Chitwan National Park By Jeep

An adolescent rhino we spotted the night before our jeep ride during an evening walk in the buffer zone of the park.
Looks cute right? That's what we thought until our guide told us this was the same little guy who had attacked tourists
the day before!

With a week left in Nepal it was time to get out of the mountains. Before we came to this country I didn't even know Nepal had anything but mountains and it turns out there are some rather lovely lowlands where tigers and rhinos lurk in sticky jungles. And that's where we went for a 3 day trip.
I was bumping about in the back of our 10 person open top jeep, eyes trained on the foliage intently. The wind (which there was a surprising amount of considering top speed was 20 mile per hour on a good stretch of road) was warm on my cheeks now that the clammy morning fog had lifted. Our army green vehicle below me rumbled noisily through a field of elephant grass, black exhaust pouring out of the tail pipe.
What wild animal in their right mind would hang around with all this noise?????
I shook my head. It wouldn't matter, there could be a whole heard of wild elephants 15 feet to my right and I would never know. The tall golden stalks of grass were easily 10 feet tall and enclosed the narrow dirt road, making it feel more like a tunnel. In fact I ducked now behind the protection of a seat to avoid being decapitated by the sharp blades encroaching on the road. I had learned earlier that over sized grass leaves an over sized grass cut.
The rat-a-tat-tat of our guide Rejesh's fingers on the roof of the cab made me sit up a little taller.
Has he spotted something? 
The jeep ground to a halt, making everyone lurch forward a bit. Rajesh stood erect in the front, eyes shaded by his palm like a pro. He narrowed his eyes as he looked for signs of a jungle beast- snorts, grass jostled by the stride of a rhino perhaps. His spine was straight and tall beneath his forest green vest bearing the slogan, "protect the wild life, no debate." We all held our breath in silence, and then got to our feet to look as well. The sun was beating down and in the direct light I could see the footprints of something big in the marshy undergrowth. Our guide shook his head.
"No animals here. Often rhino come but not now." We all slouched back to our seats. This morning we had seen a eagle or two, a "wild" pig nosing through trash in the parking lot and a few deer but no prizes. The engine gave a groan of complaint before slowly crawling towards the rolling hills in the distance.

Wild Pig is hungry for handouts 

Cicadas droned lazily in the distance and birds could be seen fluttering about in the afternoon heat but that was all the fauna in sight as we kept watch on the river, chewing some fried rice we had brought from our inn. We had broke for noon day meal on the bank of the river where tigers often came to drink. The highlight of our animal sightings since earlier had been a troupe of monkeys, enjoying lunch in the canopy of an open grove. So far we had been more impressed with the geography of the park than it's inhabitants. The family had driven through dense and lush forests, open grass lands and across wide rivers this morning. Behind me Nick and Dad joked around in hushed tones, and our guide and driver talked in whispers a few yards away. My eyes drifted to a heard of Sambar Deer grazing down and across the river. They eagerly lapped up the water and I hoped that the large and dangerous crocodiles we had seen to lurk below the surface of the waterways wouldn't take this opportunity to have an easy snack.
"No tiger today." Rajesh's announcement interrupted my thoughts. "If not hot he might not be thirsty. Lets go."

A spotted deer reveals herself to our jeep

The sun was heavy in the sky as we clambered into the long wooden canoes to cross the river that was the boarder of the park. We had seen a few more deer and an interesting lizard but that was all. I don't think we were that disappointed though, we had seen much of the park.

This little guy watched us from his lair,
 in the hole of a roadside tree

As the boatman used a bamboo pole to push us across the murky river I eyed a crocodile on the shore no more that 15 yards away. He was huge, as big as a full grown man and appeared to be sunning himself, taking advantage of the last of the day's light. Slate grey armor on his back was perfect camouflage. I shivered, the rim of our canoe was only a few inches above the water! After what seemed like forever we bumped against the opposite shore and I was safely out of the crocodile's domain. The last bit of color in the sky drained away, leaving the woods where wild elephants and tigers roamed in shadows. Nothing today, but we weren't done with the jungle yet.

Sun sets over the jungle