8. Chitwan Safari Day 1

Today we got up early and were taken to the bus station. We got on what Nepal call a Tourist bus, which is ultimately a short wheelbase coach. It was a long 6 hours bumping and braking along the Nepalese roads. We finally got to National park looking areas and suddenly Tiger warning signs were along the roads which was quite exciting. Upon arriving, we had a drink and some lunch and then had a couple of hours to kill before heading out to look around a traditional Tharu village. We were caught in a really bad unexpected storm of high winds and sidewards rain, "it's raining sideways! " (family guy). When this calmed down we walked along the river to an Government Elephant Breeding Centre. Along the way we saw a variety of birds, deer and upon arriving we saw some Wild Boar, White spotted deer and Jackals. The Elephants were all chained up when we arrived but this is due protection from "local poachers" and protecting them from locals as they destroy precious crops. We weren't overly happy to see the Elephants like this, but on the other hand they have been an asset to protecting the park from poachers and assisting vets getting to wounded wild animals as they blend in so well. The number of asian elephants is on the up and there is a decline in the amount used for tourist purposes, only approx 20 are now used for this purpose, down from 100, 2 years ago.
We then came back and went to a Tharu Cultural Show which was very interesting and involved tribal dancing with fire show aswell. We came back had some dinner and spoke with Valerie, a retired teacher from Switzerland, who had been working in Lukla on a school her friend set up.. Was very interesting talking to her about her friends successes but they need more long term English teachers.. @ Mum!! You could retire to the mountains ⛰️😁Read more