TRAVELMAN NEPAL: “The Heart of Low Visibility” a Canoe Ride and Walk in the Chitwan Jungle

I took a misty morning canoe ride down the river in the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park. The buffer zone is part of the park you must pay to get into- but you pay less because it’s on the edge...??? I didn’t really understand the workings of their park system.

Vishnu was my guide on this morning. I shared the cost of the trip with an Australian doctor. We were driven to this starting point outside of town. Boat men sat around a morning fire waiting for the tourists and their guides to arrive...

These canoes are each carved out of a single tree...

Vishnu, the doctor, and I shared the canoe with a group of Chinese tourists. I swear they took more pictures of themelves than anything around them, or at least they had to put themselves in each picture. The one woman spent the first ten minutes taking the perfect selfie of herself. They didn’t know how to exit the canoe without nearly capsizing it either. Being that we’d encountered crocodiles, I was none too happy ‘bout that...

In the meantime, I was thoroughly enjoying the quiet of the morning. The mist makes it feel as though the jungle is taking a long yawn before it awakes. As I mentioned in my last post, the warm spring water of the river creates all the mist...

Birders would love Chitwan. My guide had a thick book with him of all the species of birds in Nepal. Every time we saw a bird, he would identify it, find it in the book and show us a picture and blurb about it. If I remember correctly these were Darters. They’re named darters because they’re championship left handed dart players (like so many things, don’t quote me on that)....

We came across the first of many crocodiles. It was thrilling to pass by them only meters away...

One of the various species of the Kingfisher found in the region. A beautiful bird, and it seems like they know it...

We got out of the boat after an hour and went for a walk in the jungle.

This is a termite mound. This one was taller than me. Vishnu explained that the termites gather the dirt from inside the mound as they build upward. They build it so tall so they can gather at the top during the monsoon season floods. I think they do it to try and outdo the neighboring termites. “I live in a six foot tall mound!” “Oh, really. Mine’s seven.”...

Let’s play find the wild life! Where is it in this one?

It’s in the center of the pic, the same spotted deer as one of these two...

In the trees of the island in the below pic are a stork and and eagle, trust me. We encountered a giant stork later. I didn’t get a picture because I was too busy being mesmerized by the size of it’s wing span and the sound of its wings as it took flight from the water. We were about ten meters away. It’s wings sounded like a pterodactyl’s wings... Yes, I have heard a pterodactyl fly, thank you. I’ve seen all the Jurassic Park movies...

Vishnu made it clear that jungle trekking is serious business. The government requires each group (even if it’s a single tourist) to have two guides. A second guide accompanied us, he didn’t speak much English...

Vishnu said that the wild elephants are the most dangerous, and they’d been around the area lately. They can knock over trees and will charge you. He advised us to run behind the biggest tree we could find if they came after us...

If a rhino were to charge us, we were to run in zigzags and climb a big tree...

If we encountered a sloth bear, we were in trouble. Vishnu said that they always attack. The guides bang the stick they carry on the ground and make as much noise as they can to scare it off. We were supposed to scream and yell as well. If it still attacks, the sticks become clubs. I told Vishnu that he could count on me for the screaming...

I mentioned in my last post that a guide had been maimed by a rhino while I was in town. Last year a guide saved a tourist’s life by fighting off a bear. The guide was mauled badly. The other guide beat the bear off. Can you imagine being that tourist?

Here is my imaginary review on Trip Advidsor posted by this tourist:

“CHITWAN JUNGLE TREK 4/5 STARS— I had a fine trip. Sabin was knowledgable, helpful, and spoke very good English. It was most exciting when he was mauled by a bear. He demonstrated his extensive English curse word vocabulary during the attack. The excitement provided me with some great pictures for my instagram feed. Thanks to Sabin and the bear, my following has tripled. My Nikon 360 proved to be an excellent pre-trip camera purchase. The only reason I can’t give the tour five stars is due to my trip being cut short because Sabin almost bled out while waiting for the helicopter. The helicopter ride was excellent except for all the moaning and yelling. FYI helicopter ride is not included in every tour and it is not advised to ask for a selfie with the medic while in flight.”...

Rhino tracks...

The deer were stil hanging in the same spot on the way back...

Travelman log, day 206. Everything is closed due to Republic Day in Delhi, spent the day planning. !steemitworldmap 27.5850 lat 84.5042 long . A Canoe Ride and a Walk in the Chitwan Jungle, Nepal, d3scr 365 Followers and counting, 1019.3 steem earned. Rep 59.3 Travelman out.