Slept well to the sounds of the jungle and woke with a knock at my door and a cheerful ‘Good Morning Sir’ from one of the Lodge Stewards. It sounded as though it was raining – later a naturalist explained that this was only the sound of the dew collection on the big leaves of the sub-tropical vegetation and dripping off. 

I dressed and went to the Gol Ghar, an enormous round hall that serves as Bar, Dining Hall and sitting area, for a cup of tea and some home-made biscuits before setting out on an elephant safari for a couple of hours. Boarding an elephant is easy off a raised verandah construction helped by the friendly staff. 

As the sun rose through a light morning mist, we – that’s me and my elephant, her driver and a naturalist – lumbered off into the jungle grasslands. In Chitwan the grass grows to twenty feet so even an elephant at ten feet is dwarfed. I was mesmerised by the sound of the swishing grass and fascinated by the commands the driver gave to the elephant – Ram Kali – to move branches out of the way. Suddenly, the naturalist, Dhan Bahadur, whispered excitedly in my ear ‘Look, rhino…’ There, merging amazingly into the landscape were three pre-historic looking animals grazing in the early light. After getting some photos, we moved on to the edge of some riverine forest where we had sightings of three species of deer – the Spotted Deer are the most beautiful. 

Ram Kali began to grumble – a deep belly rumbling we felt more than heard. Gun excitedly explained it was an elephant’s low frequency conversation with her fellow elephants and meant she had picked up the scent of a tiger. The thrill was palpable and the driver, called a Phanit in Nepal, urged Ram Kali forward. We sped – elephants have a turn of foot when needed – through the grassland following a path when, over to our right there was a whistle from another elephant; we swung right and positively raced in the direction of the whistle. Damp grasses swished my face, Dhan was urging Ram Kali forward, the Phanit was driving her with all his wiry might and we emerged in a clearing on a river bank and there, crossing the river was a magnificent, powerful and majestic tiger. He walked through the shallow water, apparently unconcerned at our presence. Cameras clicked, naturalists and elephant drivers were wreathed in beaming smiles, even the elephants seemed to share in the achievement – or perhaps they were just feeling glad to see the tiger moving across the river. Dhan explained later that there is an un-easy stand-off between tiger and elephant as each can injure the other badly. 

After a few minutes rest, we moved on – I had lost all sense of time and direction – I was expecting a sense of anti-climax, but no, sightings of wild boar, more deer and even a lone Gaur bull, the largest of the wild cattle, followed. Suddenly, we climbed a bank and were back at Tiger Tops; I looked at my watch to discover we had been out in the jungle for two and a half hours. Dhan, still excited and re-living the tiger sighting, was telling me of his ideas for the rest of the day – but first, Sir, have breakfast. Now, getting off elephants – at the same platform, is trickier as one’s legs seem to turn to jelly! I wobbled off to breakfast my limbs easing as the blood found its way back along its normal routes. The Stewards greeted me with smiles and congratulations on the tiger sighting – some form of jungle drums? 

Breakfast – a full-on meal with more than I could manage – was followed by a brief freshen up in my airy room then back to meet a different naturalist, DBC as he was universally known, for a jungle walk. I have to admit to being a keen birder and had mentioned this to Dhan. He recommended DBC as the Lodge’s best bird guide. I was a bit nervous of walking in the jungle but DBC’s quiet reassurance allayed my jitters in a few words as we left the camp. We walked gently up sculpted, forested hills and, with DBC’s amazing eyes, my list of birds sighted grew and grew – I could hardly keep up as DBC whispered the names – common and scientific – to me. He could even mimic calls and told me of his research into the decline of vulture species. We breasted a fine ridge and could survey the plains below – DBC pointed out where we had seen the tiger this morning (he had been on another elephant). In the distance to the north was a barrier of snowy peaks – he showed me Annapurna II, Manaslu and several other famous mountains. After a rest, we walked on seeing a tree scent marked by a tiger, footprints of a sloth bear and I learnt the many uses of various plants by the local people for medicine and food. As on the elephants, time just flew by as we returned back to the lodge in time for lunch. 

Lunch – a sumptuous buffet or traditional Nepali curries, rice and dal was ready in the Gol Ghar. Helpful stewards explained the dishes and warned which were spicy. After such a meal, I just wanted to relax and sleep – it was a long time since I had woken at five thirty in the morning. But first there was a visit to the elephant camp to see the elephants at rest and learn more about them. I came away knowing more than I thought possible about these amazing beasts. Their diet, the number of commands they understand and divers other facts. 

I laid aside plans for a jungle drive, telling Dhan Bahadur that I would do that tomorrow. Instead I went to the bird blind – a secluded viewing platform overlooking a pond – and, armed with binoculars, a bird guide and a novel promptly dozed off! The heat, buzzing of countless insects, the excitement of the day all took their toll. After a good shower in the evening, I watched the slide show which was informative and gave a real insight into the problems of poaching and how the park officials were battling this with Tiger Tops’ support. 

After dinner, I sat with Dhan and we drank local rum while planning tomorrow’s campaign – he had great ideas to take an elephant safari, meet up with a jeep and then do a drive ending up at the crocodile breeding centre. Or, he mused; we could go the other way and float down the Narayani River spotting gharial crocodiles before returning on a long jungle walk. Plans, plans; I asked him to decide for me which he thought best. We opted for the river safari and jungle walk back to the lodge with a picnic lunch en route. That’s for tomorrow, now, more rum.