Chitwan National Park is somewhere I wouldn't have at first associated with Nepal. Tigers, rhino, elephants and jungle didn't fit into my imagination when I pictured the far off Himalaya towering above ancient temples and cold, clear lakes. But here it is, and a great surprise it is too.Nepal is in fact is only 27% Himalaya. The majority of the landscape is hilly (very big hills mind, that would be mountains anywhere else!) and some 23% is plains. Covered with a mix of grassland savannah and jungle forest, Chitwan is in South-Central (Nepal, Dave, not L.A.) and is around a thousand square kilometres in size. We were based just outside the park in the town of Sauraha, which is comprised of lots of lodges with names loosely based around the theme of safari, trek or jungle. We were staying in the Rainbow Safari Lodge, just a short walk from the river that marks the park's northen boundary.
We had at first booked a 2 night, 3 day package (in Sunauli on the Nepali border) which included various activities. We decided to delay this for one day to catch up on some sleep after our journey. By 2pm on the first day we were tucked up in bed. We slept through til the next morning, only waking once briefly to hear the local villagers' welcome song and dance from the comfort of our pillows. "That sounds good", we both thought, before slipping back to snoring along to the drumbeat. (please be aware that Andrew was the one snoring, not me!- Sarah)
The next day, feeling fully rested we went for a wander around the village. Our first impressions of Nepalis were that they are very friendly and polite people - We have noticed that the Nepalese people don't stare anywhere near as much as their Indian counterparts (especially those in Mumbai). The lack of hassle and touts meant Sauraha had a much more peaceful vibe than anywhere we have visited in India. Away from the main tourist strip, lots of farming villagers were going about there daily routines. It must have been Nepal's springtime, because as we walked around each turn we saw newborn calves, chicks and kids. Along side the huts, elephants were being fed by their mahoots and buffalo were idling along the road, lazily flicking at flies with their tails.
In the afternoon we went for a tour around the Government Elephant Breeding Centre. Seeing the elephants was a bit of a shock as they were chained up and some were unable to move (apparently for their own good) for eighteen hours a day. Unsurprisingly, these elephants looked more than a little bit mental, rocking back and forth on the spot - I hoped that our lodge elephants were treated better and this made me think twice about going on our elephant safari later on in the week. In the end I figured if an elephant didn't want me on its back it would let me know. leaving the centre, we went to watch the sunset by the riverbank.
During our 5 day stay in Rainbow Lodge we met some great people. Two nurses from Melbourne called Nat and Emma, mother and son Karin and Ole from Germany and Ben, from Amsterdam. Ben kept us all entertained by winding up the already uptight park ranger. " Looking, sitting, waiting" and "No elephant, no rhino, no action" he would say in his dry, dutch drawl. When we did finally see some crocodiles, he started to throw stones at them hoping to provoke them so he could get a good photo. He was like a 5 year old in a 65 year old's body, full of mischief and a great laugh - we miss you Ben!
At the end of the elephant safari we we saw a wild rhino - our elephant seemed alot happier than the ones we had seen at the Government Centre, although riding one through rough jungle isn't the most comfortable way to travel. On the other days we went on a canoe trip, a trek and a jeep safari. The jeep safari wasn't very eventful, though we did actually see a tiger in the jungle, just a shame it was in a wooden cage. It's kept there as it is a potential Man-eater. It's mother killed 5 locals and shared the flesh with her cubs - We must taste really good, because after feeding once, tigers love a bit of human apparently. So they shot mum and locked up the cub. 
One of the highlights of the week was the mid-day elephant bathing in the river. This was great fun. After being thrown from it's back into the river I got on the elephant again, this time from the front. Easy enough, you hold the ears and step halfway up the trunk while the elephant kindly does the rest of the work. Things were going well until suddenly, I heard a big rip and I realised I had a huge tear in my shorts in the crotch! So here was I, half way up an elephant, with around a hundred tourists on the river bank looking on, with cameras at the ready. At this point Sarah noticed my predicament and instead of helping she decided to tell as many people as possible (what on earth could I do? there was no way I was getting wet!- Sarah). Holding onto my dignity I happily let the elephant throw me off and ran to get changed.Our last couple of days in Chitwan were spent doing very little. We said goodbye to our new friends nearly a week after our arrival we headed out on a jeep to catch a bus to Pokhara and the Himalaya.
Here are some of photos during out time at Chitwan.....
Crocodile on the river bank
Elephant and child in the breeding centre
Canoe ride over to the park
Serpent eagle at Chitwan
Andrew with Ole and Karin from Germany
Us with Emma and Nat from Oz
Ben from Amsterdam and Karin
This was a cultural dance which was held at our lodge
Elephant Safari
The jeep safari - we met someone from Shrewsbury on this!
Eagrit in Chitwan
Sarah feeding the elephants bananas on the riverbank
Andrew being thrown off the elephant during the elephant bath time. This was the happiest we saw the elephants - they loved the water.
We came across a Nepali wedding at Chitwan and this band was playing - not quite Ifton Miners band....Have a look at our new world food blog website The Food Atlas.com for world food recipes and stories.
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