Chitwan National Park

After pre-booking a package tour (turns out much cheaper in low season) we headed to Chitwan via another dreaded bus journey. It only took 5 hours or so and was cnosiderably easier on the bum than the previous Sinauli – Pokhara bus. We're staying at the Gorkha Hamlet Resort in Sauraha right on the edge of the National Park. On the evening of the first day here, we went out for a jungle walk and, as luck would have it, saw our first One Horned Rhino which is extremely rare to see as they are so few. It was a great experience because there was the suspense the whole time due to the fact that there could e any number of dangerous creatures and animals around, hidden in the bushes and grassland. The next day we got up super early at 05:30 to be out for a jeep safari at 6. This started off badly as our jeep ran out of fuel halfway to the park, great! However it wasnt long before we were off again towards the jungle. We went along at a laisurely pace, giving us time to try and spot any wildlife that was lurking in the bushes/trees. First spotted were some Monkays, leaping around in the tree canopy above us. Then there was a few Eagles, which close up are absolutely massive, having a wingspan of around 2m. Deer were a common sight, spotted and brown, however the most interesting time was when we thought we saw a leopard stalking a group of deer, but after watching for a few minutes we realised the “leopard” would have attacked by then, so we moved on. Our guide stopped the jeep deep in the jungle for us to get out and go for a short walk across the river to the marshlands to see some Marsh Mugger Crocodiles, the most viscious crocs found in Nepal. We have to say, we were glad they were at least 50m away. Apart from these animals there were a range of birds from cuckatoo's to kingfishers, and a Wild Boar. We came back to the room, had a quick breakfast and headed out to the activity that both of us have most enjoyed (apart from Paragliding) so far. Elephant Bathing! Being able to sit bareback ontop of an elephant while it uses its trunk to spray you with water, and lies down sideways throwing you off its back so it can wallow underwater, was pretty special. Later on that afternoon we once again met with the eleahnts for an elephant safari, to roam through the jungle ontop of another elephant, trying to spot some more wildlife with our guide Jumangi, who pointed out the animals to us the most interesting being the feared and famous Jungle Chicken. The highlight of this ride came about an hour into the trip as we spotted two One Horned Rhinos, Mother and Baby, in the clearing ahead of us, Due to the fact that we were ontop of elephants, the Rhino's were not bothered by us and thus we could get really close, probably about 3m away at the closest point – Tim has video evidence. We then moved on through the forest to the end of the trip. That evening we went to see the Tharu tribe who live in the village nearby and performed a series of traditional stick-dances, including fire whirling, ladyboys, and stickfighting. This was pretty cool in itself but what made the night for us was the fact that they invited the audience to partake in the stckdance, and thus being us, we did! After a large cheer from the audience for volunteering we danced with the tribe, flapping our arms and legs looking like idiots, but who cares, you only live once. We also met a group of very friendly Danish people who are around our age and can speak English! The rest of the evening was spent getting to know them and their Danish ways of life.
Today we got up early again, and went off with the Danes for a canoe ride down the river to try and spot some crocs. We did, but it was a baby marsh mugger, however we knew its mother was around somewhere so it kept the suspence high! Although we didnt see any major wildlife we werent disheartened as we had seen most of it the day before and we were in good company. Due to the fact there are only two of us, our itinerary got swapped around a bit and we had nothing to do until 3, so we went and joined the Danes with the elephant bathing again, it was even more fun the second time around as we knew the elephants behaved and knew when we were going to be thrown in the water!!