The Lodge we are staying in is by far the best place yet. Rooms are clean, and a good size; the gardens are nicely designed and colourful; and the service is efficient and the food is good. A lovely place to be for 2 days.
This morning we had a delicious breakfast at 6:00 a.m. then at 6:30 a.m. we walked down to the river and got into wooden canoes for a 5 km “float” down the river. There was a chap with a long pole standing at the back end of the canoe. He propelled us lazily down the river. As with rowing, the boats seemed a little tippy whenever you moved in them, and of course your bum got so sore and numb, but the sensation of floating down the peaceful river was like being in Camelot. We saw a couple of crocodiles on the bank, and tons of beautiful birds.
After the boat ride, we trekked back through the forest always hoping to catch a glimpse of rhinoceros, bear, or even deer. But sadly, we scared them all away with our heavy footsteps. Saw lots of “paw prints”, a place where rhinos had mated, and the pee of the rhino which is squirted in a 4m area to mark its territory. Other than almost stepping on a deadly common king cobra much to our guide’s alarm, the trek was uneventful. We ended up opposite the Lodge at the end of the trek and were once again gently propelled across.
As we walked back on the river bank we saw some elephant handlers giving the elephants a good wash in the river. They use stones to rub them down and their voice to get them to stand up, lie down, roll over, squirt water, etc. We were supposed to have gone elephant washing but the people who do it are “on strike”, so there is none at the moment. This morning it is about 36C so thankfully, a little cooler.
After our morning activities we had about 1 ½ hrs relax time. I thought I might sleep, but in the end just sat quietly outside our room enjoying the garden, writing my diary and chatting with some of the group. At 12 we had lunch, then time to pop over to the internet to check some details on our China/ Russia trip before setting of at 2:30 for our elephant ride. By this time it was about 38-40C – not quite so “cool”. None the less, we have become used to heat and don’t find it as tiring.
Riding on an elephant was huge fun! We climbed on to the “howdah” from a tall mounting block, four up. Imagine a foot-stool turned upside down and cushions placed inside the frame. Each person sat at a corner inside the frame with legs straddling the legs of the stool. Got the picture??? The motion is a little confusing because you are more or less sideways as opposed to facing forward and the stride is gigantic. Going up and down hills was surprisingly smooth. We crossed a river, praying that the elephant wouldn’t spray water over us (the cooling effect would be great but it wouldn’t be so good for the cameras!). We followed well worn paths through the forest feeling the tickle of spider webs on our skin, the scraping of branches against our legs, and the whip of the smaller upper branches against our face. We also seemed to forge through the jungle creating new tracks which meant quite a bit of extricating yourself from leaves, branches and wines. We ended up covered in spiders, little bugs, and leaf debris. Every so often our elehant pooped and the strongly pungent smell was nausous! All our efforst were rewarded. We cam upon a wide open space and 5 rhinos, 2 bathing in a water hole and 3 grazing in the grass. They are huge, scaley anmilas with mean, visious faces, but elephant and rhinos live well together so we were able to get within about 6 feet, and being high on the elephant, we had a splendid view. Happy and contented at seeing these huge beasts, we returned to the elephant station and then the hotel.
I went down swimming in the river with Dave to cool down remembering that morning we had seen two crocodiles basking on the banks of the river. We met a Spanish guy riding his Marawi horse along the edge. He had moved from Spain , bought some horses, and set up a riding center. It never ceases to amaze me the confident with which some people run their lives.
In the evening we saw Tharu stick dancing. This is a powerful tribal dance with clashing sticks, loud drums, and chanting. It was very arousing and the opportunity to join them in the ritual dancing was very stirring and emotional. Then, it was all over and it was off to bed. Today was filled with memorable moments.
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