at a mountainside paradise. And it is absolutely stunning. The charity we are filming is called IPAN (Indian Project for Animals and Nature) and it couldn’t be any more different from the Karuna Society. The dogs look healthy, the donkeys are the cutest things I’ve ever seen and the whole place has a wonderful feel to it.

But in this paradise there are huge problems: today we removed 14kgs of plastic from the stomach of a cow. And this isn’t an isolated case. Many of the livestock around the area feed on the rubbish dumped by the locals. It is a sad and depressing fact and one that I hope we will highlight to the wider public.

In other news: Marc called a cow a dog, Adam got obsessed with the idea that he had fleas, and I heard Luke singing in his hotel room (which is adjacent to mine) last night. I think he’s practicing for the release of his first album: Pet Sounds. Boom. Boom.

I’ve been home now for just over a day and my head is still spinning from the events of the past three days. I knew that transporting an elephant 300 km wasn’t going to be easy, but what I did not expect was for a complete media circus, the most disheartening abuse of an animal and the sadness that comes from seeing the domestication of a wild animal. At one point I was seriously close to tears when the Indian mahout (elephant trainer) was whipping the poor beast with a stick. I looked up into the elephant’s eye and could see directly into its soul; beaten down and defeated the animal was begging for help. When we finally arrived at the sanctuary, which will be its new home, I was pleased to see that it has a wide-open space to live in. But my heart sinks every time I think back to the hours spent trying to get it onto the truck. It was certainly one of the cruelest things I’ve ever witnessed.

The final few days were also the longest and very tiring. Thankfully Luke nailed the ending piece to camera quite quickly and Marc’s assessment that we only needed to film “half an hour more and then home” was not as wide of the mark as it usually is. I can’t wait to see the final edit of this episode. It’s going to be immense.

We have spent the first day at la Cienega animal shelter in San Jose Itrubide and what a pleasant experience. The animals look healthy, the land is absolutely stunning and the people are welcoming and extremely friendly.
 

 
With the new cameraman Scott Mckinnon on board we’ve got off to a brilliant start: filming a scene with an injured hawk and an endangered eagle yesterday morning and an operation on a cat with a huge tumour growing out of its back. Despite the jetlag we’re firing on all cylinders and it looks as though this is going to be another cracking trip.
 

 
For regular readers of the blog you’ll know that I started a campaign to save my own name. This hasn’t gone all to plan as Luke keeps on calling me various different things on every trip we venture to: from Bruce in Malawi to Narinder in India. And when we arrived at the charity it didn’t take long for Agetha, who runs the sanctuary, to call me Bruce (in fact it was the first thing she said!) Last night I was christened with my new Mexican name of Lupe. Which I have now found out from my Spanish girlfriend is actually a girl’s name, so this is wonderful. Not only have I lost use of the name of Nathan, but I’ve been given a new one which is used for girls… oh well…

Whilst in Mexico I’m also working on my Spanish. The most useful phrase for anybody working on a film crew is the following: tengo hambre, quiero comer ahora! (I am hungry, I need to eat now!)

Mexico is an absolutely beautiful country. We spent the day riding into the mountains with traditional Mexican cowboys (vaquero in Spanish). It was absolutely mind blowing. Filming it was a bit of hassle as there was no power supply. The day ended when the batteries died, which I think we were all glad of as the past few days have gone on until after sunset (in Mexico that is 9pm). It’s quite nice to be back at the hotel, have a shower, chill out with a beer and have a look through the footage.

Two days ago we filmed Luke paragliding. It was a long day, but very satisfying. Especially when Luke screamed like a little girl and then promptly threw up over one of the best paraglide pilots in the world. I think he was slightly embarrassed. I managed to go up in the air myself and it was incredible. Seeing Mexico from such a height was a real privilege and I would like to thank Salvador for taking me up there.

On a final note the leader of the Mexican cowboys was called Lupe. He was one of your typical rock hard cowboys – the ones from films were they can open beer bottles just by looking at them. And he was called LUPE! So now I’m quite pleased to be called Lupe. I might even use it myself.
 

Mexico is one hot country. The sun has been relentless on this trip and I’m sure the crew and myself have all suffered from heatstroke at some point along the way. We’re all burnt to a cinder and the dark skin on my arms is beginning to peel away – I’m a bit afraid that it will all come off by the time I get back to the UK and I’ll be as white as a ghost.

Today is going to be another tough one. With only 24 hours left in Mexico we still have a lot to film (shots of Luke driving, introduction to the sanctuary and beautiful Mexican landscapes/hustle and bustle of the city). And that’s not to mention that a helicopter has arrived to get some aerial shots. Marc is running all over the place like a lunatic, Luke is feeling tired (although I’m sure he’ll deny this), Scott is fiddling with the camera and Julien (the Executive Producer) has arrived in the helicopter looking like a character from Miami Vice.
 

 
I haven’t written on the blog for a few days as we’ve been as busy as a bee in a greenhouse full of daisies. From the last time I wrote we’ve helped a poor farmer with starving cattle, thrown Luke in a well with leeches, drove 4 hours into the mountains to not film some bats (we did film some snakes though) and almost boil in the Mexican summer, and return the cat with the tumour to her owner.

Today was a tough one, but not in the way I expected. The helicopter delayed us all today and now we have to fit two days of filming into one… woopdeedoo…
 

This trip is nearly over and my last words must go to Agetha, Alberto, Pablo and Daniela (the family who are behind the sanctuary). They have been absolutely tremendous hosts: helping us as much as is humanly possible and being as friendly as Casper the ghost. It has been a wonderful trip and that is due in large part to their efforts. So I would like to say a big Mexican thank you. Mucho mucho gracias!