Reminiscings from the Roof of the World
Jungle Safari
Sunday-Monday, March 5-6. Our morning began early and after a quick breakfast we loaded the SUV and headed south towards Chitwan, which means “heart of the jungle,” for two days of fun and adventure. It was the dry season so the road was dusty; it was also extremely curvy—the 100 miles (160 km) took more than 6 hours to traverse. Chitwan District borders the northern Indian state of Bihar, and is known for its flora and fauna..and for elephants. Kathmandu at 4600 feet (1402 m) had a refreshing temperature of about 70 degrees F (20 C). As we inched lower and lower in elevation the temperature quickly rose and peaked at a toasty 95 F (35 C) in Chitwan.
Along the highway we noticed that at each village there was a concrete slab with a wall on one side that had a water pipe coming out at the top. The water ran continually. It appeared to be the local water supply as well as the village shower. Men and women bathed there at separate times clothed with sarong-like cloths as their only privacy. The level of poverty I began noticing and would continue to see throughout my travel was devastating. I had lived in South America and had seen mud and stick houses but I had never seen such stark conditions as I saw in rural Nepal. It was heart crushing.
Upon reaching the Chitwan area we went to the local pastor’s house to meet and encourage him and his wife, M. My daughter, Katie, had shared with me about meeting them on her first trip and since God had laid them heavily on my heart I felt compelled to visit them. Although very young, he was 25, they had been married for five years and had a son. Pastor S’s sister as well as two other children lived with them. As pioneers they felt isolated and lonely. Katie had informed me that they were quite discouraged. As we visited I strongly sensed that M was struggling. The couple agreed when I asked to pray for them and as I prayed I felt a heavy anointing and then God gave me a prophetic word of encouragement. M began sobbing as my words were translated and the Comforter was giving peace. Pastor S then showed us around his church and through the village. Near the end of our visit M gave baskets to Vivian and me and a woven purse to Holly. I then gifted Pastor S with a pocket watch I had brought along for him as a reminder that someone knows he is there and is praying for him.
As evening approached we returned to our lodge and feasted on dinner of dal bhat and the trimmings. Afterwards we went to a Tharu culture program where we were treated to performances by stick dancers, incredible music with traditional drums, and finally a yak dance and a peacock dance.
As I bedded down I prayed, “Lord, thank You for a wonderful day and for using me. Please lead and direct my paths and my words tomorrow. I love You!!!
Monday began early on the back of an elephant for a jungle safari through the Royal Chitwan National Park. What fun! As a child I had seen the old version of Around the World in Eighty Days and vividly remember the scene of the elephant ride through the jungles of India. So this was like a childhood fantasy coming to life! We had barely begun our ride when the elephant driver turned to me and pointed at my precious water bottle. I was shocked. “He wants my water?!” I thought. Begrudgingly I passed my bottle to him. He uncapped it and to my surprise tipped his head back and poured from above his mouth a long drink of my fresh, cool water and then passed it back to me. Another cultural lesson learned. Drinking water is precious in South Asia because of the heat. Hindus have strict standards of clean and unclean foods that include not eating or drinking something that saliva might have contaminated. Water is vital for life and is always shared so this method of drinking is commonplace throughout the subcontinent. Many years later I have not mastered this manner of drinking, usually missing my mouth I wind up with a refreshingly damp shirt.
The jungle was lush, verdant and incredibly beautiful. We saw peacocks, mongooses, brightly colored insects, three kinds of deer, troops of monkeys in the trees and so much more. The midpoint and highlight of the safari was an open field where we could view up-close (because a rhinoceros won’t charge an elephant) an endangered one-horned white rhino mother and baby.
After breakfast Pastor S took us to visit a Tharu village where we were able to see the second church he is planting, which meets in a very basic, bamboo building. We also visited in the homes of some Christians. Their houses were simple but nice—mud walls, thatch or tile roofs, a wooden bed with a mat as the mattress, other sleeping mats rolled up and stacked by the wall. In a corner was the kitchen area which consisted of a cooking pit and some pots. An average family consists of ten to twelve children, all living in the typical one-room dwelling. One larger house was shared by two families, one family of believers, the other a Hindu family. As we walked through the village we were able to pray for a demonized man who hadn’t spoken for a year. After a short time he began saying, “Jesus Christ”. He then prayed with Pastor S to become a follower of Jesus.
From there we went to a Musahar village. In sharp contrast it was very poor and dirty. Wild marijuana bushes nearly as tall as me grew all along the path in to the village. We peeked into a house and saw a very small and skinny man. Robby told us that he was “serving Mr. Shiva” meaning that he was using cannabis.
After lunch we took a 4 1/2 hour long jungle trek enjoying even more of Nepal’s stunning loveliness and sighting evidence of many animals including a sloth bear. As the sun was dropping below the horizon we returned to our lodge by canoe. Such a full and wonderful day!
“Thank You, God, for blessing me with such new and exotic experiences!”
Tomorrow, at last, we will head north to the mountains!
Coffee, Tea, and Reverie 
Your blog does not disappoint! Thank you, Jackie. You are a blessing!
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Thank you, Melanya!
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