Travel

[Alter Ego]

A few more things seen my first night.

They were taking photos of my rhinos.  Spent a couple minutes and moved on.  This is what I mean about having a more intimate experience - I was on the ground with them, spending 30/40 minutes with amazing, rare creatures!

It always amuses me when I see something like this in the wild!  I just think they are too pretty for the wild!!

Example of dinner.  Has anyone ever heard of olives on mashed potatoes?

The food was all good, but it was better with more variety at the next camp.

[Alter Ego]

I went on another elephant walk the next morning, but didn’t run into any rhinos today.

My new bodyguards:

It was fun just to watch these girls eat.  They pretty much ate nonstop!  They would keep grabbing grass until they had a big bunch before they ate it.  They would also pull down large branches and eat the leaves.  When one dropped the empty branch on the path, her handler made her pick it up and move it!

Ouch (remember this for a subsequent post.)

Leopard track

My guide “spotted” him,

But they soon spotted me. (Spotted deer - which I think is the impala of Nepal.)

Of course, rhesus macaque

[Alter Ego]

After my walk, I went to the Elephant Camp to make kuchis for the elephants.

I can’t recall how many elephants they have - 11? maybe.  They are kept together based on who they get along with.  Usually 2 together, but there was also a group of three.  All girls.  I wish I could post a video - there was one 17 year old who kept dancing! Seriously, it looked like she was listening to her own headphones.  Most of the other elephants were in their 40’s.

The elephants live in corrals with electric fences, but are otherwise free to roam.  Some other lodges keep their elephants chained.

It was fun to feed the elephants their kuchi treats.  One kept trying to eat all of them! I also got to get my picture with one of them.  When I saw her later, I swear she recognized me!!

They also have their organic farm nearby.  

[Alter Ego]

I was leeched!!

After the elephant camp, it was lunch.  New guests were there and one gentleman commented on how he and his wife needed to pick off leeches when they were in Pokhara. I actually had a leech on me before in Borneo  - but I was prepared for it and was wearing leech socks.  But, I honestly didn’t think about them here - was not mentioned in the TripAdvisor forums!

So, thankfully because we just talked about them, I wasn’t too upset when I unzipped the bottom off my convertible pants.  There was a bloody mess!! 

And I knew when it happened too!  When we were walking, I felt a bite, but I was wearing long pants with gym shoes and heavy socks.  So, I figured it was nothing - especially when it didn’t hurt anymore.

Sigh.  

[Alter Ego]

Of course, I took a photo.  Do NOT open if blood bothers you.

Spoiler

Hopefully, QVC Hosts will only delete this post and not lock me out if this is deemed too inappropriate!!

To say I was surprised would be an understatement!! 

[Alter Ego]

I went on an sundowner elephant walk that afternoon.  The highlight was to see the elephants bathe.

We walked to the river.  This area is technically outside of the national park - you may notice a fence in the photo above.  Saw many villagers with their cows, goats and oxen.

Watched several villagers fishing nearby.

But, the main event was the elephants.  Again, wish I could post video.  It was the 17 year old again - rolling around in the water and frankly just loving life!!

[Alter Ego]

The next day was my first Jeep Safari in Chitwan.  Technically, my previous walks were only in the buffer zone around the park.  This was one of the tours I needed to pay for.

Again, we needed to take a car to our starting point.  In this case, we were dropped off by the river, which we needed to cross to get to our safari jeep.

A safari here (or in India) is different than Africa.  There’s just not the amount and diversity of fauna as you get in Africa.  There’s a lot of looking...

 

 Nothing here...

 

 Did see some rhinos from afar

 This was a pretty area

A little close up

And we were fortunate to find a marsh mugger in the water here.

[Alter Ego]

But mostly, we drove around and I took photos of the interesting flora.

We did see more spotted deer

A wild rooster

And langur monkeys

[Alter Ego]

My final excursion was a river cruise (also needed to pay for)  We drove a little farther downstream to get our boat.

We drove through open fields

We stopped at a lookout and were blessed with another beautiful one-horned rhino. 

 

Finally, the boat ride

 

Gharial crocodiles

We ended up back by the elephants to watch a different set of beauties get their bath.

[Alter Ego]

A few photos from around camp before I leave Chitwan.

This is probably the prettiest insect I’ve ever seen.  No idea what it is!

Pretty good camouflage!

I realized on my last day that I never took a photo of the main lodge/dining area.  Unfortunately, when I was going to take a photo, there was someone on their phone in my shot!!  Considering this person just got back from 60 (90?) days doing research in Cambodia, I didn’t want to be rude and have her get off the phone!! So, missing a photo.