March 9-11
Hi All,
Well, we continue to be very busy……like up at 6ish and getting back after 8ish……needless to say not much time for the blog. We are now in Pokara (March 17) and have a few hours free….so here goes about Bardia!! Well, did not get it done so now in Kathmandu on March 18!!!!
Baardia NP: “Untouched by the 2015 earthquake, Bardia National Park is the largest national park and wilderness area in the Terai and has excellent wildlife-watching opportunities. Bardia is often described as what Chitwan was like 30 years ago, before being overrun by tourism. The park protects 968 sq km of sal forest and grassland, and together with the 550 sq km Banke National Park it protects one of Asia’s largest stretches of tiger habitat. The tiger numbers are increasing after their demise during the Maoist insurgency. As well as tigers, there are also healthy populations of wild elephants and one-horned rhinos among the 30 species of mammals living here. The rhinos were re-introduced from Chitwan starting in 1986 in a bid to extend their range to help conserve the species. Unfortunately the early progress was all but lost when poachers took advantage of the insurgency and the population was decimated. Today the population is slowly recovering, with 31 being counted in 2014.
Bardia also has more than 250 species of birds, including the endangered Bengal florican and sarus crane. Gharial and marsh mugger crocodiles and Gangetic dolphins are occasionally spotted on rafting and canoe trips along the Geruwa River, the eastern channel of the Karnali River. Bardia National Park suffered greatly during the Maoist insurgency. Tourism dried up, lodges were mothballed and the wildlife was hit hard by poaching owing to inadequate protection. The good news is that all this is now being reversed, and while it’s a long, arduous journey out here, it’s well worth the effort”
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5KnzmbL5Lvo/TZOkdW__L9I/AAAAAAAAF4I/gKDmSh95QqM/s640/Nepal_Map.jpg
It was indeed a bit of trip to get there. We were up early and left the hotel at 6:45am for an 8:00am flight to Nepalgunz…..turns out to be a prop plane…whoa…..haven’t been on one of those in a while!!!! Once again we were disappointed by the poor air-quality and poor visibility of the Himalayas:(((( We were met at the airport by our driver and guide named Ketar. They started to load our 2 bags but only one fit as they had supplies in the back….so up on the top luggage rack goes Kathy’s……no big deal we thought, until the dust came later….ugh!!!! We both get in the back and immediately smell gasoline…..yep, several cans of gas for the lodge safari jeep which we are on for the next day……ok, guys, the gas smells pretty bad back here….no worries we will roll down the windows….great…..but mine doesn’t work…..so, we take our 3+ hour ride getting air blown and breathing toxic fumes…..yes, we’re having fun now!….whaaaaa!!! But, we do stop at a big river which Japan has built a bridge across. We take a walk and are treated to delightful scenery, some big crocodiles and fish in the water…nice. And, we end up at a local restaurant for another dal baht served with fresh fried river fish……delicious!!!
We get to the lodge and are again disappointed……not exactly what was in the brochures and Trip Advisor. The lodge may have been nice in its day but it needs some major TLC. Our room is spartan…..a bed, table and old closet….ok, we can deal with that. The walls and ceiling are very stained……and cobwebs everywhere….and what’s that….slap…..a gazillion mosquitos…..but wait, there is a western toilet…..nice…..but it is leaking…..so we turned off the water until we flushed….joy……and it gets better……the mattress on the bed is like plywood, hard as a rock along with the pillows….ok, take a deep breath…..this is a 3rd world country…..but geez, you would think Trip Advisor would have alerted us.
Well…..if the poor accommodations were on one end of the scale the customer service/people were a true delight…..a 10 on our scale!!!!! The people were great and after our 2.5 days we were very sad to leave. We mention the mosquitoes…..they have these small units that you plug in to power to activate the liquid…..by the next morning all the mosquitoes were “silent”……their term…..not allowed to kill anything in the Park…..and amazingly neither of us were bitten. The next day most of the cobwebs were gone too!!!! The 2nd night they served popcorn as our snack and when they learned we love popcorn and beer we were served popcorn and beer in our room the 3rd night. They use solar power to heat the hot water…..well, as I will get to, the 2nd day it rained so there was no hot water…..no worries, they brought buckets of steaming hot water to our room…..we just used the provided scoop and mixed the steaming water with a little cold and had the ultimate in a navy shower…..but oh did it feel so good!!!! AND, once they learned we like tea and coffee in the mornings, they brought a steaming pot of coffee and tea every morning at wakeup….sweet!!! They really worked hard to make our stay a “delight” and it was impressive!!!
After we settled in the first afternoon, Ketar took us to the Park where we visited a crocodile breeding center and walked along the river bank seeing lots of birds, and also visited the elephant breeding center and saw our first baby elephant. We saw a leopard that had been trapped by the locals. This one kept attacking the livestock so the locals trapped him in a temple and called the park service. Since it is illegal to kill the leopard, the Park is unsure what to do…..maybe eventually send him to a zoo, as he can’t be released back into the wild. While we there, we thought we were getting some kitty love….he was loudly purring….but we soon saw a half eaten water buffalo leg…..he was feeling mighty full!! We also saw our first one-horned rhino…..this one had been injured and the Park nursed him back to good healthy albeit he is blind. They have turned him loose in the Park but he keeps returning so they allow him to stay or leave at his pleasure!! We also went to one of the indigenous people’s home and saw the construction……made of dried elephant grass covered with mud/stucco…..impressive……but indeed subsistence living. Their goats and water buffalo were tethered nearby, and their garden was located just behind the house. We have seen water buffalo before but these seem quite large……used mainly for milk and as a beast of burden!!!
An interesting story: For all our meals, Dharma, the lodge owner would talk with us about his life. His father owned Rhino Travel agency, the one we are using in Kathmandu……there were 3 brothers and he gave one the travel agency, one the lodge in Chitwan where we are also going, and Dharma, the youngest, this lodge in Bardia. Dharma’s wife and two daughters moved to Dallas Texas about 15 years ago. Dharma’s wife’s sister had moved with her husband to Texas and convinced her sister to move there also, basically for a better life and the children’s education…….America the land of opportunity!!!!! Some of the family has since gained USA citizenship and the rest have green cards. We saw pictures of Dharma’s family…..the wife is much younger and it must have been an arranged marriage….maybe half the Nepal marriages are arranged. The oldest daughter initially did not do well in public school as the English language was too hard. A Catholic school took her in and found some Nepali speaking teachers….evidently there is a large community of Nepalese in Dallas. The daughter learned English, flourished and eventually got a scholarship to Harvard but turned it down to stay close to her family and attend dental school in Dallas. She was all set to come back to Nepal for a 2-3 month internship but canceled due to all the fear regarding Trump’s travel ban and potentially not being able to return to the US to finish her dental education. Since the hate killings in Kansas, Dharma says there is now a lot of fear in the Nepali community in Dallas. Needless to say it was an impossible/difficult conversation trying to explain why Trump and some of his supporters are so xenophobic……even towards legal immigrants…..ugh!!!!
And to continue Dharma’s story…..all the family works including the children, they live rather simply, drink no alcohol and have saved quite a bit of money and now Dharma and his brother-in-law have partnered and own 4 independent gas and convenience stores…he said first it was people from India, then Pakistan and now Nepal!!! They did not make much money until they started to sell beer and wine. Now they sell gas at a loss and make more money……pretty astute business acumen!!!
Meals: Eggs, hard or in an omelet, chicken done many ways, all sorts of vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, lentils, carrots, green beans) and fruits (tangerines, apples, bananas) and of course rice and potatoes. The 1st night we had another dal bhat which was not too flavorful…..we told them it was ok to spice it up just a little:)))) For our first meal Dharma asked us if we wanted anything from the bar…..oh, you serve alcohol…..score……ok, Kathy will have a white and I’ll have a red wine…..perfect…..they bring the wine…..I take a sip and holly yikes……it has a strong licorice medicinal flavor and is very cold…..hmmm, Dharma, where is the wine from……from Nepal, the best, you like…..well, interesting…..can I see the bottle…..it is Divine Wine made in Nepal…..but made from tea, flowers, spices and antioxidants (whatever those are)…it’s not made from grapes…..ok, I’m a good boy and manage to finish it with a smile……needless to say we stuck with beer and whiskey from then on:))))
About 4 am the first night we both wake to the sound of rain on the roof…..we are supposed to take the open air jeep on safari…..this could get wet….roll over and deal with it later….ugh!!! Wakeup at 6:30, breakfast at 7 and out by 7:30…….well, that was the plan….left maybe 8ish…..and indeed it rained almost all day….cold and rainy…..but not too worry…..they rigged up a tarp over the top of the jeep, and away we went. Yes, Kathy and I are feeling like rainmakers…..need rain, call us…….like rain in Uluru and the Nullarbor Plain in Australia last year where it never rains in Feb/March. This is the dry season in Nepal…..like CA it ONLY rains in the winter……but nooooo, the one day we have for the open jeep safari and it rains…….arghhhhhh!!!! Needless to say the rain kept a lot of the animals in their cozy dens……..ugh!!!
At the supposedly best animal sighting area, Ketar decided to spend several hours just waiting for the animals to show up…..about 4:30 Kathy says I’m very cold so lets head back…..and bam…..about 400 yards away we see a rhino crossing the river…..wow, is that animal huge!!!!! We stuck it out for another hour with nothing so we headed back. Dharma greets us and knows we are cold…he has a nice, hot wood fire going in a sheltered area and they bring hot tea…..then we head back to the room and they have turned on the wall unit heater so our room is nice and cozy…..then they bring a beer, popcorn and the steaming buckets of hot water!!!!
The second day was very sunny but still a bit cold but we went on a 8 mile walking safari and stopped at several waiting areas……but alas not much luck…..no rhinos, tigers or wild elephants…..the big three…..whaaaaa!!! But, the walk was nice, there were deer and lots of birds to be seen, so it was nice, nonetheless….
I should also mention that the Army protects all the national parks. We must have gone through 8-10 checkpoints……all to protect the wildlife from poaching which was a huge problem until the Army started to patrol…..now, it has almost been eliminated in the NP…….yea!!!!!!
So in summary for the 2 days we saw the one-horned Rhinoceros; two types of crocodiles, Marsh Muggers and Gharial; 4 types of deer; lots of monkeys…..saw our first Common Langur and Rhesus Macaques, both impressive to watch; crested serpent Eagle; several types of kingfishers, hornbills, storks, ducks, the green bee eaters, et al. Overall we did see lots of widllife and enjoyed ourselves very much!!!…..oh, and many tiger paw prints, tiger scat and a rhino outhouse, and lots of elephant poop….like bowling ball size! And, oh yes….We did end up enjoying the Rhino Lodge…..There’s nothing like caring service to make a stay fabulous, especially in such an isolated location! Thank you so much to the Dharma, Ketar, and all the staff at The Rhino Lodge!!!!
So that was Bardia….now off to Lumbini the birth place of Lord Buddha!!!!
Hope all is well,
John
touring Nepal
PS: Pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Bardia-National-Park-in-Nepal
