Kathmandu was empty during the three-day Dasain holiday. They were all out and about Nepal. So was I, at the Chitwan National Park, enjoying the jungle and the wildlife.
Highlights were rhino sightings at any time, elephant safari, a really cute 9-month old elephant calf, and a Bengal tiger. No, not while out in the jungle – that would have been very lucky of us.
In a clearing at the Gharial Conservation Program was a wooden enclosure. There were narrow stairs on one side leading to the top.
Inside the enclosure, the Bengali tiger paced back and forth. For a moment I wondered if he could jump up to reach the top – there were no nets or barbed wires around, it was just open. Was the enclosure walls high enough that he couldn’t reach it with one big leap?
Back down on the ground, I positioned myself against the widest gaps between the wooden boards to take pictures.
At one time, I went to the front, wanting to get a shot of the tiger facing me. He quickly gave me a quick hiss – so I got up and went to the side again. And then he turned his head to look at me, and I managed to get a couple of shots.
I felt sorry that he had to be inside an enclosure. He belonged out in the wild jungles ….
A little bit of this and that ... 