Natural park of Chitwan

The natural park of Chitwan is one of the biggest attractions in Nepal. The 932 square Km park is situated between Pokhara and Kathmandu and it offers a high diversity of activities.

On our first day we rent some bikes to visit the breeding elephant centre. Elephant females have a pregnancy of 2 years and after giving birth, baby elephants stay with them during 3 years, until they are ready for the jungle safaris. It is funny to see baby elephants that have 6 months of age and they were nearly as tall as us! One of the little elephants went out (as one of the fences was open) and started to run toward us! Yeah.. baby elephant but we were running so fast! hahaha

Around the park there are little towns of different ethnic groups. We visited one of them, the Tharus, and then that night we went to a cultural show where there was a performance of their traditional dance and songs. A dance where the locals hit wooden sticks to the rhythm of the drums.
The next day we got up very early to spend the day in the jungle. We started with a canoeing trip through the Rapti River where, apparently, we had to see some crocodiles. However, due to the rainy season, the water is very high and it is very difficult to see them. We were lucky and we saw one’s head! Better than nothing…
Afterwards, we continued the adventure with a trekking through the jungle: dense vegetation, humid weather, thousands of insects and some tiger footprints!! Scary!
Before lunch we went for a refreshing bath with the elephants. The activity is called “bath with the elephants” and they literally shower you with the water that they split from their trunk! And then you have to add the balance that you need in order to keep yourself on top of the elephant!
The afternoon was enjoyable with an elephant ride through the jungle. Two hours ride where we saw rhinos, monkeys, deers…You are so high on the top of the elephant that you need to fight against the branches of the trees and get rid of the thousand of spiders that want to join you! Definitely, an activity not suitable for those who are extremely scared of spiders or suffer of vertigo!
The day ended up enjoying a beautiful sunset which was followed by an amazing full moon.

We spent our last day walking around the natural park where we could see the local working on the lands.

We leave now the wild world to go to the “civilized” world. Our next destination is the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu.

To see pictures from Chitwan click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26501406@N05/?saved=1