04-21 Chitwan 1

Elephant safari in Chitwan National Park

21.04.18, Chitwan National Park

The day before there was a long drive from Pokara to Chitwan National Park made even longer by traffic jams because of extensive road works. Chitwan is only about 100m above sea level and we had 2 very hot days there. The temperature was at least 30 deg. C.

The first day started in the morning with a jungle walk on which we did not really see any animals but did see something of the local village life. By the river lots of people were cutting long grass to feed their livestock. This is supposed to be beneficial for the wildlife since it keeps the grassland more open and prevents the high grass becoming impenetrable. The snag is though that the presence of the locals harvesting it during the season drives the animals deeper into the forest.

After the walk we bathed in the river with two elephants and helped to ‘wash’ them, which was quite an experience. They were the ones which were going to take us on an elephant safari in the afternoon. Then we had more luck and were able to approach a rhino closely. We also encountered a heard of axis deer and some deer of a smaller species.

In the evening we were entertained in the grounds our lodge by a troupe of local girls performing traditional dances.

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