Bardiya National Park Safari

Trip Overview

Bardiya National Park is located in Bardiya district of Nepal. Considered to be the largest National Park of Nepal with an area of 968 sq. km, this national park is the most undisturbed national park of Nepal.

Tiger Tops has been providing safari trips to its visitors with overnight accommodation at its property, Karnali Lodge with an authentic lifestyle. Karnali Lodge is located on the periphery of Bardiya National Park. The lodge has 21 rooms (9 Signature rooms and 12 Standard rooms) for the visitors and is designed adopting the traditional building techniques depicting local identity. The foods provided are fully organic and healthy as vegetables are grown in their own yard.

Signature Rooms of Karnali Lodge

Karnali Lodge has newly decorated nine Signature rooms, each with an adjoining bathroom for comfort. The rooms are designed to minimize their impact on the environment and are adorned in soft natural colors and fabrics. This results in unique tailored harmonious space capturing the essence, culture, and traditions of the local people.

Standard Rooms of Karnali Lodge

The Standard rooms are spacious containing one king size bed and one single bed with an attached bathroom. This will easily in-house a small family with two children. Unlike in the rooms of Tharu Lodge, Chitwan, Standard rooms of Karnali Lodge are also equipped with fans for cooling instead of air-conditioning. This reduces both noise and pollution in the room conserving the electricity ultimately. The rooms are well designed and decorated according to the traditional architecture of the local community.

Highlights

Jungle activities:

Jeep Safari
River Safari
Fishing
Bird watching
Jungle walk
Camping expeditions (extra)

Cultural activities :

Local village visit
Ox cart ride

Elephant activities:

Grass cutting with mahouts and elephants (morning activity)
Buffer zone jungle walk with elephants
Visit Narayani River to watch elephants swim (afternoon/ evening activity)
Elephant Sandwich (Kuchi) making

Itinerary

You will be picked up at your Kathmandu Hotel for the flight to Nepalgunj by one of Trek Guider's office representatives. The flight will take approximately 50 minutes to reach Nepalgunj. Upon reaching Nepalgunj, you will be picked up by the representative of Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge and escorted to the property in a private vehicle which will be around 2 hours drive from the Nepalgunj airport. On the way, you can enjoy watching the lifestyle of Terai, fields, and forests. Reaching close to the lodge, you will cross the Babai River where Marsh Mugger Crocodiles may be warming in the midday sun. Upon reaching the lodge, you will be served with a hot lunch in the afternoon.

In the late afternoon, head out on a dusk jeep safari to the National Park in search of elusive tigers and leopards. Tigers like to hunt in cooler temperature of the day. So the dusk time would be a perfect time to catch a glimpse of the great cats patrolling their territories. The safari will last for 2.5 hours accompanied by an experienced naturalist who will provide in-depth knowledge of the local flora and faunas of the park.

The evening will be spent with cocktails around an outdoor fireplace before moving for dinner.

Karnali Lodge

Lunch, Dinner

Wake up early in the morning to take a tour of the jungle to track tigers, elephant or the great one-horned rhinocerous in the morning light. An al-fresco styled buffet breakfast will be served on return after which you can have some relaxing time for rest.

After enjoy a Nepali style lunch, you can return to the pool for another early afternoon sunbathing and relaxation. Later in the afternoon, you will be going for a jeep safari with Tiger Tops naturalist in the National Park to get the taste of the Jungle. Exploring the nature in the classic vintage Land Rovers in comfort, you can ask as much as questions to your guide to learning as much as you can about the jungle. During the safari, you will get to encounter different species of wildlives like deer, birds, monkeys, the endangered one-horned rhinocerous, and hopefully the eluxive Royal Bengal Tiger.

In the evening, you will get to enjoy the cultural dance performed by the local dancing troupe from the village before having dinner.

Karnali Lodge

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After an early morning breakfast, strap on your walking boots, take a sturdy bamboo walking stick and prepare for a day of pure exploration and excitement !!

There will be a premade lunch ready along with refreshments to keep you going through the day. Driving on a Land Rover to the river, you will board a local boat to cross the river. On the otherside, you will be picked up by another similar vehicle and taken to the very heart of the National Park.

You can take some footsteps to feel the jungle, the suspense of what's coming up listening to the sounds of orioles and hornbills. You will be taken to a camouflaged viewing point and wait for some wild animal to roam around your spots. You will need to have great patience here. Get some sip of tea while you wait for something to get spotted. After the hide, return back in the Land Rover and allow the guide to give you a tour of other parts of the jungle. Early evening around dusk is a great time for spotting leopard and other big cats. Don't forget to keep an eye on the trees where the big cats mark their territories with their claws. Head back to the lodge crossing the river and following the same scenic route.

Enjoy your last dinner in the lodge with much fun and refreshment.

Karnali Lodge

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After leisurely breakfast, you will be transferred to the Nepalgunj airport by the hotel representative/ or just the driver for the flight back to Kathmandu. Upon reaching Kathmandu, Trek Guider's representative will pick you up at the domestic airport terminal and transferred you to your Kathmandu hotel. Trip concludes !!

Breakfast

Commencing this trip

The drive to Nepalgunj is a very long way (around 12 hrs drive). Hence, this trip will be starting with the flight to Nepalgunj from Kathmandu. Tiger Tops Karnali lodge is located at a distance of approximately 85 km with 2 hours drive from the Nepalgunj airport. Bardiya has relatively less number of lodges that organizes safari trips and hence, you will also see fewer tourists exploring in this area.

After completion of your tour, you can either opt to visit Lumbini, which is around 260 km east to Nepalgunj or simply fly back to Kathmandu.

Best time to do this trip

This trip is highly recommended to do in between October to March when the temperature is around 25-degree Celsius and weather is also clear. During spring, the temperature will be pretty high and much hotter than in Hilly region cities like Kathmandu or Pokhara.

During summer time the park will be muddy due to rain making it impossible to do convenient jeep safaris and other jungle related activities. The river levels will also rise with flood and becomes unfavorable for any sort of river activities too.