Chitwan National Park

Sorry for the weird layout of the blog but for some reason I can't align things up. Enjoy anyways!

So a post that actually has some photos rather than YOU having to click on a link to see what we're doing on the opposite side of the globe (to see all of our pics from this trip click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq) haha!

It was another packed weekend trip with Nicole and our group where we made our way by tour bus to Chitwan National Park. The drive was along the same road as my crazy experience 3 weeks ago however this time we had our own vehicle and because of the holiday Tihar, the roads seemed empty! The park was dedicated as Nepal's first protected park in 1973 as many of the animals that survive here were or are on the verge of extintion. Since the program's inception more than 30 years ago, species of Tigers, Elephants, Crocodiles and Rhinos have begun to increase in population and show positive signs of growth because of the program. We stayed at the Jungle Adventure World, beside the river and beside the bar! The photo shows just how beautiful the views were at sunset and this was right outside our door. Nic and I lucked out and were able to have a small hut to ourselves making for a great weekend together. The price was right and the group was awesome!

The following day we set out on a jungle tour by foot looking for Rhinos and Tigers. Notta, zilch, zero! We did come across a group of monkeys, a tarantula and a few spotted deer. None-the-less, the walk was really cool because of the iminent dangers, we had to walk as quietly as possible and were direted by hand signals from our guide. It added a touch of realization to the walk and made for a very exciting 3 hours. Almost as soon as we arrived back to our resort, we were beckoned into the river with our guide for one of the coolest experiences I've ever had - elephant bathing! They had us climb onto these guys bareback and try to stay on for as long as possible. You get an idea of how tough it was with the four of us on this guy trying to stay on for as long as possible.

We went for lunch, had a few hours to relax then it was showtime once again. We got into groups of 4 and took off on a group elephant ride. We were about 8 feet up from the ground and on top of an elephant - who wouldn't make a face like Nic? About 30 minutes into the walk we came into a grassy meadow with at least 20 other elephants. To our surprise, there were 3 rhinos just kicking it, eating away at what was left of the tall grass. Cameras were flashing like crazy, people were making noise and there was a ton of chit chat, yet these rhinos didn't mind. We got lots of really cool photos with them - an NO, nobody got out of their elephant seats and walked around!

Once back at the resort, the sun was setting and made for an amazing sunset. Nic and I ran as fast as we could to get the million dollar picture but missed the sun over the horizon by two or three minutes. The photo we got is good but doesn't do what we saw justice.

On our final morning, our group went out on a canoe trip down the river and back to our village. As I mentioned before, crocodiles roam the waters yet are seldomly seen during the day. Coming off of a straight away section of the river and with a section of still water on one side, there it was - a salt water crocodile, a man eater, the big kahuna! It was poking its eyes out at us to see if we were tasty enough to take a run at. This time it wasn't the croc's day and it let us not only pass, but turn around and pass again with our cameras perched snapping away!! I've seen crocs before in Mexico but this was pretty cool knowing that this species of croc is one of the largest in the world!

So that's it for Chitwan. The trip was a ton of fun and our guide made for an awesome trip. I would recommend this part of Nepal to everyone who comes to this country as it's now marked as one of my favourite places travelled!!