Bardia National Park Jungle Safari

Overview

A 4-day Bardia National Park jungle safari in far western Nepal. The park — also written Bardiya — covers 968 km² of forest, grassland and river, is the largest wild park in Nepal's lowlands, and sees far fewer visitors than Chitwan.

It is also the best place in Nepal to look for a wild Bengal tiger: the last count found about 125 here. You track them by jeep and on foot with a local naturalist, and wait in the machan towers by the river. You float down the Karnali River looking for river dolphins and gharials, and stay in a lodge near a Tharu village on the edge of the park.

Our team at Himalayan Social Journey (HSJ) plans the whole trip, from Nepalgunj airport and back.

How do you get to Bardia?

By air and then by road, and it is the flying that makes this trip practical. You fly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj in about an hour, we meet you at the airport, and it is a drive of about 2½ hours west to Thakurdwara, the village on the edge of the park. That is the whole journey: roughly half a day door to door. Driving the whole way from Kathmandu instead takes 14 to 15 hours, which is why almost everyone flies. The flights are not in the price, but we book them for you. Nepalgunj sits close to the Indian border, so if you are coming overland from India we can collect you at Jamunaha instead.

Will you actually see a tiger?

There is a real chance, which is more than most parks can offer, but nobody can promise one. The last count found about 125 tigers in the park, and the odds are best from March to May, when the grass has been cut and the animals come down to the rivers to drink. You spend a whole day looking, by jeep and on foot, and your naturalist works from tracks and from the alarm calls of deer and monkeys rather than from luck. Most guests who do not see a tiger still see wild elephants or rhinos, swamp deer and a great many birds — more than 400 kinds live here, which is why the early bird walk on the last morning is worth getting up for. We do not offer elephant rides: jeeps, walking safaris and the river float are kinder to the animals and show you more of the park.

Bardia or Chitwan?

Chitwan is closer to Kathmandu, cheaper to reach and easier to fit into a short trip, and if you want a jungle day or two alongside the mountains it is the sensible choice — our 3-day Chitwan National Park trip or the 5-day Chitwan and Pokhara tour both do that well. Bardia is the other kind of trip: further, wilder, far quieter, and the better park for a tiger. If this is your second jungle in Nepal, or if seeing a tiger is the point rather than a bonus, come here.

When is the best time to go?

October to May. The cool months from October to February are comfortable for walking and good for birds. March to May is hot, but it is the best stretch of the year for tigers, because the grass is cut and the animals gather at the water. Most lodges close in the monsoon, from June to September, when the rivers run high and the tracks become difficult.