Our Favourite Safari So Far: A Full Day in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Since leaving for full-time travel in September, we've done three safaris. Two in Sri Lanka and one in Nepal.

The surprise?

Our favourite was the cheapest.

A full day private safari in Chitwan National Park, Nepal cost us $75 for all three of us, including permits, our own jeep, driver, naturalist and lunch. We booked through Mandala Holidays and honestly expected a decent day out. What we got was one of our favourite wildlife experiences of the entire trip.

The biggest difference wasn't the animals.

It was the people.

Our naturalist was brilliant. Not the type who spends the day reading facts from memory. He genuinely seemed excited every time we spotted something and spent the day helping us track the animals we most wanted to see. Having our own jeep meant we weren't following somebody else's schedule either. If we wanted to spend twenty minutes watching rhinos, we could. If we wanted to search for sloth bears, we could do that too.

And for a family travelling long-term, that flexibility makes a huge difference.

The day started before breakfast and immediately delivered

The meeting point was down by the river at 6:30am.

While our naturalist sorted the permits, we stood watching the river wake up. A few minutes later we climbed into a tiny wooden boat to cross to the other side.

The crossing only takes a few minutes, but it feels like the adventure starts there.

After the boat ride came a short walk through the trees to where our jeep was waiting. By 7am we were heading into the park.