We had a few days of rest in Pokhara after our trek before heading down to Chitwan. The bus was packed with people sitting in the aisles and all around the driver.
we were picked up by the hotel jeep and taken off to our hotel...
from where the adventures started. We didn't see as much wildlife as last year but we did get to see lots of domestic elephants up close and 4 rhino sightings which we were really excited about.
We didn't go into the main Chitwan park as the grass was too long to see anything and it was really safe to go in as we couldn't see if wildlife was coming for us. Therefore, we got a bit more time to wander around the bazaar and see the local culture - style of housing, farming and the rice harvest.
On the evening of our first day we went for a walk through the elephant enclosure - they were back from a day of being in the jungle helping the army find poachers...
and we found our first rhino - almost exactly the same place as we saw one in February this year.
These beasts eat about 100kg of grass a day, elephants eat 200kg.
Then it was back to the hotel to do what you do in Chitwan - watch elephants walk past you while you watch the sunset and have a drink!
The next day we got in a boat and went about an hour down the river before a short walk to the elephant breeding centre.
This is a nepali stork - personally I think the uglest bird I have ever seen, but it is big!
A gharial croc...
peacock in flight...
egrets....
mugger croc.....
our second rhino - this one was much bigger and by the size of the horn, much older. The horn starts growing when they are three years old.
A termite mound - the sloth bears grab them with their claws and suck them into their mouth...
The elephant breeding centre had a four month old baby - totally cute - he even tried to crawl out under the fence!
yep - fed from Jo's hand...
but for some elephants the trunk just gets too heavy to hold up - all 40,000 muscles would take a bit of holding up!
The first successful birth of asian elephant twins.. they are almost three years old now.
The baby elephant goes off to talk some of its friends - he tried to get food out of this other baby elephants mouth!
We finished the morning by bathing the elephants, or them bathing us. It was hot and a croc lived in the river so this was the only time for a much welcome swim....
We spent the night sleeping in a tower in the park - well, the community forest near the park. The idea was to be able to see some of the nocturnal animals. Unfortunately sightings were limited to these deer, the photo isn't even great. Didn't get any photos of the tower but it was a rather dodgy structure that shook more than I would like. Mark and I were on the deck for the night and there were holes under the bed!
The following day we went to a different community forest to ride an elephant and hopefully see some other wildlife...
We started off by walking through the community shower and washing machine - and look at what we left for them as a treat..... Apparently Mum and Dad's elephant did poo, the upstream locals moved out of the way but didn't tell anyone downstream - it got all caught up in the sari she was washing. Ours didn't poo but the farts could've been plugged to a biogas store to improve the power to all of nepal!
And another two rhinos! On an elephant it is really amazing how close to the wildlife we can get and as we are on an elephant they really don't care - we were about 5m away.
Baby then tried to climb on Mum but Mum didn't like this at all.
A stag with a 6 point horn under a bush...
Sitting outside a tower in the forest - a flasher version of the one we stayed in the night before.
Our elephant giving our driver a tip!
We got back in time for elephant bathing and as we were all hot and enjoyed yesterday we jumped at the opportunity to go again.
Mum, Dad and the kids also went on a camel ride. They didn't know what it was like to have one stand up...
but the faces say it all!
And they ventured off into the sunset!
At the hotel that night was a cultural show... even the bugs came in their thousands.
And it was finished with a fire dance.
We left for Kathmandu the following day. We didn't see as much wildlife but did a have great time and the rhinos and elephants we did see were very exciting.
It is time to cut the rice - it is cut by hand and left for five days to dry...
before it is bundled up ready for threshing - mostly by hand although we did a few portable threshing machines.
It is then piled up and stored as hay for the cattle for the year.
