Chitwan

We were late arriving at Chitwan as our plane was delayed by 2 hours but we were greeted warmly and given a lovely lunch in the garden of the delightful Tharu Lodge. We were then taken for a walk with three elephants and almost immediately came across a sleeping rhino. After various photos it was explained how, if in danger from some animal, we should get in the middle of the three elephants as they would be formed in a protective ring around us. We then continued to the river where we had a beer, the elephants had a bathe and we enjoyed an impressive sunset. After that it was back to the lodge for a shower and dinner.

The next day we chose to do an all-day jeep safari. It was a bit misty at first but, shortly after nine o'clock, the mist cleared and sun shone for the rest of the day. We were taken across the boundary river by boat and then proceeded by jeep, getting out for short walks occasionally. The naturalist with us showed us several recent tiger tracks and at one point a monkey gave a tiger warning signal but we didn't get a tiger sighting. However we saw several rhinoceri, including a mother and baby crossing the track in front of the jeep. The mother began to charge the jeep but our driver was quick to go into reverse gear. We saw two types of monkey, two types of crocodile and two types of deer as well as a couple of wild boar. We also saw various birds, including two types of kingfisher. One of these, the common kigfisher, was just like the kingfishers from home but the stork-billed kingfisher was new to us. It was a great trip. The following morning we did a bird walk with one of the guides. It was again rather misty so not good for photos and not great for seeing the colours of the birds. Our excellent guide was able to point out several species including hornbill, scarlet minavet, oriental white-eye, red whiskered bulbul, red vented bulbul, and two sorts of nuthatch (chesthunt-bellied and velver-fronted). It was then time to fly back to Kathmandu.

Cinnamon Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Bodger
Bodger (Rhinoceros Song(
Tiger footprint
Tiger footprint
Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Elephants bathing
Elephants bathing
Sunset by the river
Sunset by the river
Red-wattled lapwing
Red-wattled lapwing
Woolly-necked Stork
Woolly-necked Stork
Chital
Chital
Stonechat
Stonechat
Tiger footprint
Tiger footprint
Alexandrine Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
Kalij Pheasant
Kalij Pheasant
Stork-billed Kingfisher
Stork-billed Kingfisher
Mugger Crocodile
Mugger Crocodile
Rhesus Monkey
Rhesus Monkey
Lizard
Lizard
Common Mormon Butterfly
Common Mormon Butterfly
Langur Monkey
Langur Monkey
Grey Heron
Grey Heron
Common Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Rhinoceri crossing the river
Rhinoceri crossing the river
Common Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Rhinoceri
Rhinoceri
Mugger Crocodile
Mugger Crocodile
Wild boar
Wild boar
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
Hornbill
Hornbill