We set off around 8am in two vans - the kids were left behind to do another elephant safari and a hike to the surrounding lookout towers. The weather was very misty and it was hard to see any hazards ahead. Sure enough, after about 20 minutes we saw the faint shape of a huge rhino blocking the road. We waited a few minutes until the rhino slowly moved into the undergrowth, and then slowly proceeded. Upon passing the rhino we noticed that she had a baby with her. "This is not good!" said the ranger who was accompanying us. Suddenly we heard a huge snort and the mother rhino started to charge us. The driver immediately accelerated the vehicle but was having a hard time outrunning the rhino. Eventually, however, she got tired and slowed down.
This is the rhino which charged us
Once we left the park we headed west a through the many villages in the "Madi" area of Chitwan district. Although equally poor, these villages differed from the squalid roadside settlements we witnessed the day before. The villagers all looked happy and wore colorful dress. There were many school children walking or biking to school, all wearing clean blue uniforms. The houses were simple but clean, consisting of maybe a couple of rooms and an outhouse, a large stack of hay, and a couple of goats. This area subsists on farming, but there was no sight of any modern farming equipment - we saw maybe one tractor the whole journey. The electric grid has not reached this area yet (although there was a radio station), and the villages are completely cut off from the rest of Nepal during the 3 months of the monsoon season. As it was, we had to drive through many rivers to get there.
Once we got to the health clinic we saw that all the community leaders of the village had come out to meet us. It was very touching as they each presented us with a traditional silk sash and a flower lei. They seemed genuinely happy that westerners had made the long treck to come and see their village. We all introduced ourselves and at one point Dr Erica asked how many had cellphones, and literally everyone raised their hands.
Next we observed a few clinic visits with the doctor seeing mostly older patients. Despite the primitive conditions, she showed a connection with her patients that is not often seen in todays modern society. In all we spent about 3 hours at the village during which time we all fell in love with the people.
On the way back we stopped for a picnic lunch inside the park which seemed unadvisable given the events of the morning! We reached the resort at 3pm and met up with our children who had had a great day. Next it was time to get in an open topped truck for our afternoon safari and river boat ride.
After driving for half an hour through primitive back roads we reached the river. All 8 of us piled into one boat, and we set off down the crocodile infested river. We were reassured that the crocodiles fed mainly on fish, resorting to eating people only when there was no other food.
On the way back from the river boat ride, who should we encounter but Mr Rhino - standing right in the middle of the road. There was a tense moment of silence as the Jeep and the Rhino played a staring game seeing who would back off first. Sammy and Owen looked genuines scared. Finally the rhino moved off into the woods and we were free to go.
Back at the resort we sat through another naturalist talk, had dinner, and then went back to our cabin. Prior to visiting the resort, I had checked it out on tripadvisor.com, and while everyone gave it 5 stars, one reviewer mentioned that sometimes the cabin attracted unwanted visitors!
Of course I didn't tell any of the kids until after we left!
