Bardia National Park

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Tuesday - March 29
It's wake-up at 6 am, breakfast at 6:30, off to the jungle at 7. I find I will have 2 guides, Sundar and Padam. I think I get 2 because I expressed an interest in birdwatching and Padam is the native expert. As we walk to the park entrance which is quite a walk, we pass through several communities and many empty resorts. I am the current show on the road since there are not that many tourists here right now. Little kids yell "Bye-bye-hello" and wave. Once we are inside the park, I get the Safety Talk, here's the short version : zig-zag to get away from a charging rhino, as a last resort stand behind a big tree; be very still when the elephant charges; climb to the top of a very high tree to escape the charging tiger; the Tharu medicine man will suck out the venom if you get bit by a poisonous snake. Feeling fully confident now, we charge into the jungle. I have been repeatedly advised it is very difficult to see tiger, so don't count on it. The driver had informed me that 5 guests had very close looks at a tiger the previous week, so I'm a little hopeful, but don't want to jinx it. I am told this is the best time of year to see a tiger, as it is dry and the tiger and other large animals must come to the river to drink. I am quickly impressed by Padam's guide skills. He recognizes birds and other animals by sound and his ability to read those sounds will serve us well later. In any event I am in heaven - I love long walks in the woods with two young guys, especially in foreign countries where one might be eaten by a tiger. We head for the Karnali River, spotting birds and deer along the way, then settle in at a good observation point on a high bank where we are half hidden by bushes. We wait and look. Another guide and his client, a young Aussie, join us for a while then leave. We wait and look. The two return, having seen a tiger. What show-offs. The Aussie has photos! The game is on! We have lunch. I look up from my huge lunch and see a huge black shadow downriver. "I think it's a rhino." The rare and endangered Greater One-Horn Rhinoceros heads into the river, then stops for awhile to cool off before heading into the bushes. But we still need to see that darned tiger. Sundar and Padam decide we will try another sport across the river. We set off and sit and look. Then Padam perks up - across the river the deer are barking an alarm. This is followed by a monkey alarm. Turns out it is the tiger alarm! He and Sundar are really excited, so I know this is big stuff. We watch the entire expanse of the opposite bank that is in our view because no one knows exactly where the tiger will appear (if it does). Then it appears a little upriver and heads into the water - heading over to our side! We have to make sure we're behind cover and quiet. It almost reaches the river's edge when it sits down in the water, facing us. We have a 20 minute view of this tiger, as it cools off and drinks. Finally, it notices us and runs up the bank and into the forest. Padam is grinning from ear to ear and says, "We all feel different after we see tiger!" Sundar reminds me how incredibly lucky I am. He grabs my camera so I can continue to watch the tiger. No one can stop smiling. It's a great day. But wait, if you act now we'll throw in another Greater One-horn Rhinoceros! We head back and run into the other guide and the Aussie who are sitting down on the path looking westward. There it is - bathing in the river. Just shoot me. I need to buy a Mega-Millions lottery ticket right now! What more can I add about Tuesday? Oh, another guest has arrived, Sonja, from the Netherlands, who is on a huge 3-month solo Asian trip. She did the Annapurna and Kathmandu Valley treks and will head for China next.

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