Rumble in the Jungle

The day after our school trip to OZ was the day we went to find the Lion. However, there were no lions to see, just crocs, elephants and Rhinos. Chitwan was our destination, a tourist hub in the south of Nepal, where the jungle comes to life, a complete contrast to the peaks of the North.

But before we hopped onto a bumpy, tourist bus, we had a beautiful goodbye gift from a wonderful Nepali couple we had become good friends with and I have made a special connection with this warming, young man I think will last for many years to come, you will probably already know from reading the blog about Andhimul.

His name is Mon Bahadur Bhujel, and his wife’s is Ruppa and they have a lovely 3 year old boy called Arpan. The night before we left for Chitwan Ruppa had made some beautiful Mala’s the ceremonial flower necklaces, you will have seen Angela and I wearing in the ‘Goodbye Family’ blog. And they said some very kind and warming words to us, for Angela’s work in Setograss, the early learning centre where Ruppa works, and for both of us helping in the Andhimul project.

The journey to Chitwan only took 2 ½ hours, it’s amazing to go from high peaks all around, to flat land in all directions. You really notice the difference in living styles too! It is so much like in India, more crowed streets, more animals on the streets, and bicycles and cycle rickshaws everywhere, probably because there aren’t any hills around I guess!

Once we arrived at our hotel in Sauhara, you could really feel the peace, you can see from the picture above, how chilled the rooms look, quite safari-ish. And once we were settled and had sorted out our bags, we could relax and put our feet up. As you maybe aware from the previous blogs, it has been quite full on the past few months, so this trip was very much appreciated.

The rest of that day was a lazy one, though Angela and I did decide to go down to the river and watch the sunset. And we were so glad we took that short walk, it turned out to be a incredibly peaceful and tranquil experience. It is difficult to describe in words, we have been surrounded by beauty in Bandipur, as many as you have seen in the pictures, but I think it was because our daily life often oversaw nature’s supreme display their, that we took it for granted. So now we were in a completely different landscape, but just as beautiful and particularly peaceful, and it was that peace that threw us both back. We were almost to tears, and for over an hour or so, I can’t even remember how long, we didn’t speak a word and just soaked it all up, a memory never to forget, right Angela?

Though, as usual in these sorts of circumstances you get pulled back into your local surroundings (just like when Angela and I were on our trek), by a heart felt and real cultural experience. And yes, it involved children. We were found by three young, local children who decided to try it out with these naïve tourists, or so they thought. “Chocolate?”, one said, we knew it was coming, so “Chaina” was our reply, meaning no! Then the next line, which we knew pretty well by now, “Pen?”… “Chaina” again we said, and then the final attempt “20 rupees?”, and all Angela and I did was laugh, and once they realized they were losing the battle, we began some conversation.

One of the girls was very confident, and not afraid of us tourists! A horrible word :o) With the Nepali we knew and the little English they spoke, we had fun for some time, and it's experiences, real ones just like that that will always be closest to my heart.

The next day was the activity day, and after a 7.30am breakfast we were off to find our elephant. And she was promptly there waiting for us, along with her driver or ‘Mahout’ as they are known. Our elephant buddies were this lovely mother and daughter couple from the UK, Ann and Mandy. Coincidentally, Ann was working at the same international school in Kathmandu that Angela’s friend’s sister works at, who we were hoping to go and visit on our return trip their. It’s a small world!

They are helping to teach Nepali teachers how to teach, on a volunteer basis. Mandy, Ann’s daughter was only over for a month to help, but both seemed so enthusiastic about their work it really rubbed off on Angela and me. And especially as we were both looking into, and talking about teaching teachers, especially with regards to the Andhimul project.

Anyway, back tu’t elephant, the four of us climbed into what can only be described as an upside down table, with each of us straddling a corner, and it was actually a lot more comfortable than it looked. So off we went looking like proper tourists, with the locals not battering an eyelid, as they see these alien creatures aboard these large mammals, day in day out, and for Angela and I, the journey to and from the jungle was the most toe cringing experience. Although it has to be said, once we had entered the abundance of trees it became a very tranquil and relaxing experience, apart from the constant ass banging on the back of an elephant.

The first animals we saw were some rather large dear, and they like the locals hardly gave a wink. Though our next encounter was a great one, as you can see in the picture above a baby rhino who was with its mum, who again didn’t seem very phased, but it was lovely to see, and how cute is that baby! Apart from that and some more deer, that was all our eyes had to feast on , but the overall trip was very worthwhile, though after 2 hours on the back of an elephant it was a reward to our rear sides to be off.

After lunch our next experience was a canoe trip down the river, again another tranquil experience and amazing nature all around, with various birds being pointed out to us by our guide and of course, from the picture above, some pretty nasty looking crocs!

When the end of the day rolled around we were pretty exhausted and the bed looked too inviting, so no late night for us!

On our last full day, the Thursday, we didn’t do too much, but Angela went to visit the local school, and orphanage where the volunteers in Chitwan help out. Actually, the two volunteers who were there had been on their trek and just arrived back this day, there names Patrick and Sarah, both from Australia (So I was out numbered on the country front, luckily we didn’t get into any pom bashing:) They were both lovely people and we had some nice chats, and actually Patrick showed a lot of interest in the Andhimul project. And if I remember correctly he’s just finished his degree in environmental engineering, sorry Patrick if I have it wrong :o)

Finally, when Friday morning rolled around, quickly of course, back into the hills or should I say mountains, we went!