Day 116. Kyle & Leanne joint blog.

“No, I won’t leave! No, I won’t leave!” Leanne jokes as she wakes up in the hotel she has renamed Hotel “Swanky.”    

“But we are going to the jungle today and we only have 30 minutes to pack, eat breakfast and get to the van,” informs Kyle. 

Hotel Swanky served us well the last few nights with its posh hospitality at super reasonable prices for food, great WiFi, and an awesome pool.  But Leanne is reminded that this trip isn’t about vacationing and relaxing but exploring and learning so she readies for the 5 hour van ride towards Chitwan National Park.  Justin shares that the Nepalese government has taken preserving their animal-roaming land very seriously so it’s an honor to experience it. 

In the van, we enjoy the sweetest tiny bananas and fresh red organic apples.  Leanne and Kyle work on the blog while the kids enjoy more lush, Jurassic-park-like scenery as we move from warm to hot and humid jungle weather.  The drive is uneventful as the roads are paved and traffic is light with the locals having already left town for the festival. 

We arrive at our hotel, The Landmark Forest Hotel within the national park, to a great Indian / Nepalese buffet lunch with Chicken, Dal, Rice, and Naan. Nepalese/  Indian food is a clan favorite cuisine with its cumin and curry spices that just wake up your mouth and nose! After eating hot spicy food, Kyle pretends he is a dragon from Game of Thrones and tries to breathe fire on the unsuspecting guests at the next table.  To date, Kyle has not managed to light any medieval troublemakers on fire yet.

We take a sunset walking safari at 5 pm to look for animals and see the surrounding area.  We see a large herd of water buffalo, elephants, spotted deer, goats, and chickens.  Deepak had previously informed us that since cows are sacred in the Hindu religion (7 years in jail if you harm one, even if you accidentally hit one with your car), that the main meat that is served beside chicken is buffalo. 

We run into kids swinging on the bamboo swings made specially for the Dashain festival this week.  Our safari guide, Sanjay, takes us through an indigenous village of the Tsauri people who have lived in this park for centuries, well before it was designated as a national reserve in 1970s.   Their tribe was nearly decimated after a bout of malaria claimed over half its tribe in the 1960s before trek disease was eradicated here.  We are shown how their houses are made of thin dried elephant grass and thick bamboo as supports covered with cow dung and grasses.  No windows to prevent mosquitos from entering but the government has given them solar panels to create indoor lighting and power these homes. The government also provided training on farming in order to stem the tribe’s reliance on killing the animals. It was an eye-opening look to experience how simply this tribe lived and how they have had to adapt around their ancestral land to meet changing times. 

However dangers are ever present. Right next to the village is a small river that floods and rises during monsoon season. Problem is the river is home to 200 crocodiles.  Add to that that the endangered Bengal tiger and over 600 one-horned rhinos live nearby and we realize how brave and careful these tribe’s folk must be just to live safely every day.   There are watch towers over their crops so they can shine flashlights into the eyes of nocturnal animals who tend to come to snack in the dark. (Note to self: don’t leave hotel room in middle of the night).  

We learn this particular village only has about 35 people.  Ashley asks if the crocodiles ever attack the villagers and Sanjay responds that it happens once every two years or so.  You don’t need to be a math major to figure out that rate, the survival of the village is not looking great, especially since we only saw 2 or 3 kids.  Kyle suggests that maybe the government should have given them missile launchers to blow up the crocodiles when they attack instead of solar cells.

We take in the sunset over the jungle and enjoy animals and tranquility of the scenery.  As the sun sets, Sanjay indicates we need to go back to the hotel as Bengal Tigers are nocturnal animals that come out after sunset to attack the herds of animals or unsuspecting tourists as the case may be. 

Back at the hotel after dinner, the Tharo tribe performed a cultural dance show.  Sixteen teenage boys performed well coordinated dances to drums with sticks, handmade instruments and peacock feather props. At the end, they invited the audience to dance as well in the circle and several of the clan participated although Leanne worried her off-tune dancing might hit a Nepalese feed on Instagram. When in Chitwan, do as the Chitwanese do? 

We retire early to bed.  With WiFi non-existent and our cell phone turned off due to the high roaming costs and no available flat rate plans, the clan WILL enjoy this reserve pretty much unplugged from the rest of the world. Exactly how it should be enjoyed.