Bardia National Park is the largest national park in the Terai region of Nepal with unspoiled large grasslands and forests, which is completely untouched by people. This park is a perfect example of demonstrating; how to take care and respect all the aspects of the Mother Nature. Bardia National Park is said to be similar to what Chitwan National Park used to be before the commercial development, which is nearly 30 years ago. The beauty of this park is that animals walk freely being unhindered by the nearest human civilization.
Wildlife can walk through the entire park without getting a single trace of a human. To enter the park, visitors are required to take a certain pass. Similarly, if you are traveling by the road in this park, then you will be assigned a certain speed limit just to reduce the number of accidents and any mis happening to the humans or the animals.
Bardia National Park is a protected area established in 1988 as “Royal Bardia National Park”, which covers nearly 968 square kilometers and adjoins the eastern bank of the Karnali River bisected by the Babai River in the Bardia district. The northern limit of this park is divided by crest of the Shivalik Hills, and the southern boundary is formed by the Nepalgunj to Surkhet highway. This protected area is near the Banke National Park, and together they both are considered to be the Tiger Conservation Unit extending towards 2,231 square kilometers.
Climate in Bardia national park
Bardia National Park has the subtropical monsoon climate. The park has three main seasons i.e. summer season, which is from March to June, Monsoon, which starts from July and ends at October followed by winter from October to February. During summers the temperature rises and reaches up to nearly 40 degrees and sometimes above. The monsoon has hot, humid, and sticky days. Where in winter, the temperature drops and reaches nearly 10 degrees. Bardia National Park has a very extreme temperature pattern as in summers it's too hot, in winters it's too cold, and during monsoon, this park becomes inaccessible due to flooding.
Vegetation in Bardia National park
Most part of Bardia National Park is untouched deep forests covering nearly 70% of the total land area of this region overpowered by the forests of Sal trees. Within the forest, there is a mixed balance of the riverine forest, Savannah, and long grasslands. This place has a wide variety of plants- nearly 839 species of flora are recorded to date.
Wildlife in Bardia National park
Bardia National Park is very rich when it comes to having faunal diversity, as there are nearly 642 faunal species, 125 recorded species of fishes, and nearly 23 species of reptile & amphibian species. This park provides shelter for nearly 53 mammals including one-horned rhino, Bengal Tigers, Elephants, and Gangetic Dolphins. This place has around 407 species of birds, which makes Bardia National Park, a paradise for the bird watchers. This park is famous among the visitors for the tigers, rhinos, and other animals & birds.
People in Bardia National park
Most of the people living in this region belong to the Tharu community who are the ethnic group of indigenous people of Nepal. They have their own way of living, their own unique language, art culture, and tradition. Here, people are mostly farmers and practice their own animistic faith. Handicrafts made by these group of people are very famous and taken as souvenirs.
How to Reach Bardia National park
Reaching Bardia National Park is relatively easy. One can either opt for taking a bus from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj and from there can take a bus or a private vehicle to reach to the national park, which is nearly 2 to 3 hours ride. There is also an option for a flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, and from there can take a bus or hire private transport.
Necessary Permits to Enter the Bardia national park
Bardia National Park is a protected area and tourists need to get entry to enter the park, for entering this park, visitors are asked to pay a certain price as a fee. For Nepali citizen, the fee is Rs 100 per person, for SAARC countries 750 per person, and for foreigners, it is 1,500 per person while the children who are below 10 years are free.
Things to do in Bardia National park
Walking/hiking in Bardia National park
Bardia National Park is famous for long and adventurous jungle walking. During the Hiking/Walks, you can stay in community forest areas inside the forest as well. Many people do this jungle trek to see tigers, wild rhinos, elephants, and other wildlife. As per your time convenience, you can do the jungle trek from 1 day to several days. You can also ask with the staff members for other activities that can be done along jungle walk. Generally, visitors also like to join jeep safari during the jungle walk to enrich the experience by going deep into the forests.
Boating
There are various rivers around Bardia National Park that are famous for boating and rafting. This makes a perfect day trip where you will get to see the forests and landscape from a whole new perspective. During the boating, you will also see several animals carrying on their daily activities. Make sure you with someone professional during the boating as their might be a high risk of crocodiles in the water.
Fishing in Bardia National park
The rivers around Bardia National Park is full of several species of fishes, which makes it a perfect place for fishing. Fishing in Bardia National Park is another very popular activity that once can do. However, you have to take permit before doing fishing and all the fishes must be returned to the river. You can also rent fishing equipment foe fishing.
Bird Watching in Bardia National park
Bardia National Park is home to hundreds of birds. No wonder why Bardia National Park is called utopia for bird lovers. Birds like Francolins, Lesser Whistling Duck, Egrets, Warblers, Black Ibis, Hornbills, Kingfishers, and numerous others are found here. You can hire a professional guide who is an expert in spotting birds you want to watch or just wander around the park, you will get to see many of them. Make sure not to go too far from the park because the area outside of Bardia National Park is also dense forests with many dangerous animals.
Visit the Tharu Cultural Museum
There is a Tharu cultural museum just inside the main gates of the Bardia National Park. This museum will display you the rich culture, tradition, history, language, dress, and assortments. You will also get to see their agricultural equipment to their kitchenware. There is a small charge to get into this museum, and you don't need to get the Bardia National Park ticket.
Visit Crocodile Breeding Center
If you are someone who likes to study crocodile or generally fascinated by crocodiles then you can visit the crocodile breeding center. You can enter into this breeding center from both insides as well as outside of the park. Make sure to ask around about the charges to enter in the crocodile breeding center. If you want to see unique and rare gharial crocodiles than there is another separate block for them, however, to enter in this part you need to buy tickets, which is a bit pricey.
Visit Elephant Breeding Center
Bardia National Park has a small Elephant Breeding center in the south of the park. This breeding center is similar to Chitwan national park elephant breeding center. You can see elephants of different ages in the center. Some elephants here are used for anti-poaching patrols while others are here because of their injury and for breeding. This elephant breeding center remains open entire day, however, there is a preferred time for visitors to visit this place.
Explore ancient temples in Bardia
Bardia has several small old temples and shrines. The most famous Shiva temple is said to be hundreds of years old. This temple is believed to date back from the origin of Bardia. The most interesting thing about this temple is its colorful architecture. The uniqueness of this temple is preserved in 3D by the Digital Archaeology Foundation. Also, there is no charge to enter this temple.
Village walks & bicycling in Bardia
You can rent a bicycle and go around the villages of Bardia National Park. South from Thakurdwara you can ride to the bridge and take a left to reach the several villages. You can also hire a guide who will show around the villages. This will allow you to have insight into the daily life of the locals.
Elephant Safari in Bardia National park
The Bardia National Park offers a number of well looked after domestic elephants. These fearless, majestic animals provide the safest and easiest way to move around inside the park that calls Elephant Safari and the Elephant safari is one of the most popular jungle activities in the park.
Jeep Safari in Bardia National park
Jeep safari is the best way to visit and explore the Bardia National park and to see the wildlife’s and it is safe way to travel the park and you will see many wildlife and wild animals in the park.
We offers Tour jungle Safari tour in Bardia National park so, you can visit our tour page of Bardia Jungle Safari for the detail program.
