Chitwan National Park
Trip Start
Mar 22, 2008
1
7
75
Trip End
Oct 05, 2009
Pokhara,
Nepal
Saturday, May 17, 2008
On our first evening in Sauraha we rented bikes and cycled out to the elephant breeding centre. Got up close to all the mother and baby elephants. Got to feed a baby elephant that was only 4 days old. She took a shine to the pineapple biscuits that I'd brought along and had no time for the plain digestives that Lydia and Karl had!
Next day we hit the park itself bright and early. First up we took the most rickety canoe ever up the river and deep into the park
Mother & baby elephant
. This was a harrowing experience for all involved as this boat was the shakiest thing I've ever been on. A sudden movement from anyone on board had the boat rattling back and forth. How the boat did not capsize I still don't know. Under normal circumstances getting tipped into a river would not be that bad but given the fact that we had spotted "marsh mugger" crocodiles floating only metres away on a number of occasions then you can understand my concern.Our 2 hour ordeal on the canoe came to an end when we pulled into a bank on the river to begin a jungle trek. Our 2 guides gave us a talk on what to do for a rhino charge or a bear attack. I was just working out my own tactics in my head when a huge roar echoed out close by. I was sure it was a rhino and began to look for a tree to climb. As it turned out if was a black bear who we had obviously disturbed. He ran by us at great speed only a few metres away, shouting and roaring as he went. That got the pulses racing. Saw a wild boar and another black bear on the trek as well as fresh tiger prints and urine but no actual tiger! As we walked through the tall grass I kept expecting to come across a rhino grazing or sleeping but it didn't happen on this occasion which was probably a good thing as all our guides were armed with were long sticks.
In the afternoon we took a jeep safari deep into the park
Feeding time
. Got to see a few rhinos up close and personal. We woke one huge guy up. He was none too impressed and took a few steps towards the jeep as if he was about to charge. The driver edged the jeep away cautiously and a confrontation was avoided. Called into the crocodile breeding centre to check out all the baby crocs. Also saw the man eating tigress that the park has had to begrudgingly keep in a pen as it was responsible for the deaths of 3 children a number of years ago. On our way back we spotted a cute monkey in a tree so we stopped the jeep. The monkey jumped to a branch directly above the jeep and proceeded to piss and then shit on the jeep. Nice. I managed to avoid any projectiles but an Indian couple who were on the jeep with us were not as fortunate.Next day we took a trip on top of an elephant into the jungle. Got to see a few different groups of rhinos on the trek including a mother and baby rhino. Apparently the rhinos don't feel threatened by the elephants so we were able to get up really close.
The time came to say goodbye to Karl and Lydia as they are going to Kathmandu and I'm going back to Pokhara before moving on to India. Had a great laugh with the 2 of then over the last few weeks. We'll meet up again in Australia
