Riding in Style...Elephant Style

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OK, so we arrived feeling quite spent, and I'm probably not the right person to write this entry, but I'll do my best. Even prior to the food poisoning incident, I was feeling a bit under the weather. After being up all night and following a four hour car ride, I was downright exhausted. I decided that the best course of action was to skip lunch, skip dinner, skip the movie, and skip anything else that didn't involve looking for 1) mammals in the jungle or 2) birds in the jungle. That just left the driving safari in the afternoon, which I managed to make it though. I was sort of able to enjoy it, especially when we saw two species of Hornbill, which look kind of like a toucan with a shoe glued on top. After that, I recall having someone bring me a Sprite and some fruit, along with some untouched other stuff, and then I pretty much slept the next 12 hours.

Fortunately, I slept well. Otherwise, it would have been a long ride on the elephant at 6 am! Yes, most of the safari tours here at Royal Chitwan Jungle Lodge are conducted on the back of the second largest land mammal, behind the African version. It's a good "bird's eye" view, but our first safari really only had views of birds. Now, peacocks in the wild are great, but the the real sights in Chitwan are the One-horned Asian Rhinoceros and the Tiger, though the second takes a great deal of luck. We did see a few deer, and the park is quite interesting in the morning, partially due to the poor air quality due to burning vegetation. Makes for a great sunrise! Next up was breakfast, which was fine as long as I didn't eat anything. We both kind of picked at our food like five year olds, then pushed it away. Nothing turns you off food quite like seeing it a second time. Anyway, we took a nature walk and Sara found her perfect guide, Harka. The nature walk was really supposed to be more about plants, but those were a bit too easy for Harka and instead we kind of monopolized his time by having him point out bird species. We were racking them up left and right, and at the lagoon near camp added quite a few more, though everyone seemed to enjoy this part as there were crocodiles (the local name being Marsh Muggers) nearby watching our birds. It was quite enjoyable. Lunch less so (only from our weak stomachs), but meals were not the reason for our visit. After lunch, we had what Sara probably thought was the most fun, single event of the trip: elephant bathing! They stuck you on a four year old elephant while, contrary to what I had in my mind's eye, the elephant bathes YOU by spraying you with his trunk. We both gave it a try, with Sara attempting to command the elephant herself, with no luck. Then you go the more traditional route and bath one of the 40+ year old elephants, similar to those we ride on. For our last trip of the day, we mounted our trusty sidekicks once again and, once again, struck out on the rhinos. We saw quite a few deer, but did not come across any of the "goal" animals (rhinos, tigers, sloth bear, leopards). Still, how often do you get to ride on an elephant? We were beginning to think that might be the highlight of the trip, though we were already closing in on 100 bird species and hoping we might push over 1000 for our lifetime this trip! Dinner, as usual, was a drab affair as food was still not appealing, though we managed to at least hold down conversation, if not food, with a couple of guys from Edmonton.

The morning didn't hold much promise, as "bird-watching" seems a like a poor tour for rhino spotting. Sara and I were in our element, however, ticking on several more species, especially the more difficult to see ground birds. No one else could see them, as they lacked binoculars, but we were enjoying it. Anyway, we got back around to the lagoon and, what do you know, there was rhino less than 100 feet away! Fortunately, their eyesight is less than stellar, and he seemed completely unaware that we were nearby. We held still, took lots and pictures, and waited for his to drift off into the brush. Really amazing to be that close to a two ton animal that could trample you, though we could see the value is sighting them from the back of an even bigger animal rather than just our guide, the two of us, and our two Canadian friends. Our friends from Edmonton were ecstatic, as it was their last chance to see one. We, on the other hand, were off, according to the board, to do a V/V, which turned off to be a village visit. I always feel a little uncomfortable about this part, as I kind of put myself in the local's shoes and think, "I really wouldn't want anyone gawking at me like that, would I?" No, I would not. But we had Harka with us, and spent most of the time looking for the birds that live in developed areas. It was interesting to see their farming techniques, as everything is done by hand, and the kids were a little more open to our visit, even if "money" and "candy" seemed to be their main interest. Lunch was, well, a dull affair, though some of my appetite was coming back, and we were both a little tired, so we skipped a second day of elephant bathing and decide to take another nap. After the nap, we were rested for a final elephant trip and right off the bat saw a rhinoceros, much older and smaller than the previous, but were able to get very close thanks to the safety of the elephant. Amazing. After a light dinner (man, they are getting off easy with our food budget!), we took a spin around the grounds looking for night creatures and saw quite a few wild boar nearby as well as hearing a civet cat, but were unable to locate any night birds. Other than a creeping cold or allergy I seem to have, it was a great day.

Since we had to leave early in the morning, we woke early to pack, then realized it was only 3:30 am and went back to bed. At 6:15am, we went on our last bird hike and finally got our Jungle Owlet, which our guide had hoped to show us, and saw the Gray-Capped Prinia, which only lives in and around Chitwan. A few last peacocks, and it was time to head back. Our driver had called to let the manager know that he was stuck in a traffic accident, which are all too common in Nepal, so the lodge driver took us to meet him a little further along the road. After yet another hair raising drive, our Nepali driving experience was complete. I don't know if we missed them all due to illness, but there seemed to be exponentially more accidents on the way back. Nepal traffic rules are more or less nonexistent, so it's no surprise that there are so many accidents. Nepal has one of the highest rates of highway fatalities in the world, so we were glad that our driver was quite cautious; it prevented me from having to point it out. Anyway, we made it back safely (if not quite yet sound), and are preparing for our flight tomorrow with light meals and internet. Tomorrow, Singapore, then on Sunday back to SFO and home! Until then, signing off (or, as they would say here, Namaste!).

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