Critters in Nepal

Cows on the street.
Monkeys at a temple.
Goats walking along the narrow road.
Oxen pulling carts and plows. (Not at the same time.)
Chickens and roosters.
Spiders the size of your fist.
Snails the size of your other fist.
Leeches. Ick.
Goats. Usually eating.
Dogs everywhere. But that's its own blog.
Cats. But not near as many as the number of dogs. Hmmmm.
Elephants.
Crocodiles. Or was that Alligators? Ahhh, Gharials.
Rhinoceros. What's the plural of that? Had to look it up to be sure: rhinoceroses. Say that a few times quickly!
Yaks ... we didn't get to that area of Nepal, but we did buy a yak wool blanket.

Nepal is rife with both domestic animals and wildlife. 

As you may know, cows are sacred, given the religious affiliations in the country. If you are walking or driving along farms, you will see cows. Sometimes they are wandering free. (Wish I had a video of the young who was running loose, with a look of "freedom!" in his young eyes, who darted into a rice field. Oops. Didn't see the ditch, because of the plants. Tumble and roll. And disappear.  Then tah-dah! Look Ma, no harm no foul, shaking it off and running a little slower back down the road.

You'll see cows standing alongside the road. Lying down in the middle of a busy street, with cars and motorbikes rushing along. Just about anywhere.

Part of our trip to Nepal included two nights just outside Chitwan National Park, south of Kathmandu. (In that little red box on the map, below.)

In this photo below, the young cow I just spoke of is one the right, trying to look nonchalant.  The oxen are pulling the cart that we took back to our resort (not your typical American resort) after visiting the local village. 

Us in the cart:

Driver. German couple on the left. Me in the back on the left. Tim next to me. Hannah, our friend (who I work with) in front of Tim.

A little slow-moving sight-seeing on the road back to our hotel ...

Goats are another staple of life in Nepal.

Lots of roosters and chickens. While some animals are penned, and many are tethered (like goats and cows), many roam the yards and little roads.  This rooster was running his yard, chasing other roosters out. He was a beautiful dark blue and brown.

And these cuties:

If you are a bird watcher, you would enjoy Nepal, especially outside of the city. Some are brilliantly colored. And others are a bit more ungainly and HUGE.

Outside of the city, when we visited the Chitwan National Park area, oh, there are many a bug and critter. We encountered leeches on paths in the jungle area. ICK!!! I lost my cool and turned all girl as one landed on my pants, as I shouted "getitoffmegetitoffmegetitoffme!". Yes. All one word. Still sends me shivers.

Sitting on the porch overlooking the river next to the Into the Wild  Eco Resort next to Chitwan, at dusk we saw elephants being ridden by their owners. Unfortunately the light was so low we really saw them as shadows. Photos of our elephant ride in a separate post.

But we also saw the largest snail and the largest spider (outside of tarantulas that I saw growing up in Arizona) any of us had ever seen in person:

That's a 4x4 post, folks.
We weren't quick enough for a photo of the spider. And that's okay.
We saw lots and lots of geckos, too. Those you kind of ignore, because you know they are after the annoying bugs, and not you!

One of the days we were in the Chitwan park area, we visited a breeding and nursery farm for a type of crocodile, called a Gharial.  

You have to love that Lacoste is a sponsor!!

The males have these big tumor-looking things on the ends of their snouts.  The Gharials are released into the wild along the rivers, once they reach a few years' age.
(There are also crocodiles along the riverbanks.)

I'll starting working on separate posts for our elephant ride, and for the temple commonly known as Monkey Temple or Temple of the Monkeys, depending on who you ask.

And I'll write about so much more in future posts! (temples, stupas, roads and transportation, day trek to a monastery, rafting ...)