Safari in Chitwan

with tigers and Asiatic rhinos

Chitwan National Park is located in the south of Nepal, bordering India.

Established in 1973, Chitwan is the most commonly visited of a string of reserves along the lower foothills of the Himalayas.

Extending over 932 sq km (360 sq miles), the reserve adjoins Parsa National Park at 627 sq km (242 sq miles) and Valmiki National Park at 898 sq km (347 sq miles), the three making up a really considerable conservation area.

Unfortunately these reserves are surrounded on all sides by agriculture, which does undermine the integrity of the conservation here and, unfortunately, separates it from the wild mountain areas just to the north.

The landscape is comprised of the low Churia Hills to the south side, which are largely covered by moist deciduous forests, and broad alluvial grasslands, with extensive marshes and river systems.

Chitwan is home to 68 mammal species, with predators including Bengal tigers (80-100 individuals), Indian leopards, fishing cats, jungle cats, leopard cats, Indian civets, Asian palm civets, Bengal foxes, spotted linsangs, honey badgers, striped hyenas, Indian wild dogs, golden jackals, crab-eating mongooses, yellow-throated martens, sloth bears and smooth-coated otters.

Other mammals include Asian elephants, one-horned rhinos (600-650 individuals), gaurs (Indian bison)(400 individuals), wild boars, sambar deers, red muntjacs, hog deers, chitals, four-horned antelopes, rhesus monkeys, hanuman langurs, Indian pangolins, Indian porcupines, various flying squirrels, black-naped hares and endangered hispid hares.

An impressive 550 species of birds have been recorded in Chitwan, including black-chinned yuhinas, Gould’s sunbirds, blossom-headed parakeets, slaty-breasted rails, Bengal floricans, lesser adjutants, grey-crowned prinias, swamp francolins, Oriental darters, egrets, bitterns, storks, kingfishers, spotted eagles, peafowls, jungle fowls, greater spotted eagles, eastern imperial eagles, Pallas’s fish-eagles, bar-headed geese, cuckoos, Bengal pittas and paradise flycatchers.

The rivers are home to over 110 species of fish, as well as mugger crocodiles and rare gharial crocodiles. A local project collects gharial eggs from the river banks and incubates the young, before returning to the wild several years later.

Chitwan National Park is a popular location and experiences quite high visitor numbers. There are separate clusters of lodges around the two entrance gates.

To the east the Sauraha area is the more busy, with around 150 properties of various descriptions and lots of lower cost budget travel and larger groups.

To the west the Meghauli area is not exactly exclusive, but there is far less accommodation over here, so the safari experience tends to be slightly higher quality.

The primary activity here is vehicle safari into the national park. The best lodges are able to operate their own vehicles inside the national park, whilst the remainder rely on the services of the national park authority, which can make a really big difference to the overall quality of the experience.

It is perhaps worth mentioning that you should not expect to see tigers here. Although there are plenty of cats around, the long grasses make them very difficult to find with any reliability. If you really want to see tigers then you should head to the top Indian reserves such as Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Kaziranga.

Walking safari is permitted inside certain sections of the reserve, providing surprisingly good opportunities to observe a range of animals, potentially including one-horned rhinos and wild elephants, as well as offering the chance to take in the details of the flora and lesser fauna.

Other interesting activities in the area include a visit to a local elephant sanctuary (where you can join domesticated elephants in their daily bath), canoe safari along the Narayani River and a visit to the local crocodile breeding centre.

The best time of year to visit the Chitwan area is generally considered to be during Oct-Apr, although there are considerable climatic variations over that period.

October

This period represents arguably the best time to be trekking in Nepal. Some operators suggest that the season starts mid-September and runs on to the end of November, but there are chances of very high rainfall earlier on and very low temperatures later.

October is the transition period between the end of the monsoon rains and the start of the cool dry season.

During October the daytime temperatures usually rise to around 30C/86F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures hold up around 19C/56F. However the rainfall is much lower, dropping to around 50mm (2”) per month. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 75% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear.

Nov-Feb

Nov-Feb is the main cool dry season.

During Nov-Feb the daytime temperatures usually rise to around 25C/77F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures plunge to around 9C/48F. There should be very little rainfall. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 80% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear.

Mar-Apr

Mar-Apr is the warm season, with rainfall slowly increasing in advance of the main monsoon.

During Mar-Apr the daytime temperatures can climb to around 31C/88F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures hold up around 15C/59F. Rainfall usually increases slightly, from almost nothing in March to around 50mm (2”) in April. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 60% of daylight hours), indicating that showers tend to be occasional, set against a usually clear sky.

May

May is the transition month ahead of the main monsoon rains, often with considerable rainfall.

During May the daytime temperatures can climb to around 34C/93F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures remain up around 21C/70F. Rainfall climbs to around 125mm (5”) over the course of the month. Sunshine is around 7 hours per day (around 60% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are often overcast as the monsoon clouds gather.

Jun-Sep

Jun-Sep is the main monsoon season and is generally considered to be the least favourable time to visit.

During Jun-Sep the daytime temperatures drop off slightly to around 32C/90F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures remain up at an uncomfortable 23C/73F. Rainfall climbs to an extremely high 350mm (14”) per month. Sunshine drops to around 4 hours per day (around 35% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are very often heavily overcast.

Getting there

The Chitwan area is usually reached by air from Kathmandu, landing at Bharatpur Airport, around 30 km to the northeast.

A more interesting way to arrive, especially if you are previously trekking in the Annapurna area, is to undertake a two day white-water rafting expedition down the Seti River, which brings you out of the mountains just north of Bharatpur.

Although very unusual, it is also possible to connect in by road from the holy city of Varanasi in India, which lies around 300 km to the south.

Where to stay

The Chitwan area is flanked on the north side by an extraordinary array of lodges and guesthouses, but unfortunately high quality options are few and far between

usually best visited during the cooler winter months