" Run Forest, Run! "

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  Chitwan, Nepal
Saturday, October 11, 2008

We take the worlds rattliest bus the 5 hours to Chitwan National Park. We are crammed in with our luggage and the three wide-boys that seem to come with the bus.  The roads are potholed and ensure that my fillings have been well and truly rattled. Never will I complain about the state of British roads. (Well, I say that now!).
Chitwan is fantastic. I won't bore you with my new found knowledge about 'riverine' forest and "sal" jungle or the fact that there are nine national parks in Nepal, of which the most famous is Chitwan.
D'oh!
I have started to bore you!
We arrive at the Royal Park Hotel. It is like a game-lodge, set in lush green vegetation. The rooms are chalets with ensuites. This travelling lark is alright!
We visit an Elephant Breeding Programme ran by the government. The treatment of these beautiful great animals leaves a bitter taste. We leave subdued.
The next day we start early, today is the start of our 2 day trek into the jungle. We start keen and clean. The leeches and tall elephant grass means this doesn't last long. We are soon looking like we need to be rescued!
The day heats up and the thick jungle closes in around us. This feels like a bad Carry On film. Carry On Up the Tourists!
Wait!
Quiet!
What was that?
We can hear something in the river!
We tiptoe as best we can to the river bank. Suzi manages to catch sight of the 2 ton male rhino that was bathing there. A deer sees us and bolts into the grass. This spooks the rhino. He runs along the river.
We lose sight of him, but the hunt is on. No guns here, just Sony Cybershots.
We crawl through the undergrowth, straining our eyes trying to make shapes out of the shadows.
There he is!
Wow!
A great animal moving slowly through the jungle, silently.
I fumble with my camera, a shaky video of trees and a grey object the proof that I have seen a wild rhino in Chitwan.
What's this though?
The guide runs past me as he shouts " RUN ".
The rhino has turned to face us, only 40 metres away. His eyes are watching us and that is all it takes for this prehistoric creature to scare the life out of the 7 of us. We run through the jungle, this is GREAT!.
We hide behind a large tree, probably not big enough for 7 tourists. We watch the rhino continue on his way. I swear I could hear him laughing! 
We walk in silence to our overnight camp on the riverbank. It's basic but is really in the middle of nowhere. The cold showers clean away the sweat and grime of the jungle. And the leech that had been happily munching away on my foot.
The sun sets over the jungle and we are in bed by 7.30! Not early enough to avoid the mozzies.

We start the morning with the walk back into the jungle. We've done rhino. Now we've got tiger, leopard and bear to see. No easy task for Suk, our guide.
We see nothing to rival the previous days hunt. We arrive at the Crocodile Breeding Programme with a hint of scepticism. These creatures are released into the wild, but the tigress in a cage will not be. She is beautiful beyond words, her captivity heartbreaking. This beast is truly the Queen of the Jungle.

A jeep ride back to the hotel proves that all of Nepals roads are free from tarmac!

I go to the river and play with the elephants. I return soaked but smiling.

We head out on an elephant safari, a typical tourist attraction. Within minutes we see rhino grazing. Then one becomes two, two becomes three, then four. These rhino aren't so special after all. When we have seen NINE, including babies we're a bit Rhinoed-out. 
Makes yesterday seem a bit hard work!

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