Chitwan National Park
Area: 175 sq km
Established: 1976
Location: Eastern Nepal
Anyone who finds wildlife captivating will be thrilled to spend two or three days ‘on safari’ in Nepal’s premier national park.
Here you can ride on an elephant (and then help to bath him in the river afterwards!), see the seriously endangered one-horned rhino and perhaps a Royal Bengal tiger also, as well as taking a canoe trip to see garial crocodiles or going on an early morning birdwatching walk to spot some of the 420 species of avian life that have been recorded here.
Chitwan has a sub-tropical, lowland jungle landscape and takes five hours to reach by road from Kathmandu (or a 25-minute flight).
Most of our jungle itineraries include a stay at one of the six lodges within the park, in a double ‘thatched cottage’ style room. Typically your stay would be for two nights/three days and all your activities and nature tours are conducted by resident professional guides and naturalists.
A visit to Chitwan will give you an insight into a very different natural and cultural setting, compared to the soaring mountain peaks or the bustle of Kathmandu. A trip here blends in well into a varied itinerary tour, combined perhaps with rafting and/or treks in the Annapurna region.
Bardia National Park
Area: 175 sq.km
Established: 1976
Location: Western Nepal
This park is the largest and most undisturbed wilderness area in the Terai. About 70 percent is forested, with the rest made up of a mix of grassland, savannah and riverine forest.
This is a prime habitat for wildlife, including rhinoceros, wild elephant, tiger, swamp deer, black buck, gharial crocodile, marsh mugger crocodile and Gangetic dolphin.
Endangered birds include the Bengal florican, lesser florican, silver-eared mesia and Sarus crane.
More than 30 different mammals, 200 species of birds and many snakes, lizards and fish have been recorded in the park’s forest, grassland and river habitats.
Royal Bardia is likely to appeal to those people who enjoy solitude and for whom a study of nature will be a major focus of their tour. Tucked away and exclusive, the park is most easily reached by a flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj (one hour and 10 minutes), followed by a three-hour drive.
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve
Area: 175 sq.km
Established: 1976
Location: Eastern Nepal
This is an internationally significant wetland reserve, situated on the flood plains of the Sapta-Koshi River in eastern Nepal.
It is home to more than 250 bird species including 20 varieites of duck, two types of ibis and many storks, egrets and herons. The endangered swamp partridge and the Bengal florican are also found here and the Koshi Barrage is an extremely important nesting place for migratory birds.
The reserve is also home to many types of mammals such as hog deer, spotted deer, wild boar and blue bull. The endangered gharial crocodile and Gangetic dolphin have been recorded in the Koshi River and the last surviving population of wild buffalo, or arna, are found here.
The vegetation mainly includes tall Khar-pater (grasslands), with a few patches of Khar-sissoo (scrub), also forest and deciduous mixed riverine forest.
During the monsoon season the river is flooded to depths ranging from 10-300 cm and with the changing seasons the Sapta-Koshi River also changes its course.
