13 Dec Nepal’s Tiger Tops – elephants, tigers and people

This year I came to Nepal for the third time, but different from the previous occasions, I did not go to the mountains. Instead, we went south, to the area known as Terai, the hot plains that stretch into India, where, in the jungles and grasslands tigers, wild elephants, rhinos and leopards are still numerous.

“Still” is the key word. Wildlife in Asia is under great threat, forests are felled and animals killed as the population is skyrocketing and people’s incomes rising. Nepal is remarkably successful in protecting its wildlife, but it takes extraordinary people, both Nepalese and locals to make sacrifices and make it possible.

This is the story of a special place, Tiger Tops ecotourism lodge, and the special people involved with it, whose love of wild animals made them take paths that very few people have been brave enough to choose.

Rhinos, Elephants, tigers, and Leonardo Di Caprio

I always wanted to see an Indian rhino ever since I saw a picture by Albert Durer – a remarkable, armoured animal, and my chance to see them came suddenly, entirely due to chance. I was in Kathmandu, but a project we had here, in Nepal, training the legendary Sherpas to become mountain runners, was no longer happening. A plane crash in the Himalaya scared off the sponsors. However, a chance meeting in Kathmandu brought me to a jungle lodge called Tiger Tops, and I saw my first rhino a few days later. Nine of them, in fact, in one day.

Tiger Tops started with an Englishman called Jim Edwards, who in 1960s, looking for an adventure, drove all the way from London to Kathmandu. He could not afford the only hotel in Kathmandu, but the owner, a Russian émigré, generously allowed him to set up his tent on the hotel’s lawn. Luckily Jim had a dinner jacket and so was invited for dinner at the hotel that evening, where he met the brother of the Nepali King, and so his introduction to the high Nepali circles was done.

Jim then sold his car (which allowed him to live in Nepal for 2 years), bought a small hunting lodge and started taking foreigners on fishing and hunting trips in the jungles of southern Nepal. Eventually this lodge became Tiger Tops, and soon no hunting was done there anymore, instead the visitors came to watch the animals – tigers and rhinos instead. Later, Jim successfully petitioned the King to make the entire area a national park – and so Chitwan National Park, home to tigers, rhinos, leopards and wild elephants, was born. The visitors kept coming to Tiger Tops – Bill and Hilary Clinton, Prince Charles… Recently Leonardo Di Caprio, a passionate environmental activist, obsessed with tiger conservation, has been to Tiger Tops several times.

Tiger Tops greeted us impeccably – the lodge staff did they job perfectly, very efficiently and took great pride in what they did. There were perfectly manicured lawns and luxurious rooms, and dinner menu (organic, locally grown vegetables only) looked fantastic, but suddenly three elephants walked past and I knew that this was no ordinary luxury resort.

The elephants lived next to the lodge itself, in the Elephant Camp, also part of Tiger Tops. There were eight of them, all female, and, according to the tradition, all were named something – Kali (kali means “goddess” in Nepali). I was introduced to them in person, one by one, – Hira Kali, Sandra Kali, Sita Kali…all with very different personalities, from introverted loners to outgoing and playful socialites.

We had a choice, stay at the lodge itself or in a luxury camp within the Elephant Camp, where, you could live side by side with all the Kalis – observing, up very close, how the elephants play, work and interact, as well as experience the daily reality of a working elephant camp in Nepal.

Elephants lose their chains

Normally a working elephant never escapes his or her driver’s control, like a dog always kept on a tight leash, only in the case of an elephant it is a huge iron chain. Domestic elephants are almost never allowed to move around unchained, unless a mahout, an elephant driver, is riding it.

Riding elephants is often a highlight of a trip to Asia, but there is a very dark side to this. Elephants working in tourism industry in Asia are basically abused, made to walk around all day under the blazing sun, carrying tourists on their back, the uncomfortable seat often rubbing their skin raw. Very often they have no contact with other elephants, which is tantamount to psychological torture to these highly intelligent and very social animals.

Once the day of such work is done the elephant is back on the short chain, usually standing in the mess of its own excrement, leading to foot infections. Tiger Tops never treated their elephants in this way, but from last year, they stopped elephant safaris (tourists riding the elephants to watch wildlife) and started to release their elephants form chains. Now their elephants are kept in a very large corral, guarded by an electric fence, with plenty of space to run, play and socialize with other elephants.

This was revolutionary. The mahouts – elephant drivers and handlers, expected an elephant riot, a revolution – without chains the enormous animals would be out of control, running amock. With great reluctance they agreed to this “madness”, and… nothing happened. Well, what happened was elephant happiness, but no revolution. Released into a huge corral at the end of the giants ran around, played, rolled in the dust, always touching and talking to each other. They were happy.

The next day, when we went on our jungle safari the elephants came with us, you need them there to protect you from tigers and rhinos. They walked next to us, led by their mahouts. We were walking on the same trails where tigers and leopards had left their footprints, often just hours earlier, knowing that a tiger or a leopard could be anywhere. We had no guns, just long bamboo sticks, but right next to me was a reassuringly enormous bulk of an elephant, it felt completely safe.

The elephants were feeding as they walked, sometimes stopping to pull a branch of leaves down from a tree, their trunks were swinging around, exploring everything on the way. Walking right next to such a huge animal was incredible, like walking with dinosaurs in the “Jurassic Park” films. But these “dinosaurs” were our friends and protectors – the same day a group of lodge staff on a photographic mission got too close to a rhino and her calf, and the female charged. The elephants formed a ring around the people, trumpeting and beating their trunks on the ground, making the rhino retreat into the forest.

A faster alternative to walking is taking a jeep – and Tiger Tops have the coolest 4x4s possible. Mark 2 ex British Army landrovers, some driven all the way from the UK decades ago. Immensely and perfectly reliable despite their ancient appearance they made a passenger feel like an explorer, an adventurer.

Our jeep pulled up to a swamp, from which a rhino immediately emerged, twenty metres away, and reluctantly walked away into the forest. I felt bad for disrupting its favorite pastime – sitting in warm mud of a swamp. I jumped off the jeep to take some photos, only to be stopped by the guide: “no elephants with us today, Sir, there are plenty of tigers around here.”

Tiger Tops was founded as an adventure, but then became a conservation center and a pioneer of sustainable tourism. The locals who work here are paid well and the lodge funds local schools as well as training programs for the locals to be wildlife guides. The original spirit of adventure lives on at Tiger Tops, the foreign staff employed here were not here for the money, in fact, they all left highly paid jobs in Europe for the chance to live amongst elephants and rhinos. These are stories of some of the people who tied their lives to Tiger Tops and the protection of wildlife.

The People of Tiger Tops

The story of Jack – an English aristocrat who watches tigers from his bicycle

Jack is 29 years old. He is the owner and founder of an ecotourism travel agency called Tears for Tigers, specializing in showing tourists the endangered species of cats – tigers, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards in the wild, and his mission in life is to save the tiger from extinction. A large tiger tattoo on his back is a proof of his commitment to this cause. Jack formerly worked Tiger Tops as a wildlife guide, but now he brings his clients here.

PT: Jack, you have a travel agency, you take tourists to the jungle in India and Nepal, but this is not what you were supposed to be doing with your life?

JB: (laughs) Yes, you can say that. I went to Harrow and then studied Real Estate Management at Newcastle University. My father is in real estate business, so that was the path I was supposed to take – follow my father.

PT: May I be honest? You had a very classic English upper class upbringing, correct?

JB: (laughs again) Yes, I had a classic English upbringing, I played rugby, cricket, tennis. My father is a huntsman and a fisherman, a very traditional English country gentleman – he shoots grouse and pheasant, and as a schoolboy I worked as a stalker for stag hunting at Strone Estate – Argyleshire, West Scotland. I grew up in this classic British countryside culture.

PT: You worked on stag shoots?

JB: Yes, I was 19. Once the stag was shot, I dragged it down the hill. I would then butcher the carcass, boil the head, mount it. I know how to do all that. I was getting 500 pounds per month, plus food and accommodation. I learned a lot.

PT: But that job was based on killing animals, did you feel bad?

JB: It is different in England. We do not have wilderness any more, ours is a managed ecosystem which now has to be maintained. Deer numbers have to be controlled for example, as we have no predators. I felt it was right, local jobs depend on this form of hunting in the UK. But, personally, I would not hunt for fun.

PT: After university you volunteered in Nepal, correct?

JB: Yes, I ended up in far West of Nepal, in the foothills of the Himalaya, in a village called Dhoti. An extremely poor place. I taught English in a school in the morning, but in the afternoon, I worked trying to help with social development. For example to improve sanitation. I also had to learn Nepalese.

PT: It must have been very hard.

JB: Yes, it was, especially at first when I did not speak Nepalese. I was living with a local family, and for the first few months I could not communicate with anyone. People felt intimidated by a foreigner, they did not trust me, felt threatened by me. But at the end, after I learned the language and people got to know me, it was great. Amazing, in fact.

PT: What exactly did you try to organize?

JB: Sanitation programs like cleaning up the village. A big problem was the total lack of personal hygiene – people just did not wash. There were also no designated toilets, people just went to the toiled absolutely everywhere. We tried to change that by educating people, for example by printing and handing out fliers and holding meetings to explain how they could make things better.

PT: So how did you end up here at Tiger Tops?

JB: After my volunteering my parents came to visit me in Nepal and took me on a nice holiday, and we came here to Tiger Tops. I loved it here immediately. We met the owner and I told him that I wanted to get involved. He offered me an 8-month placement to train to be a naturalist, a guide.

PT: When was that?

JB: In 2010. I did a full season in the jungle working as a guide. It was incredible, but also very hard. I was isolated in the middle of the jungle, felt lonely. I stayed in a lodge it the middle of the forest for months without going anywhere. But then you have an experience such a tiger outside your door one morning, or a 4 metre python living in the kitchen (laughs) it makes it all worth it.

PT: What did you learn?

JB: I learned the philosophy of nature conservation. I learned about anti poaching, I got to know this ecosystem, birds, animals…. I was surrounded by people who loved and understood nature, who loved tigers and elephants, who loved the forest. Being with them, in the middle of this great jungle, surrounded by rhinos and tigers, with a clear purpose in mind, was incredible. I was so happy. It was like reaching enlightenment in Buddhism (laughs). After that I worked in the office in Kathmandu, selling these trips to clients, doing marketing word-wide.

PT: But now you have your own travel company?

JB: Yes, I started it in December 2014 – Tears for Tigers travel.

PT: Tears for Tigers? An unusual name.

What I learned here, in Chitwan, is that tigers are in trouble – 97% of world tiger population has been lost since 1900, tiger habitats are fragmented, isolated. I saw tigers close here in Chitwan, and realized how we, people, have messed things up, and are killing this magnificent animal.

I also learned that tourism is the only realistic way to save tigers – we must make a live tiger worth more than dead one. You live in China, and you are a biologist, so you know, for as long as there is demand in China for tiger bones, and body parts there will always be poaching in Nepal. If live tigers have a greater value, locals will keep tigers alive.

PT: So you dedicated yourself to save tigers by opening your ecotourism company?

JB: Yes, that’s correct. We organize wildlife adventures, family trips, safaris and also really tough personalized trips to see wild tigers and other wildlife, mainly in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Now I also started trips to Kanchenjunga area in Nepal, a two week trek in high mountains to see snow leopards.

PT: Snow leopards are extremely hard to see!

JB: Yes, so this trip is not really a holiday, it’s a real expedition. A client will have a 50% chance of seeing a snow leopard in the wild, but if it happens, you will never forget it. It is an experience that very few people can have. It’s a two week trip, we also go camera trapping (an automatic camera takes photos of animals that approach it) and work with the ministry of forests here in Nepal. Its not cheap, about 2,500 euros per person, full board, but excluding flights to Nepal.

PT: What’s your next crazy project?

JB: Bicycle tours to see tigers, in India, across three major national parks.

PT: Is it safe?

JB: It is. Tigers do not attack people, they only become man eaters when they are very old and weak, too slow to hunt anything else. Mothers can also attack while protecting cubs, but otherwise tigers do not bother people. Forest guards in India travel by bicycles across tiger reserves, which gave me an idea to do bike trips. We also have great guides who know tigers and their behaviour extremely well.

PT: You mentioned you wanted to come to China. Why?

JB: China is where the demand for animal parts – tiger bones, rhino horn is. Chinese buyers drive this trade. I want to talk to people to see what they think about it. I also want to attract Chinese tourists, to educate them about conservation, show them sustainable tourism.

I want to learn about Chinese mentality and the views the Chinese have of wildlife conservation. China decides the future of the global environment. After talking to you about your travels, I especially want to go to Yunnan.

The Story of a mahout – a man who has spent his whole life with elephants

Kale Kumal is not just a mahout, or elephant handler. This 52 year old man, whose skin is as tough as the skin of his elephants, is a phanit, the most senior mahout, and also a suba– the man in charge of the entire elephant camp, the boss of both men and elephants at Tiger Tops.

PT: You are now 52, how old were you when you started working with elephants?

KK: I started off a as a labourer with Tiger Tops, but after 5 years I joined the elephant department of the company. I was 22 then.

PT: Why did you choose to work with elephants?

KK: I was interested in wildlife and I really liked going on safaris, seeing wild animals, I liked being next to an elephant, and I also really liked interacting with our guests.

PT: Where you afraid of elephants at first?

KK: Only on my first day. I was a little nervous.

PT: What are the first things a mahout has to learn?

KK: The very first thing is to make the elephant trust you, and then learn how to climb the elephant. It is not easy, before your learn the technique of climbing an elephant, the elephant must allow you to climb him or her, so a new mahout first spends some time feeding the elephant, being around it, always together with a senior mahout.

The elephant must get used to you, to your smell, and trust you. You can’t just try to climb it immediately. Sometimes new mahouts get rejected by an elephant at first, so you need to spend more time together – for example going out with the senior mahout to cut grass, to ride the elephant together, to feed the elephant more.

PT: What then?

KK: Then the new mahout must learn commands and also to read elephant body language.

PT: How many elephants does one mahout look after?

KK: (Laughs) It is the other way around, each female elephant has 3 mahouts, a male one has four. Also, if two or more elephants are friends, their mahouts can look after each other’s elephants. If the elephants are not friends, they don’t accept each other’s mahouts.

PT: Why do you need more mahouts to look after a male elephant?

KK: Male elephants are much more aggressive and can be unpredictable.

PT: What is a typical working day for a mahout?

KK: Get up at 5 am, make kuchi elephant sandwiches (rice seeds packed inside a packet of straw), feed the elephants with kuchi and grass, clean the stable. Then the phanit (senior mahout) goes on a safari, and mahout has his breakfast.

After the safari we have free time, and so do the elephants. Then we go to cut grass, until about 2pm. Then there might be another safari, but if not, we take the elephants out to graze. Mahout must also make a lot of kuchi everyday.

Later in the afternoon we take the elephants to the river to wash, but not in winter, they don’t like cold water. Then, around 5pm, the elephants are fed again, and they go to bed around 6pm. We, mahouts, then relax, watch TV, and go to bed.

PT: What is the hardest part of your job?

KK: Providing food for the elephant when grass is in short supply, during March and April. It takes a long time to cut enough grass and we must go into the hills to cut it. The elephants can’t go up there and stay below, but this is dangerous for us. There are tigers there, and elephants are too far to protect us. Three years ago a man-eating tiger, an old female, killed several people who were cutting grass in the hills.

PT: There are animals here everywhere – have your ever been attacked by a wild animal?

KK: It is a lot safer than you think, but can still be dangerous sometimes. Once, when collecting grass alone, without my elephant, I surprised a rhino in tall grass, and it charged me. I had enough time to climb a tree, but it had huge thorns and I was bleeding all over. I spent 15 minutes on that tree, bleeding, until the rhino got bored and went away (laughs).

Also, once I was out with a biologist tracking tigers on foot, without the elephants. We suddenly saw fresh footprints, and then the tiger which turned out to be a female with cubs. She charged me, I thought that it was the end, but the tigress stopped 2 metres away, and then just walked away. (laughs).

There was another time when we surprised a tiger with a kill. A deer had been killed by a leopard, so we came to have a look, leopards are not dangerous here, but a tiger had taken the deer from the leopard. When we appeared, we surprised it and the tiger charged. Our elephants came running, trumpeting, hitting their trunks on the ground, to protect us, and scared the tiger away.

PT: Do elephants protect you automatically? Like a dog would?

KK: Yes, they do, Elephants protect their mahouts. They can see better, and they also have a great sense of smell. When they start to trumpet, to hit their trunks on the ground, you know that a tiger, or a bear is near and you must look out.

PT: What do you like the most about your job?

KK: Being in the jungle on an elephant you feel completely safe, peaceful, it’s a great feeling. Also, it makes me happy to see the elephants enjoying themselves, for example when they are bathing. Also, you and your elephant have a special trust, a close friendship. I like that very much.

PT: Elephants are killed for their ivory, especially in Africa. What do you think of that?

KK: I don’t understand how people can do it. This is simply not right. Actually, you must not kill wild animals, wild animals have the same right to live as us.

Elephants are our friends, how can you kill them? They have saved my life several times, here in the jungle. We work together, they are very intelligent, why would you want to kill them? I don’t understand that at all.

I can’t understand these people who buy something made from ivory, it is like buying something made from human bone.

1. Now Tiger Tops no longer chain their elephants, what do you think of that?

KK: It’s a good thing. Elephants are happier, they can play freely, walk around, but we can do it because we do not have male elephants here. Males can be hard to control without chains, I think. They can be aggressive.

Other mahouts also think that it is a good thing to have elephants in a corral. The elephants are very happy to be together, not to be chained up individually. We were worried at first, worried that we would not be able to control the elephants. We have to keep two elephants Dipendra Kali, and Pawan Kali, who don’t like each other, so they have to be separated, but other than that everyone is happy, people and elephants (laughs).

The story of Carol Buckley – an American saviour angel of domestic elephants

The American Carol Buckley is an intense person – it is immediately obvious that she is on a mission. This mission is to help domestic elephants, no matter where in the world, to alleviate their physical and psychological suffering. Carol was invited to work with Tiger Tops to reform their elephant conditions, and she is the founder of Elephant Aid International – a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the conditions of domestic elephants world-wide.

PT: Carol, you have an extremely unusual job – you are an expert in humane treatment of elephants, you travel around the world helping domestic elephants. How did it all start?

I got lucky, I do what I love. It started in 1973 when I enrolled on a 2 year exotic animal training and management program at Moorpark College in California, Ventura County, USA. At that time I had a dog and two parrots and a racoon. Ventura County had relaxed exotic animals laws and locals had exotic animals likes giraffes and tigers. A block down the road a man had a baby elephant imported from Thailand that he kept in the back of a truck, at the back of the tyre store.

One morning, I heard my dog barking and I saw outside a tiny elephant being walked down the road, it was called Fluffy. That was 42 years ago. I bought that elephant, changed her name to Tarra. I kept her at night in my truck, parked against the window s that at night she could see me. I had to teach her how to take dust baths, we were inseparable. We grew up together, she is the reason why I do what I do.

PT: You created an elephant sanctuary in the USA, right?

Yes, in 1995 I created an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee for Tarra, because I learned in 21 years that noting that I could offer in terms of conditions was good enough for her. In this sanctuary domestic elephants can live in peace, with plenty of space, not bothered by people, fed the right things and being looked after.

I am planning to open another sanctuary for elephants in southern USA. We are raising funds, looking for donors. Georgia or Alabama would be very suitable because of climate and vegetation. The sanctuary will be open to the public, but not for mass visits. We will have mahout (elephant handler) exchange education program, with mahouts coming from Nepal and Thailand to learn how to treat and train elephants humane way. We get no government funding, only donations, but luckily people love elephants, some of my audience are obsessed with elephants.

PT: Where do you work?

All over the world, not just countries where there are wild elephants – for example there was a 70 year old elephant called Hanako in a zoo in Japan, she is dying, she is just too old. They are trying to move her to a sanctuary, but she is too old for that and should not be moved.

Once in Vietnam I was asked to come to see a 4 year old wild caught elephant. He spent 9 months in captivity, he had been caught in a bear snare and lost his toes. He is crippled, after 9 months of untreated infection, we will see what we can do.

PT: You mentioned to me before that you want elephants to be happy. How do you know that elephants are happy?

Ears are a good indicator, when elephants are content, they move their ears slowly. Their muscles are not clinched; they do not raise their heads when they are happy. When they are excited their tail bends, they get animated, start kicking their feet, start trumpeting, running, touching each other. Elephants are very social and when people keep them in isolation they lose out on social contact and develop this behaviour you often see in zoos – repetitive swaying movement, bobbing head. Basically they lose their mind.

PT: Should domestic elephants be used for work?

It is better if they work, they need exercise to be healthy. Wild elephants walk between 50 and 80km a day. If they don’t exercise they suffer muscle atrophy, their bones get weak, and they have problems with digestion.

PT: How many working elephants are there in Nepal?

Here in Nepal there are around 200 working elephants. There are 63 government elephants here in Chitwan, and also privately owned ones.

PT: Do elephants breed in captivity?

90% of captive elephants have been captured in the wild. The elephants are between 2 and 7 years old when they are captured. We know now that the capture and the separation during capture cause long term psychological damage to elephants, the equivalent of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in people.

PT: There is now what is called “elephant – human conflict” in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Are wild elephants dangerous?

People have destroyed the elephants’ habitat; their migratory routes now have people living there. People want wild elephants to change their habits, but they cannot. The conflict is bad close to national parks, and people get killed. Some male elephants can be a real problem here in Nepal – one, called Valentino has killed more than 20 people, destroyed houses, and killed domestic elephants. However, another male who often goes into villages is very polite, he waits for people to cross the paths and road before him, he comes to visit domestic female elephants and also to visit his kids that he had with the domestic females. He never harmed anyone, so it really depends on individual elephant.

Elephants are not killed here, they are one of the most highly respected Gods – Ganesh, so they can lose fear of humans.

PT: How do people acquire elephants?

Actually here in Nepal it would be illegal. It is illegal to capture wild elephants, and so they are brought from India. It is illegal to bring elephants into Nepal, but because of unguarded border and corruption the elephant trade continues, elephant buyers are wealthy people and domestic elephants are the basis of the entertainment and tourist industry in southern Nepal, everyone makes money from the elephants, so the authorities turn a blind eye.

PT: In addition to being chained up and kept in isolation, how else are domestic elephants abused?

What happens with elephants used in tourism and entertainment here in Nepal is that it is usually the old, or crippled elephants that are brought from India. For example they are rented to a hotel owner for a few months and then sent back.

To give you one example, recently I saw a 70 year old elephant here. This is very old! She was walked from India, it took 19 days. She was very old, and also crippled she had wounds on both hips, and a huge would on her leg. She was so old and sick that she could barely stand. And she had to walk for 19 days! She was dying when we saw her, vets managed to save her, but the owner still wanted her to be used for tourist rides. I manage to convince him not to, because it would be bad for his hotel’s reputation – using an old, crippled elephant. He sent her back to India, another 19 days of walking! But she is used there for tourist rides now. She is still alive, but suffering terribly. This is not a life.

The story of James Parker – from Ralf Lauren to the jungle

James is young, only 23. He is from London, and like Jack, a quintessential Englishman. He left his career in fashion in London to be a marketing manager for Tiger Tops. James loves life, he is always in a good mood, always has a joke ready, and is eager to experience as much as he can. He also appreciates fine things in life – good whiskey, fine clothes and cigars. He is what the French call a bon-vivant, a man who enjoys life and knows how to live it well. He is not the type of person you would expect to find working in the jungle of Nepal.

James, you worked in retail and had no connection whatsoever with wildlife or conservation, correct?

Yes, before coming here I had a successful career in retail. I finished school, I was supposed to study Finance Management, but I wanted to work in a business, see how it works. So I got a job at Abercrombie and Finch shop, just doing sales. I was very successful, and in 6 months I was head – hunted by Ralf Lauren (laughs). I worked in the Ralf Lauren shop in Covent Garden – my clients included David Beckham, many sportsmen, entertainers, celebrities. It was an exclusive shop, only one of its kind in Europe.

You must have been successful as a salesman!

(laughs) I was, it’s true. One day I sold 33,000 pounds worth of clothes to one client. I was on commission (laughs).

What made you such a good salesman at such a young age?

I think I am naturally confident and I am good socially, good at talking to people. I like people.

You have a very good sense of humour, I noticed. You make everyone here laugh.

Yes, my sense of humour is very English, I love to joke around. Life is something to be enjoyed, it’s an adventure.

Was selling luxury items an adventure?

Yes, it was, it is both an adventure and a project. Once a man came in and wanted to buy a classic luxury Cartier watch from us from the 1920s, he kept come back to look at the watch, every week. The price was 8,000 pounds. I asked him what was the problem – he said that there were many fakes around and he was not sure. I had the watch sent to Cartier workshop in Switzerland to be examined, but they said that I would have to wait for several months, they had so much work. Then they asked me who it was for. I said: someone called Mr Fawlkes. They said: Oh! No problem, then. They got it done in two days. The watch was real, Mr Fawlkes bought it, I got my commission. It turned out that he was the luxury editor for GQ Magazine. I had no idea (laughs).

You also have your own business in England?

Yes, my own brand and shop, in the city of Bath. Basically we make preppy-style clothing, the brand is called Rupert & Buckley. It is doing well, my partner and I design the clothes, sales are good. It was a crazy experience opening it – I was 21 and I had to hire the staff, interviewing people far older than me, it was bizarre (laughs).

But you told me that you had your own business while still at university?

Yes, my partner ad I had a company selling rugby socks! (laughs) We did very well, selling them to many university rugby teams in the UK.

Also in 2013 we set up a pop-up shop (a short term rental of shop space) for the Christmas period, selling socks, pyjamas, t-shirts, we did great business! (laughs)

So, how did you end up here in the jungle with elephants? No Cartier watches here.

I met the owner of Tiger Tops by chance, through my own retail business and he invited me to visit. I did. Loved it. He offered me a job and I took it immediately. A week later I bought a one-way ticket and was back here. (laughs)

Are you happy here? I know that you are paid a Nepali salary.

(laughs) Money is not everything. I get 30,000 Nepali rupees a month (less than 1900 renminbi) but here I am doing something important. I can use my marketing skills to help Tiger Tops and they are key for conservation here. They do very important things here. I am very happy to be part of it, and it is an adventure (laughs). After the earthquake tourists stopped coming, we had a very poor season, I am working hard to promote the lodge now, to let people know that we are still here, that Nepal is open to business, to tourism.

Jungle nights

The evenings at Tiger Tops are a delight. For some reason, every evening we felt that we had done something, had a productive day, achieved something important, even though all we did was walk next to elephants for an hour, got driven around on the jungle track taking photographs of rhinos, waited for tigers to come of the forest, or just spent our time watching domestic elephants in the camp do their daily work.

In the evenings I felt a little ashamed of my scruffy appearance – an old t-shirt, flip flops and shorts that I had bought back in 2013. The English and Nepali managerial staff with whom we took our evening meals came to dinner dressed in freshly ironed trousers, shirts, hair neatly combed. We might be in the jungle, but dinner is a formal occasion here and is not to be taken lightly. Manners are important, elephants or no elephants around.

After dinner it was time for beer (deliciously cold in the tropics) and the jungle stories flowed – tigers just outside the front door, leopards trapped in kitchens, wild male elephants coming to the camp to find a female. I enjoyed the stories and the company so much that my beer tab was rather more than I expected at the end of my stay.

I understood why Leonardo di Caprio kept coming here and why James and Jack left everything back in England and moved to this remote part of Nepal. Tiger Tops had something special – it was an island of organization and every comfort you can hope for, but next to a great, primal wilderness, all in the company of some of the most interesting and stimulating people you could meet. However, the civilization, the manners and the expertly prepared dinners were somehow in perfect harmony with the jungle and its tigers and rhinos, just a short walk away.

Pavel Toropov