9. Chitwan Safari AM

Chitwan safari day 2 :
First activity today was canoeing in the Rapti River to spot some crocodiles !
The canoe boats are dug out single silk cotton trees, with tiny little wooden stools to perch on , it couldn't get much more rustic than that! . Each canoe boat could fit about ten passengers .
The canoe trip was about an hour long , we saw plenty of Mugger crocodiles ( the ones that attack humans) quite close to the boat , they were big ones too ! They can grow up to 6 metres long and are considered extremely dangerous compared to the Gharial crocodiles, that only eat fish .
We were also lucky enough to see a cute little turtle 🐢.
Along the river we also saw lots of birds , such as kingfishers , open billed stalks and green shanks . There were some peacocks too !
After the canoe ride , we went for a walk in the jungle , the guide had to give us a safety talk in case we bumped into any rhinos, tigers or bears , which was very amusing seeing as we only had the guide and a big bamboo stick for protection . We were told to give the tigers eye contact and never turn your back to them . For the rhinos , hide behind a big tree and for the bears , run away in zig zags due to their poor field of vision . We felt very reassured to know this !
Unfortunately we didn't get to put this advice into practice on our jungle walk , but we did see some lovely birds- including a huge bird,called a Sarus Crane .
After our jungle walk , we were offered to go and bathe an elephant . Although we felt a little uncomfortable having much to do with trained elephants , we agreed that we would go and bathe the elephant .
We happily walked into the crocodile infested waters to splash about with the elephant , whose name we think is tickles. Tickles lay down in the water and let us splash him , but tickles had the advantage and managed to get James and I completely drenched . It was so funny and a genuinely amazing experience that we will never forget.Read more