Chitwan National Park – Spotting a tiger in Nepal.
One of Nepal’s great attractions is Chitwan National Park, a huge nature reserve where Bengal tigers, white rhinos and Indian elephants roam free. This is one of the best places for tiger spotting in Asia.
After visiting the ancient historical temples in Kathmandu, trekking for a week in the legendary Himalayan foothills, and chilling down by picturesque Pokhara lakeside for a few days, it was time to visit yet another of Nepal’s great attractions… Chitwan National Park!
The first part of the journey on the tourist bus from Pokhara was fine, passing through scenic green countryside until it turned off the main road to Kathmandu, and headed towards Chitwan.
The busy highway was being resurfaced after the recent landslides and was incredibly dusty!
The views from the coach were pretty spectacular though, following a formidable gorge with the rushing waters of the Trishuli River far below. Our lodge was set in pretty gardens just outside the nature park in a rural village surrounded by farmland and rice fields.
In the afternoon a park guide showed us around the immediate area, a walk through grassland down to the riverbank where we were lucky enough to see some rhinos! The white one-horned rhinoceroses are a protected endangered species, and like the Bengal tiger, leopards and elephants that once roamed these lands, they were brought to the brink of extinction by big game hunters.
Chitwan has World Heritage Site status and a lot has been done over the past 30 years to protect the fauna which are gradually increasing in numbers. For a while we watched a rhino half submerged in the river but he didn’t move and could be bathing there for hours…the warden pointed out other rhinos in the tall grass on the opposite bank but it was difficult to get a good photo.
The elephant breeding centre is close to the park entrance and although the animals are taken out into the park everyday they were chained up in the late afternoon. While there are herds of wild elephants roaming free, others are kept in captivity to breed and are used to patrol the reserve to eradicate poaching and some for taking tourists on ‘safaris’ which is meant to be more ecological than using a jeep.
Overlooking the riverbank there is a typical wooden bar with benches where you can sit with a cool drink and watch the sunset over the jungle – it had just been rebuilt after the storm damage. Our lodge had been extensively redecorated too and, what we hadn’t realized, the park had only been reopened to visitors three days previously. This explained the lack of wildlife in general, particularly the wild elephants which had migrated down to India and not returned to their home grounds yet.
In the evening, we were picked up at the hotel and taken to a cultural centre for a show of traditional singing and dancing. Performers were dressed in typical regional costumes and the highlight of the night was a comical routine featuring a dancer in a giant peacock costume.
Next morning a guide accompanied us for a canoe ride down the river passing crocodiles on the way – there are two types of crocodile in these waters, the fish eating Gharial species and the more dangerous carnivorous ones! Scrambling up a muddy bank with our eyes open for crocs, the four of us (a Nepali wildlife photographer was also on the same trip) traipsed through some bush and woods for a couple of hours but were disappointed to see mainly monkeys, deer and an assortment of waterfowl.
The photographer guy had seen a tiger out on safari three days previously and promised to send me a photo.
Did you know that there are 40 species of wild cats in the world?
Apart from the Bengal Tiger, other endangered felines such as the Clouded Leopard, the Snow Leopard and the smaller Marbled Cat stalk the remote forests and mountains of Nepal.
Our agency, Nepal Adventure Point had booked us on an elephant ride safari as you can get closer to the wildlife, but Juan and I wanted to go by jeep instead. First we had a short canoe trip across the river, squatting on a very shallow and flimsy canoe. It was great fun as the jeep safari took us by some beautiful scenery, marshland, forest and lakes on a mission to spot the elusive Bengal tiger.
Our ranger got excited a couple of times and scanned the horizon with his binoculars, and we eventually saw some rhino hiding in the bush. Juan caught a glimpse of something crossing the track in the distance but the sun was getting low and casting an orange glow over the landscape so it was difficult to discern. We were taken on a quick tour of a crocodile breeding farm and then to our disappointment our jeep headed back for the day.
Well, we never expected to see a Bengal tiger really, as there are very few examples left in the world, it would have been quite extraordinary if one had crossed our path.
Walking back down the lane to the lodge, another guide called out and laughed – he’d been on the jeep behind us and they had seen a tiger cross the trail just as we’d driven off, so Juan hadn’t been imagining it after all…a brownish orangey striped Bengal tiger. So it’s not a just a legend although we don’t have a photo to prove it!
Wildlife photos courtesy of Chitwan guide Raju Mahato.
For more info on Chitwan National Park see www.nepaladventurepoint.com
Continue reading our amazing adventure in Nepal
Diwali festival of lights in Kathmandu, Nepal
Diwali – Festival of Lights in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Juan and I started our Nepal adventure in Kathmandu celebrating the family orientated Dashain festival with our friends, the Bhandari brothers of Nepal Adventure Point.
More Popular Features on Nepal
- Kathmandu – What to See in 3 Days – First stop on our around the world trip!
- Kathmandu – Thamel and Kathmandu Durbar Square
- Kathmandu – Patan City + Swayambhu Temple
- Kathmandu – Boudhanath Stupa + Pashupatinath Temple
- Poon Hill Trek part 1 Nayapul – Hile – Ulleri – Ghorepani
- Poon Hill Trek part 2 Poon Hill Summit – Tadapani – Ghandruk
- Poon Hill Trek part 3 Landruk – Tolka – Dhampus
- Pokhara Lake
- Chitwan National Park
- Diwali Festival of Lights in Kathmandu
- 12-day Nepal Itinerary – Kathmandu Diwali Festival and Himalayan Trek
Discover the World with 
the blog with a focus on independent budget travel.
While you don’t have the photograph to prove it, at least you have the memory. Or Juan does. so sad that these creatures are only becoming a distant shadow on the memory in the wild.