Tracking Tigers
Up at 5am again!
6hr drive from Katmandu 120 miles-ish to Chitwain National Park. The main road west/south from Katmandu follows the river gorge, - every monsoon landslides block it, or destroy it. This year was worst than most - it was closed for over a month and now has a LOT of single unmade track with passing places next to 400ft drops. As this is the main road to Nepal's capital city (from India)- there is some traffic chaos. I assume that a lot of stuff/people went by air while it was closed, -but the airport is often closed due to cloud (Nokandu airport, my bro calls it)so how they cope I don't know.
We arrived at Safari Adventure lodge. A dirty old building with a tower(looked like a cross between an african 1950's safari lodge and a german ww2 pow camp)There were bamboo(actually elephant grass)and mud outside cottage rooms and a nice looking pool area.
We were the only guests......
Lunch was what we were given and there was nothing to do all afternoon and evening. So i sat by the pool and read. After dinner I returned to my outside mudhut/room to find a lot of rat droppings on my bed. They offerred to change the bedding, but I pointed out that i was paying to look for rhino and tigers not rats and I'd have a room inside the main building. - so I got a room with a bath...yah! not very big, but the only one i've had since leaving home.
6am start and a canoe trip down the river, and reach out and touch distance from the crocodiles! a short jungle walk and a look round an elephant breeding project.
lunch - yuk.
quick swim (pool NOT river)and a 3hr elephant ride, saw my first rhinos...
dinner - yuk
evening - local cultural show - stupid dancing. I tried not to laugh...
6am up and birdwatching walk, -nothing special but looked at wild elephant tracks, and rhinos.
breakfast - ate lots of toast, then found it was mouldy..
Elephant ride, we followed tiger footprints, but didn't find her. Saw rhinos again - 3ft away.
Lunch - yuk
Jungle walk, tracked the tiger for a few hours, on foot with 2 guides who each had a 4ft wooden staff for protection...hummn. We didn't find her but found wild boar, monkeys, crocs and rhino...one of whom wasn't too impressed at us waking him up. (wished i'd been on an elephant at that point)
6am - up and a 6hr drive back to Katmandu, slept a lot of the way, but still saw 2 accidents.
Oh and I drank the lodge out of everest beer!
be back late Sunday
6hr drive from Katmandu 120 miles-ish to Chitwain National Park. The main road west/south from Katmandu follows the river gorge, - every monsoon landslides block it, or destroy it. This year was worst than most - it was closed for over a month and now has a LOT of single unmade track with passing places next to 400ft drops. As this is the main road to Nepal's capital city (from India)- there is some traffic chaos. I assume that a lot of stuff/people went by air while it was closed, -but the airport is often closed due to cloud (Nokandu airport, my bro calls it)so how they cope I don't know.
We arrived at Safari Adventure lodge. A dirty old building with a tower(looked like a cross between an african 1950's safari lodge and a german ww2 pow camp)There were bamboo(actually elephant grass)and mud outside cottage rooms and a nice looking pool area.
We were the only guests......
Lunch was what we were given and there was nothing to do all afternoon and evening. So i sat by the pool and read. After dinner I returned to my outside mudhut/room to find a lot of rat droppings on my bed. They offerred to change the bedding, but I pointed out that i was paying to look for rhino and tigers not rats and I'd have a room inside the main building. - so I got a room with a bath...yah! not very big, but the only one i've had since leaving home.
6am start and a canoe trip down the river, and reach out and touch distance from the crocodiles! a short jungle walk and a look round an elephant breeding project.
lunch - yuk.
quick swim (pool NOT river)and a 3hr elephant ride, saw my first rhinos...
dinner - yuk
evening - local cultural show - stupid dancing. I tried not to laugh...
6am up and birdwatching walk, -nothing special but looked at wild elephant tracks, and rhinos.
breakfast - ate lots of toast, then found it was mouldy..
Elephant ride, we followed tiger footprints, but didn't find her. Saw rhinos again - 3ft away.
Lunch - yuk
Jungle walk, tracked the tiger for a few hours, on foot with 2 guides who each had a 4ft wooden staff for protection...hummn. We didn't find her but found wild boar, monkeys, crocs and rhino...one of whom wasn't too impressed at us waking him up. (wished i'd been on an elephant at that point)
6am - up and a 6hr drive back to Katmandu, slept a lot of the way, but still saw 2 accidents.
Oh and I drank the lodge out of everest beer!
be back late Sunday