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by Nick

I was awakened at 6am yesterday to Lianna looking out the window confused asking “Are there elephants grunting out our window?” She wasn’t wearing glasses so I was called upon to verify and sure enough there were some elephants right beside our room.

Not long after we grabbed a coffee and were set to board our elephants for both of our first safari. Speaking to a fellow Canadian the day prior our hopes were not set high as he didn’t see any animals on his elephant safari and suggested the jeep instead because elephants couldn’t enter the national park and were stuck to the buffer zone. When viewing wildlife it all comes down to luck so I assured Lianna you just never know. We were joined up with a group of 5 Russians who seemed to have no interest in viewing wildlife and acted more like they were at an amusement park but this being something Lianna and I had looked forward to for a long time tried not to let the antics of other tourists get under our skin.

An elephant is not a comfortable form of transportation and is more like sitting on a small boat in treacherous waters causing you to hang on for life but they are silent (the tourists not so much) and they can go where no jeep can go. Chitwan must have been where the author of Jungle book was inspired from because the landscape is an exact match. Elephant grass grows to over 15 feet high making you feel like you are in a “Honey I shrunk the kids!” film, but allows many species to hide within. Multiple deer and monkey species, wild boar, crocodiles, leopards, Bengal tigers and its most famous resident the Indian rhino. Chitwan has the highest population of Indian rhinos left in the world and along with Kaziranga National park in India, is really their last hope for survival due to poaching and habitat loss. It was the tiger and rhino we had dreamed about seeing.

Once in the thick of the elephant grass and marshland our mahout (elephant driver) pointed out some rhino tracks along with the unmistakable track of a tiger. Our heart rate was increased as we continued on into the thick jungle world. Our elephant blazed our trail through some more thick forest and not long after, another group was seen flagging us over and when we arrived we couldn’t believe our eyes, not one but two rhinos, a mother and baby! We only saw them for a few seconds before they disappeared back into the giant grass so we continued to a clearing while another elephant followed the rhinos trail. As expected the rhinos emerged and seemed ok with our presence atop the elephants as long as some distance was kept. The rhinos continued to go about foraging while the tourists cameras clicked like crazy and after 10 minutes admiring one of the most strange and prehistoric looking animals I have ever seen. All 4 elephants left the rhinos to go about their business which was nice to see.

Our safari felt worth it immediately but when we continued on we were treated to some bonuses of a large male sambar (similar to an elk), macaque monkeys, barking deer and a lost looking turtle. An hour and half well spent for our first safari ever.

When it was time for our second safari we were disappointed to share our jeep with the same group of obnoxious Russians but again it wasn’t too difficult to tune them out. Riding along in a jeep didn’t have quite the same explorer feeling that riding an elephant had, but this way you are able to get much deeper into the park and spend close to 4 hrs searching for animals.

We were able to spot some huge pterodactyl like storks in the trees high above us and witnessed the mother bird spread her wings out wide to provide shade for the babies in the nest. Once on the road again we came across a troupe of common langur which are similar to the spider monkeys because of their long arms and legs. About half way another jeep was stopped and peering through the long grass we could make out the horn of another rhino. We waited around and got glimpses of two more rhinos but because they were on the far side of the swamp in the grass were difficult to get a good view. Exciting nonetheless.

Deep in the jungle we were scheduled to stop at the gharial breeding center where we got to see the different sized crocodilians and watched them gulp down some fish. It was nice to know this program helped to release them into the wild once they were big enough but changed my mind about swimming in the river. Back behind the breeding center was a large enclosure keeping a man-eating tiger which apparently had the taste for human flesh. The Nepalese government enforces a law that when a tiger develops a taste for humans it must be captured and taken to a facility or zoo. Better than just shooting it I guess, but I would rather the tiger be out there continuing to eat people. The cat was especially beautiful and only increased my wanting to see one in the wild but unfortunately its enclosure was rather pathetic. We left admitting it was still amazing to see the big cat if not for extremely selfish reasons.

The safari tapered off as the sun began to set and we saw one last animal, a large crocodile known as the marsh mugger (which also likes to eat people) not far from where the tourists enter the water to bathe the elephants each morning. We would not participate the following morning.

Our last safari in Chitwan was this evening and the other tourists were extremely pleasant as opposed to our previous jeep companions. Speaking to the other tourists, Lianna and I learned our day prior had been an especially lucky one as none of the others were able to see the rhinos yet. The first half went by rather quickly and other than some chitral deer (spotted deer) we hadn’t seen much wildlife. After waiting outside the breeding center for our group to return we turned a quick corner to find a mother wild boar and her young piglets sauntering across the road. Further down the jeep track we saw some more macaque monkeys, hog deer and even rolled by one more giant rhino who was tucked in behind some bushes. On our way out some more wild pigs leaped across the road which added some more excitement. I felt each safari in Chitwan was worthwhile as we saw different species each time (not to mention the luck of seeing 6 rhinos in 3 safaris!) and the landscape was never boring with the mountains looming in the background. But after speaking with someone who had recently spotted a tiger in India, we are already excited for our next safari experience.