Royal Chitwan National Park
Summary
Royal Chitwan National Park is the first national park of Nepal. It was established in 1973 to preserve a unique ecosystem significantly valuable to the whole world. The park has gained much wider recognition in the world when UNESCO included this area on the list of World Heritage Site in 1984.
Overview
Royal Chitwan National Park covers an area of 932 square km and is located in the subtropical Inner Terai lowlands of south-central Nepal in the Chitwan district, 120 kilometers (6 hours by car) from Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. It is the home to at least 50 species of mammals including fishing cats, jungle cats, clouded leopards, leopard cats, marbled cats, golden jackals, Indian wild dogs, sloth bears, Bengal foxes, spotted linsangs, and palm civets, as well as 525 species of birds, like egrets, bitterns, storks, kingfishers, eagles, night herons and hornbills and so on. Travelers usually stay at least one night there, and on the second day, visit the park and return to Kathmandu or continue the tour to Pokhara.
Chitwan National Park is one of Nepal’s most popular tourist destinations. When traveling through the park, it seems that you come into Africa with forests, rivers and crowds of Indian Elephants. There are two official lodges inside the national park offering full board and accommodation in combination with elephant and jeep safaris, rafting tours and guided jungle walks. According to the local tour guides, there are many chances to come across wild tigers and other wild animals during February and March.
There are many entertainment activities worth recommending, like riding on an elephant, canoeing and hiking through the jungle. In addition to observing wild lives, travelers are able to appreciate the typical Nepal's rural scenery, have a close contact with a variety of local traditions and customs in Nepal. You can even talk with local Tharu tribe people, except that they might not understand English well. The Tharu are recognised as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal Plains. They themselves say that they are a people of the forest. In Chitwan, they have lived in the forests for hundreds of years practicing a short fallow shifting cultivation. They planted rice, mustard, corn and lentils, but also collected forest products such as wild fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and materials to build their houses; hunted deer, rabbit and wild boar, and went fishing in the rivers and oxbow lakes. During the harvest season, Tharu women would harvest the elephant grass in crowd and sell it for money; during slack farming season the Tharu people would dance the chopstick dance, one special local dance.
Best Time to Visit
October and December are the best time to travel there. Besides, the time from February to April is the second best time to visit when it feels warm and people will see the azalea blossoming nationwide.
The park is located near India, and is under the tropical monsoon climate with relatively high humidity with three main seasons, winter, spring and monsoon. The cool winter season occurs from October to February with the lowest temperature of about 20 C (68 F). The spring begins in March and is soon followed by summer that ends in early June. The summer days are typically hot with 30 C (86 F) on average day temperature. The monsoon usually begins at the end of June and continues until September. The mean annual rainfall is about 2150 mm and during this time of the year rivers are flooded and most of the roads are virtually closed.
Admission Fee
- 500 Rupees per day
- Children younger than 10 years old can enjoy free admission.
If you book accommodation at a superior hotel or join the tours of travel agencies, the admission fee is usually included in the price. It is also very convenient to join 3day/2night or 2day/1night tours with local travel agencies. The expense is not high at only about USD 40-60, including all the fees except for drinks and tips.
Touring Activities
- Watching Elephant Showering
Every morning at 11 o’clock, a herd of elephants are lead to the river near Riverside Hotel to take shower. You can put on swimming suits and swim with them in the river, or even ride one of the elephants, and get watered by these elephants.
- Elephant ride
You can ride an elephant to go through the ancient forests, explore the nature, and watch rhinoceros and birds and many other wild animals as well. It only takes 2 hours to tour through the large park with an elephant. When you cross a river, the elephant would often do you a small trick, getting you watered.
- Guided jungle walk
There are many paths to hike through Chitwan National Park and new paths are developed continuously. But the most developed must be the Holyday Way, on which you will most probably meet rhinoceros. Chitwan National Park is one of the only two India rhinocero's open quarters in the world. Rhinoceros, as one kind of endangered animals, only remains less than 2000 worldwide, with more than 300 living in Chitwan National Park. As for the Bengal tiger (Bagh), there live about 60 Bengal tigers in the park, but normally they won't get out during daytime. If you accidentally come across one, stay on the elephant and do not come down. Inside the park, generally rare wild animals are very easy to see.
- Canoeing
Another traditional tourist activity would be canoeing along the river. You are able to appreciate the tropical jungles and various birds singing. And you would probably be struck by the crocodile of different kinds swimming nearby or quietly lying on river shoals.
