We just got back from our first foray into Chitwan National Park. As luck would have it, our first outing was an elephant ride into the jungle. I’ve only been on an elephant once when I was a kid and my parents put me on one at the zoo; Anne’s not ridden an elephant at all. The elephant came and we climbed up to the boarding platform. The elephant backed up and we hopped onto a 3 foot square “saddle” that was woven of fire-hose with a wooden railing surrounding it all. We each sat on a side, legs draped down such that the railing was at chest level. On top of it all, it was just the two if us and the driver. So needless to say, it was an exciting start.

We made straight for the river, and proceeded to cross (another first, I’ve certainly never crossed a river by elephant!). Once in the other side, we pretty much went wherever the driver said, plowing through brush and trees at will.

It turned out to be a productive outing too! We saw a rhino on the river bank eating and tracked him along until he finally had enough of us and went to the opposite shore. As well, we saw some wild rhesus monkeys playing in the trees and some ruddyshell ducks. In all, an excellent afternoon romp in the jungle.