"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it" - Rosalia de Castro
After trekking, a much needed hot shower and a great night's sleep in a bed, we were off to our next adventure....a Safari at Tiger Tops Lodge in Chitwan National Park. We traveled in a bus, a covered jeep, a boat and then an open-top jeep to reach Tiger Tops. It is a remarkably rustic retreat. There are no locks on the doors, there are lanterns in the rooms, no outlets and meals by candlelight. Love it!
We quickly put our things down and then set off for an elephant briefing and the kids jumped in the river with the elephants and bathed them!
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Off we go by jeep...
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...and by boat
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It's the small things in life that bring such a smile....like a western toilet
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Tiger Tops Lodge
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Later that afternoon we set out to do what we came here for....go on a safari! The goal? To catch sight of one of the 126 resident Bengal tigers. The next goal? To spy the one-horned rhinoceros...this is the only place in the entire world where these creatures live in the wild.
Although no tigers were spotted, we did see a footprint and we "tracked" it until we finally lost the trail. It was a lot of fun though and the kids were so eager to spot the next track!
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The tiger track
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This is a one-horned rhino! We saw many!
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Dusk on safari
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| Crossed fingers in hopes of sighting a tiger |
We were up at 5:30 the next morning for another safari...this time on elephants! We blazed trails through grass, trees & weeks on the hunt for those elusive tigers...bus alas, it was not to be again. Our excitement came instead with the arrival of a wild bull elephant. This was no ordinary elephant - this fellow has killed 6 people in the last 3 years and has injured one of the lodge's own elephants. The guides immediately changed the course of our elephants and prodded them to scoot quickly back to camp!
For the final part of our time in Nepal we boated and bussed to Tharu Tiger Tops Lodge. This lodge is situated amongst several small rural villages and supports the villages in immeasurable ways. We were the only guests at the lodge and were greeted and treated with incredible warmth.
We took an ox-cart ride through the farming village of Barouli. It very much reminds me of our trip through the farming community in Hoi An, Vietnam. Wheat and corn were being grown and rice was just beginning its crucial season. Most of the homes have a well but the animals still share the same house as their owners. The people are extremely friendly and tend to giggle with surprise when we greeted them with "namaste." The people are Tharu and the women wear brightly colored clothing and carry their loads on their heads. With this being spring, the kids were also delighted to see so many baby animals everywhere!
Walking through the village was as if someone had dropped us into the middle of a National Geographic photo shoot....it just doesn't get better. I enjoyed the ride so much that I woke early the next morning and went through the village again - this time walking. Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Real life...so different from ours...right there! Just amazing.
We concluded an incredible stay with a very special treat. Some of the villagers came and performed their traditional dances. Their families all joined us as well to watch. Then they started grabbing our hands and brought us to the floor with them and we all danced together....everyone had so much fun! It could not have been a more fitting end to our trip.
So much of this trip has been interactive with the local people and it just transforms you. I kinda "get it" now when people visit a 3rd world country on a mission, a humanitarian expedition, etc. and they want to go back. There is something I have found so humbling and gratifying by having contact with the people I have met on our trips. I think (and I hope) that I have become a better person for it...and I hope my girls have. The lenses that they see life through must be so different now.... certainly the world is smaller (or bigger?) to them now than it was two years ago??
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| Spring in Chitwan |
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| The wild bull elephant |
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| Then the kids went on their own wild adventure which resulted in not only a broken hammock, but also..... |
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| ....a face plant |
We took an ox-cart ride through the farming village of Barouli. It very much reminds me of our trip through the farming community in Hoi An, Vietnam. Wheat and corn were being grown and rice was just beginning its crucial season. Most of the homes have a well but the animals still share the same house as their owners. The people are extremely friendly and tend to giggle with surprise when we greeted them with "namaste." The people are Tharu and the women wear brightly colored clothing and carry their loads on their heads. With this being spring, the kids were also delighted to see so many baby animals everywhere!
Walking through the village was as if someone had dropped us into the middle of a National Geographic photo shoot....it just doesn't get better. I enjoyed the ride so much that I woke early the next morning and went through the village again - this time walking. Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Real life...so different from ours...right there! Just amazing.
We concluded an incredible stay with a very special treat. Some of the villagers came and performed their traditional dances. Their families all joined us as well to watch. Then they started grabbing our hands and brought us to the floor with them and we all danced together....everyone had so much fun! It could not have been a more fitting end to our trip.
So much of this trip has been interactive with the local people and it just transforms you. I kinda "get it" now when people visit a 3rd world country on a mission, a humanitarian expedition, etc. and they want to go back. There is something I have found so humbling and gratifying by having contact with the people I have met on our trips. I think (and I hope) that I have become a better person for it...and I hope my girls have. The lenses that they see life through must be so different now.... certainly the world is smaller (or bigger?) to them now than it was two years ago??
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| The Tharu Lodge was a real sanctuary - I would love to return and spend more time enjoying the grounds. |
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| The dancers |
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| Grabbing Elle to join them |
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| Tharu artwork |
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| Thrilled with the outcome of our trip - and sad to see it end |
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes"
- Marcel Proust
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