TRAVELMAN NEPAL: Welcome to the Jungle! A Jeep ride Through Chitwan National Park

I shopped around town in order to choose the best jungle activities. The Hotel Misty tried it’s best to sell me a two day walking jungle trek in the park. It would cost close to two hundred dollars. I wasn’t so sure it was worth it.

I switched to another hotel in the center of town on the second night. They tried to sell me a two day trek as well. I did start off by saying I was interested in trekking, but both hotels seemed way too eager to sell me the trek. They said that the longer you go and the deeper into the jungle you go, the better chance you have of seeing a tiger or wild elephant.

I talked to another guy at another hotel. He told me that I didn’t have to spend that much money. He could sell me an Afternoon Jeep tour on which I will be just as likely (or unlikely) to see one of the prized wildlife sightings. I could get that for 37 dollars. If I wanted to spend an extra 17 dollars, the next morning I could go on a canoe trip, hike in the “buffer zone,” and take a trip to the elephant breeding center. So I took that deal for a total of 54 dollars. It was worth it. It wasn’t spectacular, but I felt like I got my money’s worth and didn’t overspend.

This is my Jeep guide, Bali. He was knowledgable and very attentive to the guests. It was clear that he wanted to make sure we got the most out of the afternoon, no matter what we saw or didn’t see...

Ten of us got in one of those canoes and we were ferried across the river. When you cross the river, you’re in the park. Crocodiles hang out on the banks of the river...

We walked across a flood plain to where the jeeps are parked and waiting for tourists...

This little guy hung out there looking for food. It seemed accustomed to people...

We drove into the jungle. The ride out there was basically a ride down a dirt road in the woods. We saw some turtles and a bird with a very large beak high up in a tree. We also saw some small macaws...

The Jeep drives you out to a crocodile breeding center in the jungle. They release the crocs into the river when they are grown.

The crocs with the skinny snouts only eat fish, I wouldn’t go up to one, but they’re not interested in eating meat...

Langurs were in the trees around the breeding center. They weren’t as big as the kind that I saw in the Himalayas...

At this point, I was quite bored. Everyone in my Jeep spoke Nepalese, so Bali was speaking Nepalese unless talking directly to me. There wasn’t much to talk about anyway. Bali could tell I wasn’t digging it, so he asked if I wanted to sit in the back by him on the way back...

He talked to me a lot about the jungle on the ride. He really made the trip educational and worth my time and money. This is a pic of the wild rhinoceros that we spotted. A lot of my wildlife pics were taken with my phone using the digital zoom. Therefore, they look like the grainy “proof of Bigfoot” or “proof of UFOs” pics you see on the internet. I swear, that’s not a guy in a rhino costume in the center of the pic...

Bali told me that there was a big flood last August. The water went fifteen to twenty feet high on the jungle plains. Many of the animals that couldn’t climb trees or flee to higher ground were killed. Many deer died, which means less food for tigers and Panthers. He said there were so many dead animals that the jungle stank of rotting carcass.

Now many of the animals are west of Sauraha (the main tourist town). West is higher ground. There’s another town over there that’s becoming a second tourist hub. I’ll visit that town if I return.

On the tree in the center of this pic is a one meter long monitor lizard, I swear...

The jungle is dangerous. For instance, this is a killer vine tree. If you stand still in the jungle for seventy years, grow roots, and live off the light of the sun and water, it will slowly wrap around you (always to the left) and strangle you. ...So don’t do that...

We saw some more langurs on the way back...

And a tiger ...footprint. Bali said the tracks were from two tigers. We saw a lot of birds too. No bird footprints though.

It is serious business though. While I was in town a guide was charged by a rhino. It mangled his arm and took a chunk out of his leg. He was waiting to be transported to the major hospital in KtM...

Travelman log, day 206. Made it to my hostel in Delhi. !steemitworldmap 27.5858 lat 84.5044 long .pWelcome to the Jungle! Chitwan, Nepal, d3scr 361 Followers and counting, 1019 steem earned. Rep 59.3 Travelman out.