Now that's what I'm talkin about!

  Chitwan, the land of rhinos and crocodiles, now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Our bus ride from Kathmandu was short and sweet compared to our last trip, the jeep ride from Salleri. The only part I was dreading was our arrival at the Sauraha bus park, where I knew we’d be swarmed by the dreaded hotel touts. It was bad the last time I was here, and I expected the worst. These guys are too much! They swarm you as soon as you step off the bus, all competing for your attention and rupees. They know that most people will book their excursions to the park at whichever hotel they end up staying at, so there is a lot of pressure to reel in the tourists and the income each one represents. They attempt to lure you into their jeeps with whatever they think you want, expert guides, riverfront viewing areas, or even just a hot shower. We jumped into a jeep that already had two girls going close to the place we wanted to go. We looked at the rooms at Hotel Butterfly, and they looked pretty decent for 300 rupees. Three beds, hot shower, 24 hour lights, and a flush toilet, what else can you want for $3.50? Raven wanted to stay at the place we’d read about in the guidebook, though, so we carried on to Chilax Guesthouse 100 meters down the dirt track. On our way, we saw the horse stable slash guesthouse we had been trying to keep a secret. It was expensive to stay at, but we had planned on bribing Raven with a ride on one of their thoroughbreds in exchange for a full day of walking in the park, looking for the rare one-horned rhinos and possibly even a tiger. Chilax was full, so the owner took us next door, to a place similar to the Butterfly, but twice the price. We went back, and it all worked out perfectly. The restaurant was good, if a little pricey, and their resident guide, Nabin, was just great. We had a late lunch, and then he invited us on an evening walk to the elephant stables and the river. The park rangers use the elephants to track rhino and tiger populations, search for poachers, and for the occasional rescue. The river is the park boundary, but the animals don’t care, so you have an excellent chance of spotting wildlife without paying the 1500 rupee daily entry fee. Sure enough, within hours of our arrival, we’d spotted our first rhino, then a marsh mugger crocodile. Nabin has amazing eyes for picking out deer and birds in the tall grass, and his excitement is contagious. It’s hard to be too excited about deer, after chasing them out of our garden, but there are five different types here, from the small barking deer to the huge sambar, almost moose sized deer. As it got dark, we headed back to the hotel, elated and very glad to be out of the city. Just after getting back, the sky lit up with two bursts of white light, and I heard a distant explosion, then the lights went out. There is a lot of electric fencing to keep the wandering wildlife away from the village, and a power surge had blown the transformer down the road! The hotel manager/owner pointed out the tree near the office that had been knocked down by a wild elephant two weeks ago, and advised us not to go out walking after dark, but in consolation, he also let us know that rhinos love to graze in the field next door.

  The next morning we walked the 3.5 kms to the elephant breeding center. This is where most of the animals used for tourist rides are raised and trained. The only known surviving twin elephants were born here, and are now five years old. Raven wanted to catch a pony cart back into town, but the only two carts were waiting for their passengers to return. We were going to have a snack at the overpriced food hut when a jeep driver offered us a ride, as he was returning to town with enough room for us to jump in. Very nice. We passed several elephants returning from dawn excursions, on their way to ‘bath time’. We had a tasty, cheap breakfast at a tiny café and watched more and more elephants lumbering down towards the river, before joining them for the spectacle. For 100 rupees, swim-suit clad tourists jump up on the back of one of the waiting giants, get sprayed repeatedly, and eventually dumped off into the river. It looked like a blast, and an inexpensive way to experience a close encounter with an elephant. The hour long safari rides are actually pretty uncomfortable. Pacaderms have a rolling, heaving gait, and with four people on a small platform, the novelty wears off quickly. We decided to join in after our full day walking safari in the park. After lunch we made our way to the horse stables for an afternoon rendezvous. Raven was excited, but a little worried about  trail riding, so we arranged for the owner\guide, a quirky French woman, to start with an easy walk around the guesthouse. All was well, so off they went to explore rural Nepal on horseback. My baby’s all grown up!

  On our second morning, we had an early breakfast before loading into a dugout canoe for a downstream paddle in the heavy fog. Visibility was limited, but we saw a few of the many species of birds; kingfishers, storks, cormorants, and Siberian ducks. After about an hour, we disembarked on the far bank, in the park for the first time. The shore was covered in animal tracks, and we went through the safety procedures for dealing with the different dangerous animals we were likely to encounter, ranging from climbing a tree, running zig zag, or just praying. Rhinos and wild elephants can run faster than humans, sloth bears can run and climb better than us; tigers are obviously the dominant predator. Su and Raven were getting wide-eyed and nervous looking at this point, and then we started off into the tall grass and dense forest. We happened to be a few weeks early for the best conditions, because the villagers burn off the 5-6 meter tall grass in late January, improving visibility immensely. It certainly increases the tension, a feeling of ‘hunting’, as we followed animal tracks and examined assorted the scat. There had been recent wild elephant and sloth bear sightings, and the near-sighted rhinos always pose a threat, so we tip-toed along, constantly scanning for animals, straining to hear movement in the brush. Nabin’s keen eyesight spotted deer and more birds as we made our way to a small tributary stream, where a ghardial crocodile was basking on the opposite bank. These reptiles grow to 5 meters, but their long, thin snouts are designed for catching fish, so aren’t particularly dangerous. Nabin left us to take pictures while he scouted the area, returning after a few minutes declaring in a hushed yet excited whisper “Rhino. Come.” We followed him to an open area with patches of elephant grass, and crept up very close to a grazing one-horned rhinoceros. Then grass was tall and dense where it hadn’t been trampled, so I hunched down and inched forward, popping up occasionally to snap photos. Every now and then it would stop chewing, lift its head and swivel its ears, scanning for intruders. Their poor eyesight is compensated for with a keen sense of smell and excellent hearing, and they will charge with little provocation. It seemed to be getting more agitated, eating less and listening more, so we moved away, back to the crocodile infested creek.

 Just downstream, we spotted our second marsh mugger croc, barely visible in the murky water. Shortly after, we heard a loud splash as a group of macaques leapt from high up in a tree, across the river, not quite making the far bank, and landed, one by one, in the shallow water. I took some video as 10-12 monkeys made the impressive leap.

  We returned to the main river as the day warmed up, spotting some baby crocs lounging in the sun, and more deer in the distance. It was lunch time before we knew it, so we found some shade and had a rest, enjoying fried rice and hard boiled eggs. The afternoon was much quieter, as most animals rest in the shade, waiting until sunset to drink, forage and hunt. Nabin spotted some impressive and rare Great Hornbills, so we followed them through the forest, eventually catching them sitting still for a photo op. As the adrenaline of the morning wore off, and the kms started to add up, we were dragging our feet more and more. Then the whining started…We stopped for another rest at a viewing platform, and watched the start of the burn off, flames dancing and crackling in the distance. After the grass is gone, exposing many ponds and watering holes, it’s possible to see 20-30 rhinos at a time from the platform. We still had a couple hours before sunset, but Raven continued with her whining and moaning, so we didn’t go to the lake Nabin was planning on showing us. Looping back to the main river near town, we spotted a large crocodile lying motionless with its jaws wide open, like it was hoping some prey might just wander in, then another rhino in the distance, across the river. We had been walking for at least six hours, probably 20 kms or so, and were all tired, cursing our inactive routine in Kathmandu. Raven headed straight back to the hotel with Nabin, while Su and I carried on with the assistant guide, hoping in vain for another close encounter with the rhino. It was nearly dark as we shuffled back to Hotel Butterfly for some tasty pizza and momos.

  We’d had such a good time, and spent less than we thought we might, so decided to splurge on a night in an observation tower inside the park, before catching a bus to Lumbini. You can use your entry permit from the day before, so it’s a good value if you leave in time for an evening walk. We had a lazy morning, before going out for breakfast and suiting up for bath time. Raven and I went first, while Su took pictures and video of us getting soaked with the firehouse of a trunk, and getting shaken off into the river. It’s a long way down from the back of an elephant, and after two rounds of dunking, Raven was done. Su didn’t want to go alone, so I went for a second round. The water was pretty warm, originating in the foothills, not freezing glacier melt. Su was quite surprised at how high we were, and was having doubts as soon as we mounted the beast. She was content with a single soaking, so we retreated to the hotel to take advantage of the nice hot showers, since the power was back on. A Canadian girl from Ontario and her Nepalese husband joined us for the night in the tower, and we left by jeep after charging up all our batteries for headlamps and cameras. We passed through a small village of mud huts, the traditional Tharu abode, protected by double rows of electric fencing, crossed the only bridge into the park, and drove through an elephant sized gate. As soon as we got to the tower, we spotted a rhino in a nice open area, about 150 meters from the tower. As we walked quietly along the path towards it, we could see another, much larger rhino just inside the tree line. They were fairly active, walking along in search of ‘rhino apple’ bushes and sweet grass. Because of the lack of tall grass, I got some great pictures and video of these rare creatures. Chitwan has 30% of the total global population, and even though poaching during the Maoist uprising a few years ago reduced their numbers, the population is once again on the rise.

Nabin tried to call to the rhinos, but instead of coming closer, they turned and disappeared into the trees. Sheepishly, he said “Hmmm. They must both be females. I was making a male rhino call!” Raven was still tired from the double whammy of horseback riding and our long walk, and she refused to walk any further. We set her up in the tower with some schoolwork, and went looking for more wildlife. Adrian and her husband are avid birdwatchers, so we spotted many more birds and three more types of deer, but I was still hoping to see a tiger. As the sun set, it was hard to make out anything, even with Nabin’s practiced eyes. We made our way back and pulled our beds out onto the balcony, eager to listen for approaching animals. An overly confident guide had been eaten right in front of the tower a couple of weeks ago, and two nights ago a tiger had dragged a man out of his hut, but he survived. Unfortunately, the night vision binoculars that the hotel had promised weren’t working, and the fog rolled in early, reducing visibility to next to zero. I would drift off to sleep, and then wake with a start as I heard movement below the tower, but couldn’t see a thing. At one point, I woke up and was sure there was an elephant or rhino right below, so I woke Su and Raven. Tired eyes started picking out phantom animals in the mist, none of which were actually there. It was a fun night regardless, and in the morning we drove away smiling as more deer bounded off the road in front of us and into the fog, ready for one last, tasty breakfast back at the hotel, before they drove us to the bus park. Sauraha had been a pleasant surprise. It wasn’t nearly as developed as I had expected it to have become. There are a few more hotels, guesthouses, and rooftop restaurants, but it is still a quiet little spot surrounded by a diverse and thriving ecosystem. Their livelihoods depend on the 1000 square km park, so conservation and protection are very much a priority, and it shows. I actually saw more wildlife this time than I had in 1997, and that is very encouraging. Off to Lumbini, for three nights in the Korean Monastery. At 300 rupees per night for a dorm room and three simple meals, you could live there for an entire year on less than $1500. Maybe one day…