The Gentle Giants

After a long drive and a late night arrival at Sapana Lodge in the Chitwan National Park, we woke up to the sound of stomping elephant feet. When I looked out the window through the mist I saw a huge elephant and her mahout (the driver and keeper of the elephant). Later that morning my mom and I got to get in the river with our elephant and bathe her. The best part was when she splashed us with her trunk and got us all wet.

To top off the outstanding day, I got to make treats for the elephant and then feed them to her. Her treats were made with dried rice and rice stalk.

When we woke up the next morning we enjoyed the fabulous hotel, then we
went on a canoe ride to the elephant breeding center. On our way there
we saw a huge crocodile that was probably 20 feet long. For the rest of
the day we did schoolwork.

We woke up early the next morning
for our elephant safari. While our elephant was stomping through the
jungle she started pulling out trees with her trunk, then she started
running and gave us a scare. Soon we realized there was a mommy rhino
and her baby just in front of us.

They were incredible looking
creatures.

When we came back from our fabulous safari I got to bathe and
ride the elephant bareback again, but this time with my dad. This
elephant was even hairier and pricklier.

For our last day we
went fishing with the local Tharu people. We fished in the middle of the
river with nets. We caught lots of fish, but they were smaller than
minnows. After fishing we took a fabulous cooking class with the same
ladies that taught us to fish and their families. We made potatoes (they
were really spicy), lentils, tomatoes, and the fish we caught. It was
all very good but I didn’t eat many of the fish. At the end of our
cooking class we had a little celebration with singing and dancing. We
woke up early the next morning and had to say good bye to our new
friends, the gentle giants.