Chitwan National Park

Listen first. Before you see anything, the forest reaches you through sound. There is the dry rattle of tall grass in the wind, the sharp alarm call of a deer somewhere out of sight, and the slow murmur of moving water. The air is warm and heavy. It smells of river mud, wood smoke and green leaves. Underfoot, the ground is soft and sandy. Welcome to Chitwan National Park, a wide stretch of forest, grassland and river in the lowlands of southern Nepal.

Many visitors picture Nepal as a country of snow peaks and mountain trails. This place shows the other Nepal. Here the land is low and flat, close to the border with India. This belt of plains is called the Terai. It is hot for much of the year, and the rivers spread wide during the monsoon. The park sits on the edge of the Terai, where the plains meet a line of low hills. These hills are the Churia, also known as the Siwalik range, the youngest and smallest foothills of the Himalaya.

You are standing on the western side of the park, in Nawalpur District. Most travellers enter from the eastern side, near the town of Sauraha. This western side feels quieter. The Narayani River runs along here. It is one of the largest rivers in Nepal, formed by waters that start high in the mountains. Along its banks, Tharu villages and community homestays give visitors a slower and more local way to experience the forest. Some of these villages sit only a short walk from the park boundary.

Chitwan has a long and complicated history with people. For many generations, this lowland forest was feared. Malaria was common here, and few outsiders chose to settle. That fear kept much of the forest intact. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nepal's ruling Rana families used the area as a private hunting ground. They organised large hunts, sometimes for visiting royalty and foreign guests. Tigers and rhinos were shot in large numbers. The forest survived, but many of its animals did not.

After malaria control programmes in the 1950s, the situation changed quickly. Settlers moved into the Terai to farm the fertile land. Forest was cleared for fields. At the same time, poaching for rhino horn increased. By the 1960s, the rhino population here had fallen to around one hundred animals. Conservationists warned that the species could disappear from Nepal. In 1973, Chitwan became the first national park in Nepal. In 1984, UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List.

Here is the first surprise. The greater one-horned rhinoceros, the animal that nearly vanished from this forest, has made a remarkable recovery. Today the park holds several hundred of them. Nepal's army has patrolled the park for decades to stop poachers. For several years, the country even reported zero rhinos killed by poachers. These rhinos look almost prehistoric. Their thick grey skin folds into plates, like armour held together with rivets. Despite their size, they move quietly through the grass.

The grass itself deserves attention. Some of it is called elephant grass, and it can grow taller than a person, sometimes taller than a rider on an elephant. Walk beside it and you understand how a large animal can stand a few metres away without being seen. Mixed with the grassland are forests of sal, a hardwood tree with large, broad leaves. Sal forest covers much of the park. Closer to the rivers, you will find open sandbanks and shallow pools.

The second surprise is the strangest animal in the park. Look carefully at the riverbanks for a long, thin crocodile with a narrow snout. This is the gharial. It eats mainly fish, and its jaws are built like a pair of long tweezers. Adult males grow a round bump at the end of the snout. The gharial is critically endangered across South Asia. Near the park headquarters at Kasara, a breeding centre raises young gharials and later releases them into the rivers.

The park also shelters the Bengal tiger, though few visitors ever see one. Tigers here are shy and mostly active at dawn, dusk and night. You are far more likely to find their signs than the animal itself. Look for large paw prints in soft mud, or deep scratch marks on tree trunks. Sloth bears, leopards, wild elephants and several kinds of deer also live in the forest. More than five hundred species of birds have been recorded here, from kingfishers to large hornbills.

People still have a place in this landscape. The Tharu are one of the oldest communities of the Terai. They lived in these forests long before the park existed. Traditionally, their houses had mud walls, often decorated with painted patterns. Tharu dances, especially the stick dance, are still performed in nearby villages. Once a year, local people are allowed into parts of the park for a short period to cut grass. They use it for roofs, mats and animal feed.

The relationship between the park and its neighbours is not always easy. Rhinos sometimes leave the forest at night and eat crops in nearby fields. Wild elephants can damage houses. Tigers and leopards occasionally kill livestock, and sometimes people. To reduce this conflict, buffer zones around the park share part of the tourism income with local communities. Some villages use that money for schools, roads and community forests. Your visit, in a small way, is part of this system.

There are several ways to explore. Jeep safaris cover long distances on forest tracks. Canoe trips in dugout boats drift quietly along the river, which is good for birds and crocodiles. Walking safaris bring you closest to the ground, but they must be done with licensed guides. Elephant-back rides were once very common here. Many visitors now choose other options, because of concerns about the welfare of captive elephants. Ask your guide which experiences treat animals well.

The best light comes early. In the cool season, thick mist often lies over the river in the morning. Shapes appear slowly — a deer at the water's edge, a heron on a sandbank, the outline of a rhino in tall grass. By midday, the heat makes many animals rest in shade. In the late afternoon, the forest becomes active again. The sky over the Narayani turns orange and pink, and the water reflects it like polished metal.

Before you move on, pause for a moment. Look at the line of trees across the water. Listen again for the deer call, the birds, the wind in the grass. Somewhere in that forest, a rhino is feeding, and a tiger may be resting in the shade. You may never see them. But this forest is still here because many people decided to protect it. As you walk away, notice the footprints in the sand beside your own.