Our anchor park

Central Terai

Chitwan National Park

Nepal’s lowland wildlife heart — and where our story begins.

Best time to visit — Oct–Mar (cooler, clearer); Feb–Apr for tigers
A greater one-horned rhinoceros in tall Terai grassland

Chitwan is where Stripe & Feather runs deepest. It’s our anchor — the one leg of every journey where we control the ground experience end to end — and it’s also, quite simply, one of the finest places on earth to watch the one-horned rhino go about its day.

What makes it special

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984, Chitwan protects 953 km² of sal forest, riverine jungle and tall phanta grassland along the Rapti and Narayani rivers. The recovery of the greater one-horned rhino here is one of Asia’s genuine conservation successes — sightings are frequent and close.

Tigers are here too, in healthy numbers, but they are shy and the forest is thick. We won’t pretend otherwise: a tiger is a gift, not a guarantee. What we can promise is a naturalist who reads the forest — pugmarks in the riverbank silt, the alarm call of a spotted deer, the direction of the wind.

How we explore it

  • Jeep safari deep into the park’s core
  • Guided jungle walks with an armed park guide, at a naturalist’s pace
  • Dugout canoe on the Rapti for gharial, kingfishers and waders
  • Dawn and dusk — when the grasslands come alive

Ethical by design: we do not offer elephant-back safaris or any exploitative wildlife interaction.

Plan with us

Start planning your Nepal wildlife journey

Tell us what you hope to see and when. We’ll shape an honest, naturalist-led itinerary around it — no pressure, no fixed packages.

Chat with a naturalist