What if I tell you that Nepal is not only about beautiful and high mountains covered in snow? I mean, of course, Mount Everest is the first thing you think when you read or hear the name Nepal but this curious country has way more to offer. The snowy peaks, colorful prayers flags and the solitary temples on top of the Himalayas are just one of the many faces Nepal hides. The other end of the country, you can do a safari in Nepal! You can see rhinos and tigers and support organizations that fight elephant abuse.
Safari in Nepal? Let me tell you more about it
I’m talking about the unique experience I had back in May 2017. I went on a safari in Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is a region along the border with India. South of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, you will find wetlands and a flat jungle that is, in my opinion, the very opposite of the image people have from Nepal. In Chitwan, you will experience one of the craziest things: A Safari in Nepal! Crocodiles, tigers, countless birds species, rhinoceroses, elephants.. those are just a few names of the wildlife you can see there.
This safari can be done by three ways: two that are amazing and one that in the end I will tell you a bit about it.
The first two options I can show you here on this post and the video, it is canoe and with a car. Both are super amazing, and I can’t say which one was my favorite, to be honest. With a car, you can reach easily dears, rhinos and more. But don’t dismiss the canoe so fast! With the canoe, you’ll have a better chance with crocodiles and maybe get the tiger drinking water from the river. (Spoiler alert: God hates me, and I didn’t see any tiger.)
The 3rd option may sound super cool at first but please, cool your jets. The third option is to do the safari on the back of an elephant.
Yes, unfortunately, this is still a thing in most countries in South East Asia. And as a well-informed person that cares about animals, I urge you NOT to give money to any of those people that mistreat elephants (or any other animal). This include of course more than just a safari on an elephant. In Nepal, you will be offered many options for elephant rides. Please say no to all of them. If you really wanna have a cool experience with those amazing creatures, get in touch with some of the hotels around. I spent the night at Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge, and they have a special day activity that consists in taking visitor s to see elephants. The elephants are rescued from horrible conditions, and the place is some sort of a sanctuary. Unfortunately, I’ve missed the morning call, and I didn’t go. In my defense, it was at 6:30 or 7 am, and I couldn’t move when my alarm went off.
In the very end of the video, you’ll see some of the elephants we spotted by accident on our safari. The poor creatures had heavy chains on their neck, and they were not happy. I also spotted a chained elephant inside the army’s area – there is an army’s area inside the park.
This proved to me that Nepal, like many other countries like Thailand and Philippines and bla bla bla, are far behind on animal rights. And the only way we can change it is by not giving money to activities like this. Many organizations are trying to educate the population, and the response is quite good, but the money talks louder, sadly.
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But jokes aside, thanks for reading this post and if you want to add something to this text, if you’ve done a Safari in Nepal or if you just have questions, please leave a comment. We’ll be happy to answer.
