At Chitwan National Park there were several optional tours we could do, David wanted to do the canoe trip down the river but I wasn't too keen and there was also a jungle trek you could do but I felt we had done both already in Peru and after the jungle safari wasn't too bothered about doing them. Anyway, to cut a long story short we ended up doing them!
The canoe trip was supposed to be crocodile spotting but I don't think there are any crocodiles in this river because that is where they took us to wash the elephant and also the local children were swimming in it. Neither of these things would happen if it was seen to be dangerous, unless they don't mind tourists getting eaten! Probably not good for business.
Anyway we got to the canoes which turned out to be hollowed out tree trunks , which were very wobbly and unstable. The little wooden bits you see on the side are seats which lifted us about 2 cm of the floor of the boat.
Very gingerly we all climbed on and settled down for the trip.
About five minutes into the trip it started to rain and when it rains in Nepal it really rains, we are at the tail end of the monsoon season. Luckily me and David had our ponchos on us from the inca trek,
so put these on to protect our cameras. However this did not protect us from the rising water in the boat, as it quickly filled up and started swilling about. I had to clutch my valuables, okay my bag, to my chest and hope for the best. At one point David was pointing out elephants on the bank of the river but I couldn't see them as my glasses were covered in water. I couldn't see a thing, then the elephants turned and walked across the river in front of us, which was really cool and I could make them out through the rain spatters. They were not wild elephants though, they were being ridden by local people.
We were all soaking wet but found it really funny and couldn't believe the situation we had got ourselves in, although I blamed David for getting me into it, after all he wanted to do it.
A view down the river with the rest of the tour group in the other canoe.
Soon the trip was over and we all gingerly climbed out, surprisingly we saw no crocodiles, our guide blamed the rain, I didn't know crocodiles hid from rain, learn something new every day!
Anyway, from this point we were heading straight on the trek, we were led to a small clearing in the jungle and told what to do if a certain animal went for us. If a rhino chases you, you run in zig zags, if an elephant chases you run like billy ho in a straight line, if a tiger comes for you, stare it out and walk backwards and if a sloth bear comes for you we had to stand in a huddle and punch it! There you go, now you know what to do if you ever come across any of these.
So we set off in a long line, two guides at the front armed with a stick and one at the back armed with a stick. We had been told to walk quietly like a cat, we were like an episode of Most Haunted when they go creeping around or Scooby Doo when they go looking for the ghosts. Everynow and again the guides would stop and gesture us to be quiet and then cock their heads as if they were listening for something, sometimes they would make whistling noises to each other and do strange hand gestures, very impressive and dramatic, I felt like I was in a Bollywood movie!
Basically we walked around in a circle on the outskirts of a wooded area, to be fair we did hear some roary noises. We did see some bones which the rangers said was the left overs from a tiger's lunch, handily left in a clearing on the track, and some footprints, white rhino and tiger.
At one point all the guides got excited, made us stand in a huddle, one guide was left with us while the other two went off, disappearing into the jungle. David sidled up to me and whispered they are away to put their animal costumes on, which set me off in a fit of the giggles. Everybody was taking it very seriously. Anyway you will be surprised to hear they came back and said it was a sloth bear that had disappeared the other way into the jungle. So no animals were seen. We were aware of there being a monkey above us, but the guides did not stop to try and spot it or to find out which type it was.
However all was not lost as two of the group got leeches on them, so we saw some wildlife! So we headed back to our lodges wet and muddy.
In the evening we went to see a local cultural dance, which was better than we thought it would be and even had a dancing peacock!
For the last dance people were allowed to join in , so David was up there like a whippet strutting his stuff as did Karl from our group.
Bagpuss and Hootsmin making friends with a guard dog! Yes I know it is a statue but they don't.
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