To amend this, some fellow kayakers and me decided to continue our trip down south to reach Chitwan National Park. We were told that this reserve hosts some of the wildest creatures in the entire subcontinent such as elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, sloth bears and even tigers! (Note that I've excluded the beasts that prowl the Indian bazaars). I was quite skeptical about this. There is a general rule according to what the closest thing to a big animal that a tourist will get too see in a safari outside Africa is its poo or a distant blob that somebody will assure to be a living creature. A local guide confirmed this theory but he added that there is -of course- a way to avoid disappointments: hard work!What this wise man meant was no other thing but going deep into the jungle relying on our healthy legs as the only transportation mean and ultimate escaping resource. Despite the discouraging weather conditions (30+ºC, 60%) all of us agreed on walking for an entire day if that's what it takes too meet the local fauna. Next morning Carmen (German, 27), Marten, Morten (Danish, 21 & 22), two local guides and me entered the park. Our defensive gear can be summarised in two bamboo sticks and some Snickers bars - apparently tigers favour these over Twix.
There is a reason to listen to wise men when they talk. The promised highlights started showing up one by one. First the peacock, showing off and seeking out some handsome female. After this one of the big ones, well actually three. A family of wild elephants that we got to see from as close as you can be before reaching death zone. The extremely hot noon hours featured some monkeys and geckos (wall lizards). By that time a couple or rhinos thought it was a great moment to cool down in the nearby river. What we didn't know then is that mum rhinos don't like stupid tourist messing around. After a frightening shout by one of the guides all of us set on the run desperately looking for climbable trees. Did you ever wonder what the difference between a climbable tree and an unclimbable tree is? I'll tell you: an angry rhino chaising you. One hour after this encounter, we run into the cutest sight of the day: a mummy bear and two cubs scared to death (don't miss the video!). A bunch of lazy crocodiles (at their breeding centre) and a caged tiger completed our collection of stickers for the day.Even though I'm not a big fan of animals, the day at Chitwan National Park will be difficult to forget. Those animals live there absolutely unaware of the crazy world that surrounds them. Here some ironic fact. Two days after our excursion into the park we got stuck in a village due to a nationwide (violent) strike. Next morning when I arrived to the bus stand there was a crowd blocking the road. The reason? some unhappy fellow had killed his boss. Taking into consideration all this, shouldn't we reconsider the definition of wildlife?
Despues de la excursion en kayak algunos amigos y yo decidimos continuar el viaje juntos hasta el Parque Nacional de Chitwan. Segun nos habian dicho, en este parque se encuentran algunos de los animales mas feroces del subcontinente Indio tales como cocodrilos, elefantes, rinocerontes, osos e incluso tigres. Lamentablmente la normal dice que cuando uno se enrrola en un safari lo mas probable es que acabe viendo -como mucho- los excrementos de dichas bestias. Para evitar esto tres amigos -Carmen, Morten y Marten- y yo nos apuntamos a una visita a pie en compañia de dos guias con respectivos palos. No utilizar jeeps eleva la probabilidad de ver animales (que rehuirian los motores) pero puede convertirse en una paliza (30ºC, 60% humedad) sin recompensa. Sin miedo a ello, el grupo de 5 emprendio camino al alba. Los merodeadores locales no se hicieron esperar. Un pavo real en pleno baile de seduccion, monos, termintas, insectos, lagartijas y huellas de rinoceronte y ¡tigre! amenizaron la mañana. Tras esto una familia de elefantes salvajes en la distancia. Luego, mientras comiamos, una pareja de rinocerontes bañandose. Por lo visto a la madre no le hicimos mucha gracia. El guia nos pego un grito y salimos escopeteados en busca de un arbol al que subirnos (por cierto, es curioso como cambia el baremos de arboles escalables cuando te persigue semejante bestia). Tras los rinos, el encuentro entrañable del dia: una osa a la fuga con dos oseznos (¡no os perdais el video!). Por ultimo, unos cocodrilos y una tigresa enjaulada completaron el album de cromos.
Para acabar una reflexion personal. Estos animales viven tranquilamente libres de la locura de mundo que les rodea. Dos dias despues de la visita, nos vimos 'atrapados' bebiendo batidos y tomando el sol mientras se solventaba una huelga nacional. Mas aun, a la mañana siguiente me entero que un tio se habia cargado a su jefe en el pueblo. Tras esto yo me pregunto: ¿deberiamos reconsiderar la definicion de vida salvaje?
0 comments:
Post a Comment