We got up early and had a light breakfast of sweet tea and an omelet before driving the jeep up river to Chesapanni to raft a branch of the Karnali River, the longest river in Nepal. We passed through a few military and police check points on the way. Just a quick point of interest, there are Nepali military checkpoints, police check points and Mao army check points. My question is why are there two separate armies in Nepal? Many of the Nepali cars and trucks queued to show paper work but with John being a local and somewhat of a celebrity teacher in the area and now a resort partner the checkpoints wave him through and we enter the road that cut through the park. Tigers, elephants, monkeys, etc. are all possibly visible from the road as we pass. The Japanese sponsored a beautiful bridge across the Karnali that is at the edge of Chesapanni. While John and Sitaram pumped up the raft I had a look around at the local activities happening on the edge of the river. There is no running water in Chesapanni so women wash clothes and bath riverside. The whole town gets drinking water from a hand pump well near the edge of the river. It seemed like everyone was getting water for the day and a loose line formed waiting for the pump. Groups of young boys held thin bamboo rods with a line and a hook and fished off the rocks into deep holes. While the raft was being pumped up John explained another Japanese project that was underway and expressed his concerns on its affect towards the Bardia National Park and the Gangetic Dolphin that seasonally appear in the deep pools near Tikapur.
Below the bridge on the western side of the bridge is a large aqueduct made of concrete to divert some of the Karnali River towards agricultural land to the south. The problem John sees is that Bardia National Park wildlife depend on that water in daily life and diverting it will have negative ramifications towards the ecosystem there. And to top it off a species of Gangetic dolphin frequent the pools in the Karnali River system. Not many people in the world know they exist this far inland. John said the dolphins could be seen near the town of Tikapur, just a few kilometers down the road from Lamki.
During the time I spent near Bardia National Park John spoke with some locals who all nodded when asked if the dolphin are in the nearby pools. When I asked John about the dolphin he seemed under the impression no one knows the Inia are this far inland including the Japanese researchers who you would hope did a thorough assessment of the flora and fauna that will be affected or erased from the area. I don’t think Green Peace knows these mammals are there and or what the Japanese are working on in western Nepal. Well I’m telling you now. It is a concern that should be addressed. For more information on the Inia subject go to: Johnny Sparshatt at Wild Trak Adventure. www.wildtrakadventure.com. Phone: 9804543477. Cell service in western Nepal is sporadic along with power and Internet.
During the time I spent near Bardia National Park John spoke with some locals who all nodded when asked if the dolphin are in the nearby pools. When I asked John about the dolphin he seemed under the impression no one knows the Inia are this far inland including the Japanese researchers who you would hope did a thorough assessment of the flora and fauna that will be affected or erased from the area. I don’t think Green Peace knows these mammals are there and or what the Japanese are working on in western Nepal. Well I’m telling you now. It is a concern that should be addressed. For more information on the Inia subject go to: Johnny Sparshatt at Wild Trak Adventure. www.wildtrakadventure.com. Phone: 9804543477. Cell service in western Nepal is sporadic along with power and Internet.
Once the raft was pumped up we set out down river. There aren’t any true rapids it’s more of a full day silent nature-watching float. A few groups raft the Karnali River but our goal was to find the branch that ran in front of the resort. There was a slight headwind and we had to paddle a few of the broader slow water spots. Did I mention that the river has Crocodiles and Gavials in it? It does. The Gavial looks like a Crocodile but has a very slender snout and is primarily a fish eater.
Cormorants swim around hunting while a Serpent Eagle flew overhead with a snake in its talons and perched on the riverbank. Large storks and great egret wade in the shallows flapping their wings trying to scare the fish into moving. John spotted a pair of rare Red Headed Vultures working over a carcass. We stopped and watched and took a few pictures. John drew my attention to the scree mountainside showing the whole area was carved out of an ancient riverbed hundreds of meters deep in some spots and supporting the jungle.
There are many branches of the Karnali, which means jungle islands surrounded by water and not easily accessible except by boat or elephant. Many animals go to these islands for a multiple of reasons. Some of the branches are only active during the rainy season and tend to be more of a flash flood valve for maybe a few hours to days depending on how much rain falls and snow melts from higher up. There is a 1250 kilometer highway running East/West bisecting many of the flood branches in the area and act like a dam. The water in turn undercut the highway and erodes the pavement. The government is working on the waterways under the road in the hope of ending the erosion.
The Karnali River is bisected by the Babai River in the Bardiya District and is located against the foothills to the Himalayas. When its rainy season most of the islands are submerged and debris including whole trees are collected in the branches of the trees and brushes. I saw some debris spots where wads of tree limbs stuck in a tree 2-3 meters of the island floor.
As the day went on so did the heat. Western Nepal is at a relatively low elevation, hot and predominantly farmlands growing rice, wheat, corn, etc. In the heat of the day many large mammals come to the water to cool off or drink. There were many signs of tigers climbing under downed trees and lounging in shallow pools in the shade. Unfortunately we didn’t see any tiger but I’m not done yet. We returned to the resort just as the sun was going down. Children played at the river’s edge and mothers held an assortment of nets catching little fish for an added protein in their food.
We saw both types of monkey on the shore Black Faced Langur and the Macaque along with running into a family of river otter.
I have to interrupt the process here because the Katmandu Earthquake happened while I was in Bardia. I have a five-day trek to describe but I just visited Katmandu yesterday and have a few photos of the government’s invitation to return to their villages for free and I witnessed the damage and exodus first hand. Stay tuned.
