History
Hot, sub tropical green and teeming with wild life whether it’s in the lush forests, crawling ants, sauntering rhinos or the river side makeshift beer stalls in Sauraha, the Terai takes you over in Nepal’s best known game park. For some years now Chitwan has been a must-do in Nepal. This park is an awesome experience; if you skip it you’d have missed something.
Sitting at the Indo-Nepal border, Chitwan, Nepal’s oldest wildlife sanctuary spreads out over 932 sq km of dense vegetation. As a Natural World Heritage Site, Chitwan has successfully combined its twin agendas of protection of wildlife and the promotion of it through eco-tourism. It’s a given thing that you’ll see wild animals here, maybe not the Royal Bengal Tiger, but almost surely the lovely ponderous one-horned rhino, and most surely graceful grazing deer. Chitwan is a typical subtropical jungle teeming with one-horned rhinoceros, deer, leopard, sloth bear, bison, monkeys, the Royal Bengal Tiger and a variety of bird and bug life. There are about 107 tigers in Chitwan, concentrated in the northern side of the park. The rhinos, langurs and deer are easiest to spot since the park is almost bursting with them. The count from a survey conducted in 1995 brought forth the estimate that there are 470 mammalian species, more than 500 bird species, 9 species of amphibians, 150 species of butterflies and 47 species of reptiles in Chitwan.
The morning jungle walk is particularly rewarding, since in the relative cool the animals are yet to recede into the thickly forested depths of the Park. Elephant safaris in the evenings pay off similarly, since the animals come around to the river that borders the forest. A guide must accompany jungle walkers because there is a real threat of rhino charges. Jeeps can take you further into the forest than anything else but have to keep to the road. Canoe-rides expose you to the river fauna: amphibians like crocodiles (‘gharial’) and the 126 species of fish.
Other excursions include a two-day guided jungle walk to Kasara, which is the Park’s headquarter and the site for the Gharial Conservation Project. Some tours specialize in bird watching. The bicycle trip to Bis Hajaar Taal (‘Twenty Thousand Lakes’) yields sightings of gharials, rhinos and much bird life. Also worth a trip is the Elephant Breeding Centre not far from Sauraha.
Getting There:
By Air: There is a small landing strip in the town of Bharatpur, near Narayanghat, which functions as the "airport" for Chitwan. A 30-minute drive from there to Chitwan along the Mahendra Rajmarg highway takes you to the small town of Tardi Bazaar which leads in to Sauraha and the national park. Domestic airlines and charter planes fly here from Kathmandu.
By Road:
Chitwan lies along Nepal’s main highway, the Mahendra Rajmarg Highway. Buses going eastwards from Kathmandu will all pass this way. From Kathmandu Tardi Bazaar comes up first. Further down are the other entrances to the park where the up market jungle lodges that give you the real jungle experience are.
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Best time to visit
High season is during the months of December and January when the Terai cools down. The pro side to it is that early morning walks need not be too early in order to be exceedingly pleasant; the con would be that hot water availability becomes an issue! This is the time when the towering grass is cut and visibility improves.
The months of May, June and July can be incredibly uncomfortable first because of the oppressive humidity as the entire region waits with bated breath for the rains to break and then because here when it rains, it pours. But if you can withstand the heat and humidity this time is as rewarding as any for wildlife spotting. Just waiting by a waterhole is bound to have its rewards.
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Timing
The purchase of a ticket, which is a multiple-entry permit for a period of 2 days, is mandatory. The Tourist Office at the Park’s entrance issues tickets for entry and elephant safaris. The permit also covers canoeing rights on the Rapti. It is open daily from 6:30 to 9 am and again in the afternoon from 1 to 3:30 pm.
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