Kathmandu to Chitwan

The four-hour drive from Kathmandu to the Royal Chitwan Forest is pleasant as long as you watch the scenery, not the road.

The road headed down from the capital via a long series of hairpin turns until it reached a river. It then followed the river's many twists. The rules of the road in Nepal are foreign to us westerners. It consists of mostly honking your horn. There is no safe place to pass; yet, all drivers pass others regularly.

I had to watch the river and mountains—the forward view was too scary.

After three hours we entered a flat lowland and an hour later we arrived at the Royal Park resort. The grounds consist of treed paths, flowering tropical bushes, and cute semi-attached cottages with flush toilettes and showers. Very comfortable!

At 3 PM, several busloads of us drove out to the game preserve and mounted elephants (four to each beast) for a stroll in the bush.

The riparian forest is spacious, deciduous tropical fast-growing trees with a shrub understory and some grassy open areas.

Forest viewed from the river

Our mahout (elephant driver) had great bush eyes. He spotted three species of deer (barking, spotted and sambar), a basking crocodile, and a jungle fowl (wild chicken). We also saw wild boar and two Indian rhinos.

Rhino mom and child

A very good afternoon! I spotted a few birds. I am making field notes and will determine what they are later.