TIGER TOPS, NEPAL

OH.MY.GOD. We just had the most amazing experience at Tiger Tops: a mountain safari camp in the Chitwan national park. We flew out there yesterday, spent the night at the camp and then came back by bus today (the scavenger rules did not allow us to fly both ways so that we would have to experience 6 hours of the countryside of Nepal up close and personal in a very crowded and un-air conditioned bus. Rainey sweated off at least 6 lbs).

First you fly over there in a small, prop plane which bumps and shakes all through the Himalayas - beyond scary.

Once we got into the safari lodge, and got settled into our room, we were picked up by the elephants for a safari ride in the jungle. We rode on the backs of the elephants (on a wooden platform that sways in every direction - the elephants have a very unnatural gait which makes you feels like you are being shaken in a blender). Rainey's second elephant episode went better than the first and he avoided the water. Knowing Rainey this will soon be his preferred mode of transporation (if only elephants came in black!)

(i love this photo.... sort of an "elephants in the mist" vibe

Seeing a tiger in the wild is very rare – but about an hour into our safari – the guides picked up the paw print of a Royal Bengal tiger and started tracking it. We came across the tiger (a 4-5 year old male) in the deep tall brush – where you could barely see it. The tiger had just finished eating a baby rhino and so he was full and happy. All of a sudden, the tiger walked out of the brush and into the open and stood right beside us (not more than 15 feet away). It was one of the greatest experiences ever. He was a majestic and magnificent animal. I have to say.... I'm crazily proud of this photo (National Geographic eat your heart out!!).