When I was in Nepal, I had the chance to go on a safari in the Chitwan Jungles, where I canoed with crocodiles, pet a baby elephant, saw one-horned Indian rhinos, and even crossed paths with a wild tiger.
When people think of Nepal, they think of Mount Everest, snow, yaks, and long treks. What they often don’t think of is dense jungles full of monkeys, elephants, rhinos, and tigers. Located west of Kathmandu and nestled at the foot of the Himalayas, Chitwan National Park is a hub of hot jungles and stunning wildlife.
When I was visiting Nepal, I went on a safari in the Chitwan Jungles after my trek to Everest Base Camp. I spent three days in the jungle, and it was a very different adventure compared to my time up in the mountains.
To get there, I flew from Kathmandu to Bharatpur near Chitwan National Park. A flight was around $109 and took about 20 minutes. I was picked up from the airport, and then driven in a private car to the guest houses. The resort that I stayed at was the Hotel Horizon Homes - Sauraha Chitwan.
Upon arrival, I was taken to my room where I dropped off my stuff and went to have some breakfast. After my meal, I discovered (a bit badly) that the toilet in my room was broken and wasn’t flushing, so I had to let someone at the front desk know, but they easily switched me over to a new room. I was on the ground floor, with my own private patio and a large spacious bedroom.
After a bit of relaxing, the heavens opened and it began to pour with rain, leaving me soaked through as I ran back and forth through the gardens of the complex to get to lunch.
Post lunch, once the rain had stopped, we went on our first outing! We walked from the hotel to Tharu Village, where we saw elephants, local houses, hiked through some marshes and went along the East Rapti River. The weather in Chitwan is hot and muggy, so I was positively sweating on this walk. I even had a local wild dog come and sit at my feet, wanting some cuddles and lots of pets.
This took a few hours, and as the sun began to set, we sat down at a restaurant near the riverside that had a rooftop bar. I shared a beer with some new friends, talking about our lives and our time in Nepal. I had a few nice beers in Nepal; this time around it was Barahsinghe, a Pilsner bier. This was also the beer that I shared with my guide, Tikka, once we had completed the Base Camp Trek on our last night in Lukla. Another one that I loved was a Nepalese beer called Gorkha Strong.
The sunsets are beautiful in Nepal, with a vibrant orange sun and colorful skies, so sitting there having a drink and watching the sun go down behind the river was very picturesque.
On the walk back, we went along the Sauraha Main Street, where I was given a special Nepalese coin that represents good luck from a store owner.
Upon arriving back at the hotel, we were greeted by a group of locals who performed a traditional Tharu stick dance for us. We sat around in a semicircle as they played some drums and danced with the sticks, singing and hitting the sticks together. They then brought out the fire twirlers, who were very impressive.
Dinner is served buffet style, with many options to choose from. We sat out on the patio, with the chirping of the insects around us and drinking beers into the evening, chatting about endless things. In the middle of the hotel complex was a giant lychee tree, so they even had a bowl of fresh lychees for dessert.
Day two was full of amazing experiences! After breakfast, we started the day with a canoe ride. The canoes were very traditional, carved from one, long tree trunk. It was a bit precarious walking to our ‘seats’ (little wooden chairs with no legs), as the boat felt like it would tip if someone moved too much.
As we sailed down the river, we saw monkeys jumping between the trees, a number of brightly colored birds, and, shockingly, so many marsh mugger crocodiles. They were basking in the sun on the banks and lurking in the reeds beside the canoe. I was a bit freaked out by this I'm not going to lie, but it was super cool to actually see them in the wild.
After getting off the canoe, we took a walk through the jungle, where we found this amazing tree, which we all climbed for a great photo op. The tree had wrapped around itself and coiled into these twisted branches.
Once we got out of the jungle, we arrived at the Elephant Breeding and Training Center, where I was able to see my favorite animal up close in person for the first time. There were two little baby elephants that were coming up to meet us, and it was a dream come true getting to pet them. Their skin was thicker and hair much more bristly than I was expecting.
It did make me really sad (and honestly quite uncomfortable) that the larger elephants had a chain around their ankles, but the guide said that it was the time of the month where they were at the center to get check ups. For the majority of the year, they are released into the jungle to roam freely (though semi-supervised to protect them from poachers). From here, we were picked up in a car and taken back to the hotel.
After lunch, we set back off for a Jeep drive inside the national park. I was so excited for this part. I sat in the very front of the Jeep with my two new friends, one from the UK and the other from Spain, and we had a completely unobstructed view of the road before us.
Chitwan National Park is a conservation area, so there were a few checkpoints as we drove around the jungles, having to stay on the clearly defined roads and paths. As we drove around, we saw many of the same animals, such as birds and wild monkeys. At one point, we saw a sloth bear in the field next to us, slowly climbing a tree and watching us from afar.
There were two major highlights from this jungle drive. First were the one-horned Indian rhinos. We saw them on two occasions, submerged in water to keep themselves cool in the heat. We were not allowed to get close (for obvious reasons), but it was amazing to see them all the same, and there were so many; I think I saw around eight in total.
The second major highlight was having a wild tiger run in front of our Jeep. Tigers are very solitary animals, so this was a VERY rare occurrence. Our guide was freaking out, getting so excited and telling us he couldn’t believe that had just happened. We all had to be very quiet, as it sat in the underbrush in the distance and watched us for a moment, before slowly creeping off to get further into the jungle. It all happened so quickly, none of us even had a chance to get a photo.
Our guide had never seen a tiger in the wild before, and when I later mentioned it to the owner of the company I was visiting Nepal through, he said that in his 25 years of running the company, only three people had ever seen a tiger. I was super lucky!
We finished our time in the Jeep at a gharial crocodile sanctuary. These crocodiles have very long, thin snouts, making them look entirely different to the marsh mugger crocodiles we saw when we were canoeing. It was interesting to walk around, seeing the hundreds of gharials, however after seeing the rhinos and a tiger, it wasn’t the most exciting part of the day.
On my last day in Chitwan, I just had some breakfast at the hotel, before I went to gather my things and head back to the airport. Flying domestically is always an experience there. Airports in Nepal are very relaxed, so there is just one scanner to put your bag on, and then you all sit in one waiting room together, as the flights are called up on a TV screen.
My friend from the UK was also on this flight, so it was nice to have someone to sit with and then head back to Kathmandu together. Will and I just relaxed at the airport for about an hour or so, before returning to the capital city.
I am so glad that I went to Chitwan. It gave me such a cool perspective about another piece of Nepal that is not often spoken about. And of course, it was absolutely amazing to see some elephants, rhinos and a tiger in person too. I highly recommend to anyone visiting Nepal, take 2-3 days out of your schedule and visit Chitwan National Park!
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