Today we left for Bardia Wildlife Resever in western Nepal. It was unbelievably, unbearably, amazingly, stiflingly, swelteringly hot. Our cottages at the Jungle Heaven hotel were so beautiful, and our location was just a kilometre away from the reserve headquarters! We were surrounded by greenery and forest sounds, the insects humming quieter in the heat of the day.
We had a delicious lunch provided by our hosts, Kristna and his wife Bita, and then spent the afternoon literally just lying underneath our fans, unable to do much else with so much heat.
In the less-intense heat of the evening, Vita, Kelly and Chelsea went for an elephant ride through the jungle, (a wild rhino sighting, and super close, too, amongst other creatures, monkeys, deer, many different birds) and Katie, Bailey, Kaleigh and Anna went to visit the elephant breeding centre and have a swim in the river. We all returned to swap stories and pictures and marvel at the heat. We played some cards by candlelight before dinner and then were treated to a mix of Nepali and Western food--hello French fries beside chicken curry and paneer cheese!
We all stocked up on semi-cold water bottles before heading to bed early, because tomorrow is our jungle safari and we need to leave before the heat gets too intense!
Kelly Gerlings
Student Team Leader
Nepal, May 2013
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