We have just finished rafting and we have arrived at Tiger Tops. We hardly had time to finish our drinks (well I suppose it’s Nepal so time has no meaning), when David Thomas said “right we’re going on an elephant”. So we all walked down to where you mount on a horse but you’re mounting on an elephant!
The elephant I rode on was called Sundar Kalli and she was 27 years old. When we started to move it took about 5 minutes to get used to. It was quite scary at first because one moment you’d be tilting up, but then the next you would be tilting right down.
The first animal we saw was a Rhino. It was so cool. We saw lots of Rhino.
We also saw a kingfisher but no sign of a tiger.
One hour later the elephant drivers started talking to each other in Nepali which I probably could never understand. Until he said "tiger tracks" every one went silent - so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The tiger tracks were getting stronger like freshly baked bread when you get closer to the bakery. The elephant driver was kicking the elephant when, by the river, was a tiger! Amazing for us to see it when in 1,000 square kilometers there are only 17 females and 1 male and we saw the male! The elephants wanted to trample but the elephant drivers were in good control. The Tiger started to growl. We turned around and started to head back. It was getting dark anyway!
Thank you Mr. David and Mrs. Joanna Thomas and CAIRN for an amazing experience!
Ella Campbell
It is really good fun trekking around Nepal. You always walk either up or down and rarely on flat ground, as the hills are very steep. The highest we walked was 7,500 ft! Trekking can be hard work sometimes but walking sticks help you to get up and also to stop you falling when coming down.
Our trekking days start with our helpful porters waking us up in our tents at about 6am with a yummy glass of hot chocolate or tea. We then have a wash in our water bowls and pack our clothes and sleeping bags ready for our trek. We have a big breakfast to keep us going- there are a lot of eggs and pancakes!
Before we leave, we fill up our water bottles because we get very thirsty walking.
Our porters quickly pack away our tents and bags and load them on to our donkeys. The donkeys are amazing as they carry all the things to our next village stop, really quickly.
During the trek, you see so many amazing things. The local children love walking with us and walk much faster than us and never use sticks! Along the way, there are resting places, where we stop and take a little break. Keeping a delicious supply of snacks is really important whilst you are trekking, as you get tired.
When we arrive at our next village, our tents are already set up! This is a lovely sight after a long days trekking.
The villagers greet us with lots of garlands and sometimes put on a show.
Whilst dinner is being cooked, we play football with the local Nepalese children or other ball/card games. We gave all the village children balloons and other gifts like bubbles which they loved playing with.
In the evenings, you must always carry a torch, as you are in the middle of nowhere. Before going to bed, we always checked our tent for bugs! We found leeches in our tent one night.
Trekking was great fun and I can’t wait to do it again!
Harry Purdie
Tiger Tops was my favourite bit of Nepal. You can do a variety of different things ranging from elephant safari, jeep safari, and elephant polo, which was most definitely a one off experience; I doubt that I will ever get a chance to do so again. Tiger Tops was truly a remarkable experience, we saw a TIGER!
We also saw plenty of rhinoceros’s, monkeys and a bison. You can also do bird spotting as there are a range of some magnificent birds, with some truly remarkable colours. If you where visiting Nepal once again I highly recommend that you go there.
George Thomas
I enjoyed the Nepal trip hugely as it was packed with so many once in a lifetime experiences, adventure and most of all, fun. The whole thing was pretty much one big highlight! The highlights were:
Elephant Polo at Tiger Tops: First thing in the morning, before breakfast we played elephant polo on the lawn!!! We were split into teams of three and my team Kensington B came 2nd!
Rafting: We went rafting on the big Madi River. The best bits were the rapids which made you soaking wet and twirled the raft around, water fights with the other rafts and swimming in the river. On the way we saw more monkeys and a vulture as well as beautiful blue kingfishers. After lunch me and the other boys on the trek skimmed stones on the river having lots of fun! Then we rafted to the Seti River Camp were we stayed the night in special tents which had en suite bathrooms. I found a lizard trapped in the loo!
Pokhara Tour: We visited the amazing Gurkha (Nepalese warrior) Museum in Pokhara, where a few people including me, bought the Gurkhas trademark knife: a Khukri, then we went onto a British Gurkha camp. During the tour I found out things I didn’t know before about Gurkhas.
Everest Plane Trip: Me, my mum, another boy on the trek and his father went on a plane journey, mainly to see Mount Everest. It was a once in a lifetime experience to see the greatest mountain range in the world! It was amazing as you could see close up how high they really are. We had a very clear view of these giant mountains soaring over the clouds. That was how tall they were! The plane was quite small but provided a wonderful trip!
There were just a few small but also memorable lowlights: heavy rain and dramatic thunderstorms whilst we were trekking, lots of leeches on the mountain paths and all the hard walking while trekking!
Overall though, I enjoyed the experience so much. I will never forget it.
Gabriel Crompton-Schreiber
