Chit
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| Man-eating crocodiles patrolled the river, which was less than two feet deep! |
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| Dirt bath |
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| Our park guide |
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| Christina was not smiling when this baby elephant wrapped its trunk around her hair and PULLED! |
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| Rhinoceros skull |
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| And from a distance we were comfortable with: the one horned rhinoceros |
Chitwan National Park showcases south-central Nepal, a world removed from the icefalls and peaks of the north. For years Chitwan served as a favorite hunting ground of Nepali aristocrats, and a review of the fauna explains why: Bengal tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, marbled cat, sloth bear, jackal, mongoose, fox, hyena, gaur, boar, barking deer, antelope, langur, elephant, over 500 species of bird, and the headliner, the one horned rhinoceros.
I was beyond finished with jungles, to be honest. But Christina heard a rumor: in Chitwan you can ride an elephant, which masks your human stench, through the park while searching for wild rhinoceros. The crazed look in her eye when she yelled "MOTHERFUCKIN' RHINOS, PETER!" while she formed a rhino horn with her hand, charging at me with great force, all in a mosque no less, told me that we were not leaving Nepal before visiting Chitwan.
Riding an elephant is as uncomfortable as it is fun. Each elephant is driven by a lifelong personal mahout that pushes his feet into his elephant's ears, differing strokes issuing complex commands. We sat farther back in a wooden basket, rocking with each lumbering step, brushing off the frightful spiders caught from their web by our faces. We did not see any rhinoceros on our elephant safaris, which was unfortunate. We did spot families of horned deer, crocodiles, and off in the distance, Christina confirms, a leopard perched high in a tree.
Chitwan elephants labor hard, but only for a few hours each day. After the day's safari each elephant is given a bath in the river and ample time to graze. We were permitted to help bathe the elephants. Perched high on the elephant's naked back, feeling its thick spine riding between my legs, we were cooled by blasts of water sprayed from the elephant's trunk to its backside, which had been baking in the southern sun all morning. Either by its own will or by a sneaky mahout's command, the elephant dropped us (gently) from its back and into a deep pool of water. Feeling that your elephant is "going down" is a full-body panic that I hope to never re-experience. We climbed back on, no easy task, and continued the bath. It was a total delight
But we did not want to go on our jungle walk. Rhinos may be vegetarian grazers, but they don't like humans. If a rhino smells a human nearby, it charges. And if it charges you need to climb a tree, and climb it fast. I couldn't climb a tree even as a boy. Yet we were being led into the jungle to look for rhinos! We planned to tell our guides that we wanted to skip the hike, but some schedule confusion put us a lengthy boat ride away from our home, and the jungle walk was our ticket back. In retrospect, this was a turn of luck, allowing us our sole rhino sighting of the trip. Safely on the other side of the river, we admired the other-worldly rhinoceros sleeping, grazing, being stood and pooped on by crows, and eventually coming to attention at the scent of three nearby hikers. Finally spotting the rhino in dangerous proximity, the group's guide grabbed his clients' shirts and dragged them as he sprinted safely away.
I was beyond finished with jungles, to be honest. But Christina heard a rumor: in Chitwan you can ride an elephant, which masks your human stench, through the park while searching for wild rhinoceros. The crazed look in her eye when she yelled "MOTHERFUCKIN' RHINOS, PETER!" while she formed a rhino horn with her hand, charging at me with great force, all in a mosque no less, told me that we were not leaving Nepal before visiting Chitwan.
Riding an elephant is as uncomfortable as it is fun. Each elephant is driven by a lifelong personal mahout that pushes his feet into his elephant's ears, differing strokes issuing complex commands. We sat farther back in a wooden basket, rocking with each lumbering step, brushing off the frightful spiders caught from their web by our faces. We did not see any rhinoceros on our elephant safaris, which was unfortunate. We did spot families of horned deer, crocodiles, and off in the distance, Christina confirms, a leopard perched high in a tree.
Chitwan elephants labor hard, but only for a few hours each day. After the day's safari each elephant is given a bath in the river and ample time to graze. We were permitted to help bathe the elephants. Perched high on the elephant's naked back, feeling its thick spine riding between my legs, we were cooled by blasts of water sprayed from the elephant's trunk to its backside, which had been baking in the southern sun all morning. Either by its own will or by a sneaky mahout's command, the elephant dropped us (gently) from its back and into a deep pool of water. Feeling that your elephant is "going down" is a full-body panic that I hope to never re-experience. We climbed back on, no easy task, and continued the bath. It was a total delight
But we did not want to go on our jungle walk. Rhinos may be vegetarian grazers, but they don't like humans. If a rhino smells a human nearby, it charges. And if it charges you need to climb a tree, and climb it fast. I couldn't climb a tree even as a boy. Yet we were being led into the jungle to look for rhinos! We planned to tell our guides that we wanted to skip the hike, but some schedule confusion put us a lengthy boat ride away from our home, and the jungle walk was our ticket back. In retrospect, this was a turn of luck, allowing us our sole rhino sighting of the trip. Safely on the other side of the river, we admired the other-worldly rhinoceros sleeping, grazing, being stood and pooped on by crows, and eventually coming to attention at the scent of three nearby hikers. Finally spotting the rhino in dangerous proximity, the group's guide grabbed his clients' shirts and dragged them as he sprinted safely away.
Elephants!!!!!!!!!!! So so jealous!
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