My time in the lowlands was now advancing westwards to Chitwan NP. This park is not only famous for its prolific birdlife, but also the frequency of Tiger sightings, and I was extremely hopeful on joining on one of these sightings.
Sunday 1st March
Sunday 1st March
Anil met me at the entrance gates to Koshi Camp at 8am, and we departed west soon after. Today was a gruelling drive all the way to Chitwan NP, a journey of nine hours. Unfortunately there wasn't a great deal to see along the way, and with few stops we made good progress. A quick stop at the Jungle Villa Resort to meet Suchit Basnet whilst taking in the spectacular grounds was very much worth it. After a tour of the grounds, we shared a couple of beers overlooking the East Rapti River, with several Mugger Crocodiles and Gharials just below us. A couple of Stork-billed Kingfishers and River Lapwings were also showing well.
I could've easily stayed here (mainly as Suchit was a brilliant host and spoke superb English), but my accommodation (Tigerland Safari Resort) was ten minutes away. This resort was equally impressive, but despite the very long day, a local tribe of dancing ladies had me out of my seat to 'dance' with them - I did my best to hide at the end of the continental onlookers but as usual I got selected to make a fool out of myself.
Highlights are as follows:
Indian Peafowl - 10
River Lapwing - 5
Indian Scops Owl - 2
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker - 2
Stork-billed Kingfisher - 2
Common Woodshrike - 2
Plain Flowerpecker - 1
Mugger Crocodile - 3
Gharial - 1
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| View from Jungle Villa Resort |
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My ride for the following morning -
I can confirm that the elephants
in Nepal are very well looked after.
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| One-horned Rhinoceros |
Monday 2nd March
In the morning I had been offered a Elephant-back ride. I wasn't particular enthused by this, but I would've felt rude declining this kind offer, and therefore soon after dawn I was on top of nelly rocking side to side through the elephant grass. My enthusiasm soon became aroused with some lovely views of a Lesser Coucal and a rubythroat species that I just couldn't get good views of. As we neared the river every stonechat was being scrutinised, and eventually a stonking male White-tailed Stonechat appeared. Plenty of Olive-backed Pipits, Common Rosefinches and Striated Babblers were also present. The highlight however was my first sighting of a One-horned Rhinoceros. The elephant I was on had apparently been in trouble with a rhino in the past, and therefore manoeuvring the elephant to get the best view wasn't easy, but eventually we got there.
Back at the lodge after an enjoyable morning, I walked the lodge grounds for a short while and got good views of a Thick-billed Warbler, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and several Black-hooded Orioles.
So far the day had been very enjoyable, though I must admit it the morning was soon forgotten about by the time the evening had come around. My next accommodation (I was slowly losing track) was the immaculate Tiger Tops (Tharu village) Resort. I had lunch with the owner (Jack); some English-speaking volunteers; the owner's brother and his fiancée who own a lodge in Sri Lanka; and the chef who had prepared some incredible pizzas for us - all stone-baked from an oven that had been built only a few weeks previous. It turned out the chef owned a restaurant in Kathmandu that the trekking group and myself had gone into whilst staying in Kathmandu. As normal as this sounds, in six days time whilst having dinner on my own above Pokhara, I got invited to dine with others on another table, and one of the ladies on the table happened to be Jack's and the fiancés mother, who had flown out to be at the wedding.
Anyway, back to Tiger Tops. This afternoon I was given the chance to go on a game drive within Chitwan NP. Despite the guides knowing I was a birder, I soon told them I had seen everything (I hadn't) and to concentrate all efforts on finding me a Tiger. One of the volunteers joined me for this exciting drive through the thick jungle. We had to cross the river where we found several species of wader, including a Temminck's Stint. Soon we were in the vehicle and on our way. Birdlife was generally quiet, but a stop at a large lake produced a couple of One-horned Rhinos and a flyover Egyptian Vulture. In the thicker part of the jungle we disturbed a pair of Red-headed Trogons, with one showing nicely in the end. After a few hours we had reached the river, and so we climbed out of the vehicle and chilled on the bank praying a Tiger would emerge. Other than a Hog Deer and several paratroopers doing their thing, highlights were few and far between. A passing flock of Great Hornbills were spectacular as always, but this is when things started to turn.....for the better. Now back in the jeeps ready to leave the park, we drove a short distance downriver, again stopping and turning the engine off by the river. It was a good job we turned the engine off, as although there wasn't anything to see, in the depths of the jungle a female Tiger started bellowing out its penetrating call. Instant excitement; instant adrenaline; it was well and truly game on. In true safari mode, we ploughed it towards a dry river bed that the guide knew very well. In a matter of seconds after grinding to a halt, our guide spotted a young Tiger maybe 150 metres away laying down. In pure panic, it took me a few seconds to set my eyes on one of my most wanted, but finally I could see y prize - a Tiger!! After a brief view through the bins, I went about capturing some images. But, being a young tiger, we knew there had to be an adult around somewhere. What none of us never predicted was a further three Tigers to emerge from the forest - an adult female and three cubs in total.....wow!! We jumped out of the vehicles and approached as quickly and cautiously as we could, enabling even better views. Tigers in Nepal are not habituated to humans like they are in India, and are therefore more wary. After a prolonged view of this delightful family, the female spotted us and marched her cubs off and out of sight. We all stood still and in silence, but after a few seconds of recollecting what had just happened, it all went a bit crazy. The short journey back to the river was a happy one, even more so when a Savannah Nightjar was heard calling and soon spotted. The boat ride across the millpond-like river made the day complete - Small Pratincoles were darting around the boat as the sun set over the hills of Chitwan National Park.
During this period of visiting the lowlands, I had only three opportunities to see a Tiger, and somehow I had succeeded on my first attempt...quite incredible. What was even more incredible was knowing that my guide who had worked here since 2006, had never seen four tigers together!
Highlights are as follows:
Red Junglefowl - 2
Black-crowned Night Heron - 2
Oriental Darter - 1
Grey-headed Fish-eagle - 1
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 1
Egyptian Vulture - 1
River Lapwing - 3
Temminck's Stint - 1
Small Pratincole - 50
Emerald Dove - 2
Alexandrine Parakeet - 5
Blossom-headed Parakeet - 2
Green-billed Malkoha - 1
Greater Coucal - 3
Lesser Coucal - 1
Jungle Owlet - 1
SAVANNAH NIGHTJAR - 1
Red-headed Trogon - 2
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater - 2
Oriental Pied Hornbill - 4
Great Hornbill - 8
Common Iora - 1
Yellow-bellied Prinia - 2
Ashy Prinia - 1
Thick-billed Warbler - 1
Tickell's Leaf Warbler - 1
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush - 1
Puff-throated Babbler - 2
Chestnut-capped Babbler - 2
JUNGLE MYNA - 20
Hill Myna - 2
Bluethroat - 2
WHITE-TAILED STONECHAT - 2
Red Avadavat - 1
Common Rosefinch - 5
Royal Bengal Tiger - 4
One-horned Rhinoceros - 5
Wild Boar - 5
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| White-tailed Stonechat |
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| Red-headed Trogon |
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| Hog Deer |
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| Langur |
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| Bengal Tigers |
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| Savannah Nightjar |
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Thought to be the
footprints of our tigers.
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Tuesday 3rd March
Before embarking on a monstrous 13-hour drive to Bardia NP, I was invited to take part in an elephant walking safari. This was a new concept for me, and in all honesty I wasn't too sure as to how this would be achieved. Anyway, it soon dawned upon me after a tour of the wonderful grounds that the elephants are graced with. My elephants were ready, and together with my guide we walked in-between the elephants into an area of Chitwan NP that is home to only two Tigers. No tigers today, but a nice array of birds - there is something quite surreal when stopping in front of an elephant and hoping it stops instead of trampling over you. Thankfully, they were very well behaved. At the river there was a lovely group of Bar-headed Geese bathing, soon to be crossing the Himalayas on their epic migration north. All too soon though my time was up and we walked back to the lodge. Anil then had the arduous task of driving me all the way to Bardia NP, and with a national strike ongoing, progress was particularly slow. There were many police escorts through the more dangerous areas where we posed a risk of being thrown stones at etc. Of course we didn't encounter anything like that, deeming the whole process slightly pointless.
We finally arrived at the most western-style hotel yet - The Babai Resort, and it was everything you could want. I was in fact the first person to stay here, and I hope not the last as the owner was particularly welcoming. Once again, I was treated like a king and being handed as much food as one could manage, free beers and so on and so on. Having had a mainly chilled out day in the car, I didn't get to bed until the early hours of the morning, catching up on blogging and contacting people back home. From my balcony though I could see a couple of Large-tailed Nightjars, and an unidentified owl species. Unhelpfully the owl landed on my driver's balcony, and as he was getting up soon due to driving back to Kathmandu (20 hours!!), I couldn't really shine my torch on the immediate area.
Bar-headed Geese - 20
Himalayan Vulture - 20
Crested Goshawk - 1
Orange-breasted Green Pigeon - 3
Yellow-footed Green Pigeon - 20
Red-breasted Parakeet - 5
House Swift - 2
Coppersmith Barbet - 1
Lesser Yellownape - 2
Scarlet Minivet - 5
Grey-backed Shrike - 1
Pin-striped Tit-babbler - 4
Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch - 4
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - 1
Paddyfield Pipit - 10
White-rumped Munia - 20
