Chasing White Elephants
Our wildlife guide for the Chitwan National Park spoke good English but with an accent and inflection that made it more or less incomprehensible. He managed to tell Andy that, ‘smoking is injurious to your health’ which demonstrates a comprehensive grasp of the language. However, it wasn’t until the end of the jungle walk that Maddy pointed out to me that it wasn’t ‘white elephants’ we were tracking but ‘wild elephants’. That then made a lot more sense!
The day had started with a delightful canoe trip down a crocodile infested river alive with exotic birds and swathed in morning mist. A wonderfully atmospheric drift down the clear, gently flowing waters during which we passed directly over a crocodile a few inches below us on the river bed.
There are two types of crocodile in these waters. The thin nosed ‘Gharwal’ which feeds on fish and the broad nosed ‘Muggers’ that feed on anybody. We saw both in abundance and the largest was the lurking mugger we swished past missing it by a couple of metres. Motionless and unbelievably sinister it lay there in the mud awaiting it’s next mugging.
The bird life was spectacular with several species of gaudy kingfishers, herons, storks, wagtails and a host of other exotic (but nameless) fly pasts.
Everyone loved the dug out canoe trip which deposited us a mile or two down stream enabling us to walk back through the forest. This part of the forest was alive with birds and animals in the, still early, morning. Deer, birds galore, the odd fresh tiger print and bucket loads of rhino poo. We picked up some ‘white’ elephant tracks which led to the elephant breeding centre where we met their captive cousins and their mahouts. It seemed sad to see such proud animals chained awaiting their mahout’s command but when un-hobbled and ridden they looked at one with the jungle and with no hint of the neurotic repetitive movements that plagued them when chained.
After a fine curry lunch back at the Safari Adventure Lodge we piled into a Jeep to penetrate deep into the Park in pursuit of rhinos, tigers and other exotica.
In winter the elephant grass is 5m high which meant that, from jeep height, our field of view was very limited. I am sure the grasslands were teeming with large critters but, if they were there, they all managed to elude the sharp eyes of our guide.
Several hours later we abandoned our rhino quest and retreated back across the river lit by an orange twilight. The town of Sauraha at dusk was alive with party lights and bustling BBQ’s in the streets. It had been a long and tiring day but it had been full of exotic and enjoyable experiences. It had been a great day despite the complete absence of one horned rhinos and ‘white elephants’.
