Since I left home about a year ago I am often asked the question.
What was the best ?….or what was your favourite place? or top 3?
The simple truth has been that I haven’t been able to answer this question because everything I have done is simply amazing….
- I have sailed a Faluka on the Nile
- Sat in the Hagia Sophia built by St Helena in Istanbul
- Driven a soft top in Santorini
- Climbed to the Monastery in the mystical city of Petra
- Floated on the Dead Sea
- Dived into the Mediterranean Ocean in Marseille
- Walked in Monet’s Garden
- Cantered through Wimbledon Common
- Stood on the spot where Thomas Becket was hacked to pieces
- Driven around Loch Ness
- Hiked across the Moors in Cornwall
- Heard Handel’s Messiah sung in Westminster Abbey
And I still honestly couldn’t choose my favourite
Until today ..today was a day out of a movie script and I was the lead actor
Setting for Scene – Jungle Villa located in the Chitwan National Park Chitin Nepal
A gentle but persistent knock woke me from my slumber.
“Good morning Madame” came the respectful voice. “Time to get up. Hot ginger tea is waiting for you.”
Judith and I got dressed as quickly as possible and walked across to the dining room.
Sohadar, the Operation’s Manager was there to greet us and after drinking our tea we were lead across to the mounting stand.
Similar to nana stairs for getting on a horse but super sized.
There standing quietly at the end was Jungle Kali, our elephant and her mahout
There is no elegant way to climb into the saddle of an elephant but once settled, Jungle Kali lumbered off into the jungle with Judith and I on board.
Yesterday evening, upon arrival, we had been warned that we may not see any animals in the park as they were really wild so when Sohadar, pointed and said 1 o’clock within 5 minutes of setting off I wasn’t sure what he meant but then suddenly there stood a rhino quietly eating his breakfast.
He was 5 feet away from us!
I was so excited I could barely keep my camera steady, as clearly evidenced with the standard of photos, mist not withstanding, and so our morning began….
….over the next 2 hours Judith and I saw Spotted Deer (for fans of Disney Land thats Bambi ), Hog Deer, Samba Deer, monkeys and an assortment of beautiful colourful birds and another Rhino.
Finally Sohadar pointed to the carcass of a deer
‘Tiger been here, maybe a week ago…’
‘Send me a tiger ‘ Judith and I both said simultaneously and hopefully …..
After a great breakfast we walked for about 20 minutes to the Tharu Village where Sohadar, gave us a quick history lesson about local village people and their religious and cultural lifestyle.
Of course much has changed in recent times but the essence of village life has changed very little in nearly a thousand years.
Moving around the village we soaked in the extraordinary juxtaposition of old and new….. mud huts with satellite dishes or solar panels on the roof but no running water.
The residents were so friendly and warm and were happy to pose for photos particularly the children who were so cute.
For those of you renovating or building, if you are looking for a new floor concept for your house, I highly recommend Nepali Flooring ….cow dung covered with straw and sealed with a yellow (other colour options available ) mud paste.
Soft and spongy and warm and surprisingly easy to sweep clean!!!
Then over to the elephant enclosure to get up close and personal with Jungle Pillar, a younger and slightly smaller version of Jungle Kali.
I have always been told how clever these animals are but seriously when she greeted us with the elephant version of Namaste, (respectful Nepali salutation) I was seriously in awe…..
The next hour raced by with Sohadar giving us an informative lecture on the life and times of everything elephant, most of which has already slipped out of the grey cells but the way in which the mahout worked with Jungle Pillar is still front and centre.
He was the Elephant Whisper…..
Ever seen an elephant sit down, lie down, ( not roll over because it would crush her lungs ), put her front leg up for you to sit on, do the most amazing things with her trunk on instruction …
a seriously good time was had …kisses and hugs and then she waved us off with her trunk.
Lunch and a couple of drinks and then we are off to our canoe ride.
‘Don’t put your hand into the water’ ,says Sohadar, ‘it attracts the crocodiles’ and they swim very quickly and quietly .”
(I quietly took my hand out of the water hoping he hadn’t spotted me) and there to the left of me not more than 10 metres away sat the biggest crock I had ever seen this side of a fence.
Actually the only crock I had seen this side of a fence.
Note to self. Sit very still and don’t fall in!
As we glided along the river, we were treated to birds and more crocks and breathtaking scenery and all I could think of was that I was Katherine Hepburn in Africa Queen. Yeah I know different country and different sailing vessel but you get the idea.
Out of the canoe, up the bank and straight into the waiting jeep. Gotta say these guys were a precision act
Now we were off in search of the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger of which there are only 120 left in Nepal with around 100 residing in the jungle of Chitwan National Park.
Having shot-gunned the front seat, I had camera in hand and the wind in my hair. (Well in what little hair I have left). It was simply magical. Down rocky lanes, across rivers, through causeways, down ever narrowing pathways.
Sorry to say no Royal Bengal Tigers or Sloth Bears but so many other magical sights
Yes that is correct… news to me but apparently Nepal has bears!!!!
As we were driven around in the open air jeep we saw Incredible jungle and savanna landscapes with towering trees one minute and elephant grass surrounding the lane the next, clever vines that actually kill trees and then move on to their next victim, huge termite mounds, water holes with evidence that animals actually do live in this national park and an assortment of other amazing foliage.
Bird calls punctuated the atmosphere on a regular basis and sometimes we might even see the actual bird.
We saw Pumbaa ( Lion King ), well…. if not Pumbaa exactly, certainly his Nepali cousins’ cousin, deers bouncing on the road in front of us or suspiciously staring at us from the safety of the trees, wild boars and bison scampering across the road so quickly that I was convinced I was seeing things.
Finally not defeated but exhausted we headed for home… You know sitting around on elephants, in canoes and jeeps is extremely tiring and as we turned towards home …there he was (no still not the tiger …please follow the script ).
Another rhino but this one wasn’t so sure that he liked his space being invaded.
Sohadar quietly picked up his stick.
I had been wondering what it was for and now I knew.
To hit the rhino on his horn as he charged the jeep.
Yep you heard me ….need to speak to the director of this movie ….
A menacing 1600 kilo rhino glaring at Judith and I standing in an open jeep with our hero ready to protect us with a 4 ft piece of bamboo.
…..time to get out of town!
Dinner and a bottle of wine over a fire watching the mist slowly close in until the river faded from sight and then bed!
Scene ends with a the sound of gently snoring
Post scrip
A gentle knock on the door wakes me from my slumber. Bloody hell. Why was I so stupid yesterday to suggest we do the elephant ride again Must learn not to make stupid suggestions when on my second glass of wine!
Oh well nothing to do but get on with it
So the morning is pretty much the same but in a different terrain…. very swampy this morning.
I got the feeling that Jungle Kali was not in a good mood. Well I could understand….mud and freezing cold water does play havoc with one’s pedicure!
Up hill and down dale we lumbered … so steep were some of the inclines that I was really glad I had eaten all the the food I had been force fed over the past several weeks other wise I might have been too thin and actually slid off the seat.
There was quiet a bit of conversation between Sohadar and the mahout about getting Jungle Kali to go in a particular direction and she wasn’t having a bar of it.
So it’s like having a fight with your horse x 4 …and not winning …
but finally she did what she was told and we were heading towards??? Sohadar said ‘rhino ahead …mother and baby eating in the swamp’.
I couldn’t see a thing. The mist was really heavy
How the hell he saw this was beyond me …either he had planted the rhinos there before our arrival or he was a vampire.
We lumbered along …..Judith and I leaning forward trying to see some thing and suddenly …
Rhinos in the Mist
…mother and baby not more than 10 feet away standing and grazing in the swamp. We were so close we could hear them chewing.
So could it have got better on a second day after a perfect first day in the jungles of Chitwan, Nepal?
Apparently so…..
Happy bumbering
