Jungle Safar-as-I go

Jungle Safari Album

We took a three day safari down to Chitwan to see some animals in their natural habitat instead of in a zoo. The villages that surrounded the area we slept were straight out of a natural geographic magazine. The huts were made of mud with straw roofs and dirt floors. The women carried bushels of brush larger then their body on their backs. They bore a striking resemblance to a bush in motion.The first day we were driven down to the river and got into a hand made wooden canoe built to hold, at most, five people. We entered the canoe as steady as possible. As soon as we sat the canoe sunk down to where we felt submersed into the extremely murky water. We floated down the river for about an hour and a half with the idea of hiking back through the jungle by way of a narrow trail. After a short briefing by our guide on how to handle any encounters with the local wildlife we set off down the trail. A few minutes after we started, we hit a creek, our guide looked around with his trained eye and spotted a full grown male rhino in a mound of brush. He was determined for us to get the best view we could to see this overwhelmingly massive animal. We moved quickly across a bridge of branches to the other side of the creek, just about fifty feet from the rhino. It was amazing how Kristine and I both felt that the rhino looked unreal, like it was movie prop, animatronic almost. That soon went away after a few more people on the same side of the creek as the rhino tried to get a closer look. They got too close and the rhino charged at them- it was scary and incredible to see at the same time. I couldn't believe that we saw the rhino charge! Those people must have been scared out of their mind. The rest of the hike had little to offer in the line of wildlife but seeing rhino made the trip more than enough.

We took a three day safari down to Chitwan to see some animals in their natural habitat instead of in a zoo. The villages that surrounded the area we slept were straight out of a natural geographic magazine. The huts were made of mud with straw roofs and dirt floors. The women carried bushels of brush larger then their body on their backs. They bore a striking resemblance to a bush in motion.The first day we were driven down to the river and got into a hand made wooden canoe built to hold, at most, five people. We entered the canoe as steady as possible. As soon as we sat the canoe sunk down to where we felt submersed into the extremely murky water. We floated down the river for about an hour and a half with the idea of hiking back through the jungle by way of a narrow trail. After a short briefing by our guide on how to handle any encounters with the local wildlife we set off down the trail. A few minutes after we started, we hit a creek, our guide looked around with his trained eye and spotted a full grown male rhino in a mound of brush. He was determined for us to get the best view we could to see this overwhelmingly massive animal. We moved quickly across a bridge of branches to the other side of the creek, just about fifty feet from the rhino. It was amazing how Kristine and I both felt that the rhino looked unreal, like it was movie prop, animatronic almost. That soon went away after a few more people on the same side of the creek as the rhino tried to get a closer look. They moved very quickly to safer ground after they were notified by the rhino of his current territory. The rest of the hike had little to offer in the line of wildlife but seeing rhino made the trip more than enough.

The next day we went on our way to take an elephant ride through the jungle. Shortly after we started we saw what is said to be a rare sight. We saw a mother rhino with her baby hiding behind her. We also were able to see white spotted deer resting as a small group. They were very calm in the presence of the elephants despite the fact that we were there as well. We waded through the river in the mist of crocodile lining the river bed. Being carried through the jungle on top of en elephant allowed for some great views of animals in their natural surroundings but was more than uncomfortable. Later on that day we spent our evening watching the sunset down over the same river.