On Thursday, September 19th, we woke up at 4:00 am to start our great adventure that Sarah booked for the three of us in Chitwan National Park. We left the apartment at 6:15 am and took a taxi to the “sofa bus” that would drive us over six hours to Sauraha. The seats were cushioned and comfortable with a drink holder in the arm rest. We left as scheduled, at 7:00 am.
One of the things I’ve been most fearful of are riding buses in the mountains in Nepal. I’ve always heard how narrow the roads are with minimal railings lining the road edges. Yep (I had to close my eyes many times…Sarah would say “don’t look!)! Much of the ride was bumper to bumper on each side of the road. And most of the ride was extremely bumpy (felt like we were back in the rolling dirt path roads in the steppes of Mongolia!). I really wish I had taken a photo. I will during a future bus trip. We stopped twice. We ate the buffet lunch at the 2nd stop. The driver (Suzan) from Jungle Safari Resort picked us up at the bus stop. We arrived at the resort at 2:00 pm and met with Sangam, regarding our 3 nights (including 1 night in the tree house in the jungle)/4-day itinerary.
Chitwan National Park is 106 miles Southwest of Kathmandu. It is the first protected area in Nepal, established in 1973. Temperatures range from 77 to 109 degrees. During the monsoon season, roads flood and are virtually impassable. A total of 68 species of mammals, 56 species of herpeto fauna and 126 species of fish have been recorded in the park. The park is especially renowned for its protection of One Horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger and Gharial Crocodile. The park harbors not only the world’s largest terrestrial mammal (wild elephant) but also the world’s smallest terrestrial mammal (pygmy shrew). A total of 544 species of birds has been recorded so far including22 globally threatened species including critically endangered Bengal Florican, Slender-billed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture and Red-headed Vulture.
The last 30 minutes of the bus ride were extremely difficult for me as my digestive system was having a moment. After an URGENT stop to the bathroom, I realized I had an awful headache. I took a nap, while Mike and Sarah had lunch. Mike brought me food and drinks but I didn’t want anything. I went back to sleep when Mike and Sarah enjoyed a nature walk with our guide Gopal. On the walk, they visited the army post where the elephants are kept that they use to patrol the park – one of the wild bull elephants made a visit to the compound while they were there. They also saw a couple of baby rhinos that are recovering from tiger injuries and one wild rhino, many types of birds, including a beautiful hornbill, and crocodiles at sunset down by the river.
I was hopeful I would feel fine to join in the rest of the activities for the day after a nap. Mike and Sarah returned drenched in sweat from their walk in the humid jungle. After they rested in the air conditioning and changed clothes they had dinner at the resort. Mike and Sarah met Kalaina at diner. As she and Mike talked, Mike realized she graduated from the same school and program from which his pickleball partner in the Mongolia tournament did – the coincidence was crazy and he hopes they are able to connect because of the work they are both doing and planning. Mike brought food for me to eat. My headache was not any better. It seemed like I was sitting on the toilet non-stop. After throwing up, I thought I would feel better. Mike took my temperature a second time with our thermometer, and I had a fever of 101.8 (the highest it showed was 102.8 – at which time I could barely touch the outside of my stomach it was so hot). The resort helped Mike to locate a paramedic/pharmacist to see me in our room. He was so helpful and kind.
My blood pressure was 160/100. He looked at my tongue and told me I was dehydrated. Mike then became my full-time nurse administering the dehydration powder in my water (and ensuring I drank it regularly – yuck!), probiotic pills, fever/headache medicine, and diarrhea medicine. He also provided sleeping pills which I never took. I tried to sleep as much as I could between visits to the bathroom. I was weak. At times I wasn’t sure I could get to the bathroom on my own (I knew Mike would help me and I could wake him, however I managed on my own). My fever broke during the night during two major sweats. The resort staff was so accommodating! They adjusted our schedule with the hopes that I could do some of the other activities.
I woke up Friday (thank goodness…there were times during the night I wondered if I was going to be sent into my next life). My headache had improved, my fever was gone. I was weak and going to visit the porcelain throne less often. I wasn’t up to going to eat breakfast in the dining room. Mike brought me a plain pancake and yogurt, which both tasted good. Sarah and Mike did a jungle walk with Gopal and Ram (a second guide is required for safety) while I slept. On the jungle walk, they only saw one wild rhino in the distance, but plenty of birds, monkeys, and they did come across fresh bear scat that demonstrated they had just missed the bear.
The resort served us three meals per day. Everyone encouraged me to try and go to the dining room for lunch and I mustered enough energy to do so. The resort manager asked what I wanted to eat for lunch. They made me a special lunch of chicken broth, plain rice, and mashed potatoes (all of them were delicious!). It was fun to see the dining room and the outside of our room! I missed being in the air conditioning the second I opened the room door. It was 97, with a feels like of 107. YIKES!!! Everyone was hoping I could do the 30-minute walk to the tree house/tower and stay there overnight. Mike did not want to leave me alone. I was a bit concerned to go since I was already dehydrated and knew I’d sweat a lot. Mike and I walked to see the paramedic/pharmacist who had visited me in our room the night before. He took my temperature – 98.4, blood pressure 100/70, and looked at my tongue. He said if I felt like it I could go on the overnight trip to see the animals. I rested for a few hours and the three of us and Gopal left for the tree house. We met a Chitwan National Park ranger who joined us for our hike and to stay the evening in the tree house. I am NOT a fan of suspension bridges – there was a short one to cross and I must have been too weak to even care that I was on it! We hiked by the elephant breeding center. A wild male elephant was visiting the elephants in the center. Gopal and the park ranger assessed the situation. The wild elephant was too close for us to walk on the normal trail to the tree house (he was still around 250 yards away). We started to go in another direction and the wild elephant switched course. Eventually it was safe for us to take the normal trail. We saw lots of tracks – elephant, tiger, and sloth bear. We saw a huge beehive. I was fascinated by the elephant poo!
It rained lightly after we arrived. We hoped it would cool things off, but no luck! We saw fireflies. A rhino grazing. Lots of beautiful birds. After it got dark, we ate the dinner that the resort packed for us (they made me the same thing I requested for lunch, and it was as delicious as earlier in the day!). Our tower had three bedrooms. Sarah and our rooms were on the 3rd level. Next to the flushing toilet and sink area on the 2nd level, there was another bedroom where two sisters from France were staying. Gopal, the ranger, and the sisters’ guide slept on the 1st level. After positioning our mosquito nets, we all went to bed at 8:00 only to toss and turn in our sweat for the next 9 hours (there were oscillating fans in each of our bedrooms but they would turn off intermittently with the power). I managed to not have to visit the bathroom once during the night!
Saturday morning our alarms were set for 5:30 to see the morning wildlife. The grass is tall this time of year, so it isn’t the best time to see the animals and we didn’t see any. We had fruit, juice and tea. We left the treehouse at 7 am to walk to the elephant breeding center. Gopal shared lots of information with us regarding the breeding center, and facts about elephants. The wild male elephants visit the female elephants at the center. They have produced 50 babies since 1986. It was amazing to be so close to the baby elephant!
We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the resort. Sauraha is a cute town, with lots of people riding bikes. Although I was still weak, I didn’t want to leave this town without seeing it via a casual bike ride. Sarah said she’d go with me for part of it (Mike went and got ice cream instead!). Sangam got two bikes for us to use. Sarah took me via bike to see the things they saw with Gopal without me the day before. We stopped at a center that had lots of information regarding the local wildlife. I wanted to explore more of the town, and Sarah was ready to get into the air conditioning. She ensured I knew how to get where I wanted to go and get back to the resort on my own. Riding bike in this town was one of the highlights of being in Nepal for me. I loved every minute of it and wished my energy level would have allowed me to do it for hours.
After a shower, resting, and eating lunch, we left on our jeep safari with Gopal around 1:30. It is incredible how Gopal spots animals and birds! We saw beautiful flowers, a wild boar, several rhinos, three of the four species of local deer, monkeys, crocodiles, water buffalo, and lots of big birds. It was perfect in every way! We returned at 5:00 and rested in the air conditioning.
I was grateful my visits to the bathroom had decreased and I was feeling good enough for the three of us to have cocktail hour before dinner. We went to the local traditional dance show. When we returned to our room we packed for our journey back to Kathmandu.
We enjoyed our last meal at the resort at 7 am. Suzan took us to the bus stop for our 8 am bus (fingers crossed my system cooperates with this 6-hour bus ride!). In sections of the drive we were averaging 12 mph, my digestive track felt like the ride was never going to end. We arrived in Kathmandu at 2:45 pm and got a taxi to our apartment. We were all hungry, so we walked to Paradise Garden for an early dinner. We had a few groceries to pick up on the way home. We did a couple loads of laundry and went to bed early. It was fantastic to experience Chitwan National Park with Sarah! We are grateful she made the arrangements, and we were able to make it happen!
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