Royal
Bardia National Park
Area
Code: 084
This 968 sq km park in southwest Nepal is an interesting place to
visit. There are over 30 different mammals including tigers, leopards,
jungle cats, sloth bear, Nilgai (blue cows), blackbuck and rhesus
and langar monkeys. There are also spotted hog, swamp, sambar and
barking deer. You are more likely to see a tiger than any other place
in Nepal, including Chitwan. The park is around 70% sal forest and
the rest of the park is grassland, savanna and riverine forest. The
grassland is great for viewing wildlife. The Asian one-horned rhinoceros
were hunted to extinction in the beginning of the 20th century; some
rhinos were moved to the park in 1986. Now there are around 45 rhinos
in the park, which means most people will see one. There are around
50 tigers and 50 wild elephants in the park. One of the elephants,
called Raja Gaj, is 11 feet 3 inches (3.4m) at the shoulders and may
be the largest Asian elephant in the world. In the Geruwa River there
are mugger and gharial crocodiles and the rare Gangetic dolphins.
There are over 300 species of birds including storks,
parakeet, geese, herons, duck and some endangered species such as
the sarus crane and Bengal florican. A common site in Bardia is the
termite mounds, which can be up to 2.5m high.
Some advantages of Bardia over Chitwan are it isolation
and the fact that it has much less visitors and is more secluded.
The problem with it is that it is so far from Kathmandu and takes
a day to travel to it. It is over five hours from Chitwan. To come
here you need a day to get to it, two days at the park and then a
day to return to Kathmandu or Pokhara. It is also not well developed
and the places to stay are limited, but there are some budget places.
The Chure Hills is at the border in the north, and it
is bordered on the west by the Geruwa River, which is a branch of
the Karnali, a tributary of the Ganges.
Orientation
The headquarters of the park are at Thakurdwara, around 20km southwest
of Anbassa on the Mahendra Highway. Most visitors spend their time
in the western part of the park, where there are grasslands and forests
near the Geruwa River. Not many people visit the eastern part of the
park.
Thakurdwara
Thakurdwara, the park headquarters, is 12km off the main highway.
It is near the Geruwa River and there is a good amount of wildlife.
Most of the lodges are close to Thakurdwara, and there is not much
else here. This is where the bus stops. It does not have electricity.
At the park headquarters there is a breeding place for
gharial and marsh mugger crocodiles, which are bred until they get
big enough and then are released into the river.
You can change cash and travelers cheques at the Forest
Hideaway Cottages.
International calls can be made from the lodges, but
the rates are expensive.
There is a medical post near the bus stop. There is
no pharmacy here.
Information
The park is open from 6.30 am to 6 pm (7 pm in the summer). The park
office is open daily from 8 to 10 am and 2 to 5 pm. Admission is Rs
1000 are valid for three consecutive days. Entry tickets are purchased
at the ticket office at the headquarters office at Thakurdwara, or
your lodge can arrange the ticket.
Elephant Rides
Elephant rides are Rs 650 per hour (up to 3 hours) and are booked
at the park headquarters. It takes about 30 minutes by elephant to
reach the core area of the park, before you are likely to see any
wildlife. The longer the ride the deeper you go into the park and
the better the chance of seeing wildlife are. Elephants should be
reserved at least one day in advance. Elephants depart in the early
morning and late afternoon from the park headquarters. The elephants
usually head northwest and you may see deer, langur monkeys, rhinos
and boar. You are less likely to see a tiger or bear.
Walking Tour
You can also take a walking tour, but you need to have an experienced
guide with you. This can often be arranged through your lodge for
Rs 300 to 350 for half a day.
Often during walk you have to wade over some streams,
so it would be handy to have some sandal with you.
After the thatch is cut in mid-January visibility increases.
Jeep Rides
A jeep can bring you further into the park than an elephant. You book
a jeep ride through your lodge. The price of the jeep per person depends
on how many passengers there are. A full jeep is around Rs 650 per
person. If you came with your own jeep to the park, you need to get
a special jeep entry permit at the park headquarters, which costs
Rs 1000.
Where to Stay
The places here are mainly very basic. There is no electricity. It
is a pleasant place. The budget places are in Thakurdwara, north and
south of the park entrance. The food is fairly basic at most of the
places. Bardia Jungle Cottage and Forest Hideaway Hotel are the most
popular places.
There are no restaurants in Thakurdwara except for the ones in the
hotels.
Hotel Bardia Natural Park, 500m from the entrance to the park, has
really basic mud and thatch cottages for Rs 200.
Wildlife Neighbors Cottages is a family-run really basic place. It
has good shade.
Tree Top Lodge is a well-located friendly budget place.
Hotel Racy Shade, nearby, has really basic mud and thatch cottages
for Rs 200.
Bardia Jungle Cottages (29562, 29714; Kathmandu 258-327), across from
the entrance to the park, is a nice place that has cottage with common
bath for Rs 250 and Rs 450 with bath. It has food. It has a pleasant
shady garden. It rent bicycles and jeeps.
Bardia Wildlife Paradise (29715), is south along the river, 1km south
of the park HQ, has mud and thatch cottages with common bath for Rs
250 and Rs 400 with bath. It has a nice garden. It has a restaurant.
It can be a little hard to reach without your own transportation.
Dolphin Manor (Kathmandu: 420-308), nearby 1km south of the park headquarters,
has deluxe tents and stone cottages. Meals are eaten in the central
hall.
Forest Hideaway Cottages (084 29716; email: forest-hideaway@geo.wlink.com.np)
is located near the park headquarters on the north side of the park.
It is well-managed by a Scottish–Nepali couple. They can change
cash and travelers cheques here legally. It has a pleasant shady garden.
It has basic mud and thatch cottages with common bath for Rs 400,
a larger comfortable cottage with common bath for Rs 550 (includes
breakfast), and a cottage with a bathroom shared between two cottages
for Rs 650 (includes breakfast). There are tents for Rs 175 which
includes breakfast and Rs 100 if you have your own tent (does not
include breakfast). They can arrange jeep safaris for Rs 1400 per
person for four hours. It has some of the best food in Thakurdwara.
Rhino Lodges (29720; email: rhinotvl@ccsl.com.np), about 3km south
of the park entrance, has cottages for Rs 500. It has a garden, but
not much shade. It exists mainly because of package tours.
Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge (Tiger Mountain: 01 420-322; fax 414-075;
email: info@tigermountain.com tiger@mtn.mos.com.np; PO Box 242, Durbar
Marg, Kathmandu) is right next to the border of the park. It is run
by Tiger Mountain which is the same people that run the Tiger Tops
Lodge in Chitwan. It is beautiful designed place built of local materials
in the Tharu village style. It is a well-managed, pleasant place.
Tiger Mountains also runs Karnali Tented Camp which has a great location
next to the Geruwa River near Chisopani in the northwest area of the
park, 15km north of Thakurdwara. It is the only place to stay inside
the park. It is a comfortable place with good food. There arrange
an elephant ride and a boat ride on the river which is great for bird
watching. Staying at both places is a worth while experience. They
are $ 250/325 and include all meals, an elephant ride and guided walk.
The lodge is open all year, but the camp closes from the middle of
April to the end of September.
Travel
A great way to get to Bardia National Park is by taking a raft down
the Karnali River. Organized rafting trips down the Karnali usually
include an option to spend some time at Bardia after the trip.
Air The closest airport is in Nepalganj.
From there you can get a jeep to Thakurdwara.
Bus The park headquarters at Thakurdwara
is around a 2½ hour (longer by local bus) drive west of the
park. It is an interesting drive through some villages. Bus depart
from Nepalganj to Thakurdwara (3 or 4 hr, Rs 75) at 11 am and 2 pm.
Buses depart from Thakurdwara to Nepalganj at 8 and 9 am.
Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge and Tented Camp can arrange
for its guest to get there by jeep from Nepalganj for $10.
Buses from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi or Mahendranagar can
let you off at Anbassa (Rs 360), the turn off for Thakurdwara. They
usually arrive between 3 and 7 am in the morning. Guest house jeeps
meet the buses to take passenger to Thakurdwara. There are buses to
Pokhara (Rs 360) and Mahendranagar (Rs 160). Direct local buses depart
Nepalganj to Thakurdwara. Night buses from Mahendranagar or Dhangadhi
past through Ambaasa and arrive in the late evening. Lodge jeeps are
not usually at Ambaasa in the evening, but you can call ahead and
have them pick you up. There are no phones in Ambaasa, but there is
a phone in Budhigaun, 5km east of Ambaasa and a jeep will pick you
up there. If you stay in the lodge whose jeep picks you up, you do
not have to pay, but the room rate should be higher. Local buses pass
through Ambaasa to Thakurdwara at around 4 and 7 pm. The bus stop
in Thakurdwara is a good distance to the lodges, so if you arrive
after dark you may be forced to use one of the touts to get to one.
A stream may close the road between Ambaasa and Thakurdwara
during the monsoon, so if you come at this time you should contact
the lodge you plan to stay at to get across the stream.
Buses can be booked through your lodge.
Jeep You can get here by renting a jeep in Mahendranagar
or in Nepalganj. You can then use the jeep to take a tour of the park.
It costs Rs 1000 for the jeep to enter the park, plus Rs 1700 daily
fee plus fuel.
