Rhino Spotting

We were quickly running out of time and money in Nepal so only had a quick stop off in this quiet little town. Obviously finding the important things first we went to an amazing restaurant called KC's which had lovely views and delicious thali.

The second priority was to see the one horned Rhino. We chose the jeep safari as it gave us the best chance of spotting the elusive beast. We saw a few things of interest along the way, monkeys and crocodiles and then, at one of the lakes we slowed down as we spied a lovely Rhino enjoying some grass and water on the edge of the lake. We watched him for about 20 minutes before he slowly sauntered off into the high grass. It was amazing to see a wild Rhino in his natural habitat and we were even more grateful when we heard we were the only two groups to have seen the beast!

As part of the safari we got taken to a crocodile sanctuary where the park is trying to save the endangered species of Gharial crocodile. They have crocodiles of all ages there from recent hatchlings to a 36 year old male. They are strange looking animals with extremely long snouts and the adult males develop a huge bulbous nose which is used in traditional medicines, hence the decline in numbers. The park seem to be doing a good job of bringing the numbers back up and there is a large army presence in the park to stop poachers. We didn't see a Tiger but with only 21 in the huge park there wasn't a high chance! James and I were just so pleased to have seen the Rhino as we had to leave for Kathmandu the following day.

We had been told about an Elephant sanctuary and were disappointed we didn't have time to go. Just as we were on our way back to the guest house for the evening three Elephants walked past us on the road!

The bus journey back to Kathmandu was possibly the bumpiest journey ever. We were at the back of the bus so we felt every tiny pot hole. To top it off we got told off by the conductors mate as we weren't allowed to put our seats back, despite the fact we had nobody sat behind us! At least we arrived safely; the only damage done was to our rears!