Joe's Journal: Summer in Bhutan

Summer in Samey... It's always pretty foggy!

Hi friends (both the feathered and not-so feathered ones)!

I'm sorry I haven't written in such a long time. It's been very difficult for me to fly anywhere lately, and I've been having a tough time getting on to the internet. Let me explain why!

Summer arrived in Bhutan, the Kingdom Of The Thunder Dragon, in June. Normally I love summer! All my birdie friends are out and about, singing in the trees and having fun in the sun. I bet you like it too! No school to go to... Sunshine... Ice-creams... Beaches... Well, in Bhutan it's a little bit different!

For starters, children in Bhutan still come to school in July and August. There is a two-week break at the start of July but that is it. At least I got to spend more time in the classroom learning about Bhutan. In Class 3 we've even been reading a book called Some Birds of Bhutan! Not much about crows in there though...

Secondly, and worst of all, summer in Bhutan is really the monsoon season. The 'monsoon' basically means the rainy season. Yep, it rains a lot in Bhutan during the summer. Even more than in England! The rain is extremely heavy at times too. Some of the children have to walk for a long time in the rain to get to school. Some days they turn up for their morning study soaking wet, with no dry clothes to change into. I feel very sorry for them on those days. I hate having wet feathers.

The rain causes more problems than just wet clothes though. Because the rains can be so heavy, or last for days at a time, they cause landslides as well. A landslide is when lots and lots of soil or rocks slide down the side of mountain or cliff. The rain makes the soil loose and heavy, causing it to slide down. This can be very dangerous and people can be killed by the falling rocks and mud. Luckily I haven't heard of any injuries in this part of Bhutan this year. However, Mr MacInnes has been stuck on the road a couple of times because it was blocked by big rocks!

On the right are some photos of the children of Samey Primary School helping to repair our road after the rain washed away lots of soil. There were big holes so no cars could get up!

So that's why I haven't been flying about and able to write my blog posts lately. Also, there's quite a lot of mosquitoes out there in the rain... I'm not a big fan of those little biters!

Don't worry though. Bhutan is very different from October - March, and there is hardly any rain at all. Then the land and the grass get very dry and there is a lot of sunshine. If you ever want to come to Bhutan, September and October are the best months, then February - April time. Then you'll avoid the wet summer season, and the veeeeery cold winter season!

Have a look at the photos below comparing the dry and wet seasons.