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Chitwan National Park visit
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  (11-09-2018, 10:17 PM)Wolverine Wrote:(11-06-2018, 04:49 PM)Jimmy Wrote: Excited to visit Chitwan national park, sauraha sector, within two weeks, but this time as a tourist guide following a shceduled program, so it will be a restricted itenerary for 2 nights 3 days!!! haha....i will post about it shortly, i have compiled some videos
[Chitwan National Park, Sauraha sector, 21-23 November 2018
Before hand- Viewer discretion is advised: i carried only a mobile phone during the entire tour so no up-close zooming no great detailed DSLR photos… …. lol!!! So, i reached the lodge of Chitwan at around 1:00 pm on 21st of November, after general briefing of the national park by nature guide, our program was scheduled at 2:30 pm, it will be a bird watching around the lodge area (or a sort of buffer zone explore to get to know the area). At 2:30 we started a walk, as soon as we left the lodge, there were huge droppings on the fields, the guide told that these farmlands are visited by rhinos at night and it was their droppings and not from domestic elephants as everyone was speculating at that time. These farms were just a few paces behind the lodge and also there were some damaged houses which the guide told were knocked by a rogue elephant famous in this area named 'Ronaldo Bull' coming from the park. It was pretty common that accident happened every now and then in these area. Close by, there was elephant stable containing only the domestic bull elephants- some10 individual were present there all bearing sizable tusks. These as guide told was government run for patrolling the park for poachers and other activities by rangers and army and are not for carrying tourists.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Beyond this, there was a nice stretch of grassland and forest. Buffer zone could indeed be a productive area for wildlife! For the first time the real jungle was visible since lodges along the road obstructed the view of the park until this point. We continued walking, the guide pointed to 4-5 pied hornbills which flew overhead, different kinds of owl and some other birds, all visitors i could see were more interested in larger animals, I was rather lagging behind cuz I was also filming, the guide had already reached a bank along with numerous other tourists that got there first and was showing something below, I kept filming following his indication thinking it could be a mugger croc on the high bank below. Since this was a buffer zone some stray dogs had managed to get here. It is always upsetting to see dogs in a prime wildlife location that could deter most probably deer and other small mammals which would eventually attract predators but anyway, to my amazement ended up filming a big rhino in the river! On the opposite side was another rhino probably an independent calf. Remarkably close and a great vantage point, the first rhino was directly below the tourist and the bank was steep enough on that side that the rhino could not climb.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author [  *This image is copyright of its original author The first rhino was so close one could hear it flapping it's ears and deep breathing, it really was like an open zoo but with a wide open view of grassland and natural jungle, felt extremely safe even so close. However, the ground was disguised by long trampled grass and one wrong step could send any unsuspecting tourist slipping directly on the back of the rhino  ! I was careful not to get too close for this obvious reason. Two rhinos maintained their distance and the bigger one kept snorting as a warning whenever the younger one closed in. Everyone kept viewing this amazing sight to their heart's content then we moved on. There was a lone smallish mugger in the same river but after a large bend and at a distance of around 2 km from the rhino, there were some other mugger crocs farther and two gharials.  *This image is copyright of its original author This spot was called 'sun set point' and obviously we were brought here for viewing this, we also waited if any animlals came out from the jungle at this time and on to the sand banks but there was none and After that we headed to the lodge as it was getting dark.  *This image is copyright of its original author Second day at around 6:30 it was a canoe ride. The morning was quite cold and i knew this was generally not a good condition for viewing crocs. There was a blanket of thick mist hovering above the river surface which felt surprisingly warmer than the air on land. Canoe ride is always a relaxing ride with a nice low angle view of the river banks and forest. first there was some kind of territorial splashing and display in front of our canoe by two crocs then after some elephant safari had also begun at this point and they were starting to cross the river. About 7 crocs were spotted in total and all were seen only with their head, tail or back exposed to the surface, most were pretty small ones, different species of king fishers, cormorant, darter, osprey, peacocks, adjutant storks, geese were the common birds that was familiar to me.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author [  *This image is copyright of its original author After we got off from the canoe, it was a jungle walk tour in the nearby forest for around 1 hour. We kept walking viewing mostly spotted deer frequently, various bird life and then after some half an hour there was a rhino in a marsh moving and eating aquatic vegetation with a drongo perched on its back, the rhino was quite far for a photo but to the naked eye the landscape with a rhino in the marsh was nevertheless soothing toobserve. We were quite content that we had already seen rhinos close-enough yesterday so we just soaked in this atmoshphere and moved on. there was a tiger track several days old and termite mound-some still soft and was termites were actively repairing.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The walk was over and we came to the domestic elephant stable-all females. female elephants were kept for breeding and for tourist purpose. Breeding is natural i.e.wild bulls are allowed to visit the female time to time and there were some 4 very young ones. After that, the morning tour was over, in the afternoon was our time for an elephant safari.  *This image is copyright of its original author For making videos, riding an elephant was a severe challenge, you could click one decent photo no problem but to film a long enough sequence is very hard especially when the elephant is on the move and keeps rocking on all sides and I was at the back, so priority was given to my guests as they had paid for this, which meant they were the first to see and take photos of any activity and from better angles, I had to rotate half of my body from the waist upwards and severely turn my neck and arms for filming all the while being seated. So until the elephant stood still it was impossible to film, Now since it was getting hotter than the morning when we did canoe ride, some crocs were on the land full view, we saw around 4 big crocs this time on the bank and elephant kept maneuvering between the forest’s edge and the river bank-great for seeing animals of 'both worlds'. We sighted a lone rhino munching some vegetation, then on to a clearing there was another mother and calf very close to domestic elephants.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Seeing a rhino from elephant is a less of a thrill than seeing on foot and you feel busy maintaing your proper position while the elephant sways all around-there is no serene peaceful moment while you are on the elephant back. But the view from atop is clear even if it’s in tangled vegetation and elephants can seek out rhinos much easily and get close. So there are certain advantages in both.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author we also saw a lone Sambar deer female, but i could not get a clear view from the worst position that i was in and it was so annoying.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Then there were some hairless wild boars which looked like pigs and further up there were spotted deer, barking deer with peafowl and jungle fowl all feeding on one place very close to elephant-riding spot. After that it was over.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The third and final day 23rd November was basically no activity, which means after breakfast we got ready to leave the lodge at 400m for a hill station for mountain and sunrise viewing excursion at 2100m. Overall, for all the guest that were with us, it was a successful tour as far as rhino sighting is concerned, we viewed 8 individuals, on 3 occasions mother and calf, in a short time that we were in a forest on a package tour. Probably for the next time the hot season is the best and full day jungle drive could be an option. Here is a video of this tour i've just uploaded, Nice to be sharing with you all whatever the quallity of this maybe  !!!
It was a pleasure to read. And the video is really good. Especially with all the natural noises of the forest got caught so well.
But this has got to be the most unique capture... (11-30-2018, 12:45 PM)Jimmy Wrote: India should start this kind of trekking & foot safari along forest trail in the buffers of our tiger reserves. That'll be reasonably safe & would create livelihood for the local forest dwellers. I know it's done only in few places, like Satpura & Periyar. Brilliant! It's most definitely on my to-do list now. (11-30-2018, 02:36 PM)Rishi Wrote: It was a pleasure to read. And the video is really good. Especially with all the natural noises of the forest got caught so well.Thank you rishi, yup tried to capture all the bird sounds, but our group kept surprisingly silent! Lol yeah that calf peed right in front of us! Yup for the livelihood of the locals, tourist activities in buffer zone is a must, many locals have also been employed as nature guides here apart from their cultural dance which was included in the package. (11-30-2018, 03:05 PM)Wolverine Wrote: Brilliant video, amazing nature, lucky guy!Thanks man, yup for foreigners, Chitwan definetly is their no.1 choice apart from mountains and trekking. There are so many lodges being operated there, our lodge was packed with German and French, Western tourists definitely outnumber local tourist in Chitwan. 
This is wonderful experience jimmy. Thanks for sharing this. I suggest to add the link of your post under the video description in YouTube. This way, anyone who need to read about your experience in more detail can read it here.
Thank you @sanjay yeah that's a good idea. I am very naive of youtube lol, this is my first time uploading anything on it so I'm pretty much learning about it, its also my first mutiple clips joining together to make into one video. Actually i decided to make a video thinking about showing it on wildfact and nothing else as I had already showed photos of Chitwan last time and thought it will be similar if i took pictures only so decided on video.... ...yup I will definetly want to add a link there. Thank you for helping me out
And if you done amazing work in this also. Many thanks for thinking of community. I am really grateful to have some of the amazing member here. As a community it is very important have good members, actually they are backbone.
 (11-30-2018, 12:45 PM)Jimmy Wrote: [Chitwan National Park, Sauraha sector, 21-23 November 2018@Jimmy Thanks a lot for sharing in the Forum your incredible experience (11-30-2018, 04:02 PM)Jimmy Wrote:(11-30-2018, 02:36 PM)Rishi Wrote: It was a pleasure to read. And the video is really good. Especially with all the natural noises of the forest got caught so well.Thank you rishi, yup tried to capture all the bird sounds, but our group kept surprisingly silent! Lol yeah that calf peed right in front of us! Yup for the livelihood of the locals, tourist activities in buffer zone is a must, many locals have also been employed as nature guides here apart from their cultural dance which was included in the package. These long chains of numerous riding elephants walking through the dense vegetation as an army are typical for Chitwan since centuries. Probably the largest ever tiger hunt in the new history by King George V (1911) with participating of whole army of elephants took place exactly in Chitwan.  *This image is copyright of its original author Its hard to believe that only 50 years ago (1961) the same British queen Elizabeth II and her family who now is pretending to be a big supporter of wildlife protection as a young queen took part in massive tiger and rhino hunt in Chitwan with participation of 327 riding elephants. See minutes 3,14-5: (12-02-2018, 10:58 AM)Wolverine Wrote:Chitwan does carry a lot of history, wonder how things change in so short of a time, back then probably it was like diplomacy for the host country and no one raised their concern for wildlife, Asian culture does have reverence for wildlife particularly in Hinduism as some sort of god or their transport is always depicted as animals, western culture probably saw animals as art or decoration- their heads to be hung on the wall and showcased a hunter's fearless prowess as well . To make matter worse, the kings of Nepal continued on British footsteps and began hunting on their own. Old palace of Nepal doesnot have animal heads as decoration there are only sculptures acting as a deity but modern palace do even a head of cape buffalo and body (skin) with a head of a polar bear! Here is a short clip of royalties of Nepal on a hunt in Chitwan.(11-30-2018, 04:02 PM)Jimmy Wrote:(11-30-2018, 02:36 PM)Rishi Wrote: It was a pleasure to read. And the video is really good. Especially with all the natural noises of the forest got caught so well.Thank you rishi, yup tried to capture all the bird sounds, but our group kept surprisingly silent! Lol yeah that calf peed right in front of us! Yup for the livelihood of the locals, tourist activities in buffer zone is a must, many locals have also been employed as nature guides here apart from their cultural dance which was included in the package. 
Amazing pictures, especially of the elephant child, and thanks for introducing chitwan national park, as I didn't knew about it and now will definitely plan a trip here when I am visiting nepal.
@olivergreen Thank you! yup many tourists here come for the Himalayas not knowing there are tropical jungle and wildlife here, eventually they will end up here to there great surprise! you are most welcome!
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