1 Night 2 Days Chitwan Trip

• Dawn Canoe on the Rapti: A dugout drift past gharial, mugger crocodile and kingfishers before the park wakes up.

• Jeep Safari into the Park: A half-day game drive through sal forest and grassland, where the rhino sightings happen.

• Guided Jungle Walk: On foot with two armed naturalists, which is a completely different experience from a vehicle.

• Elephant Breeding Centre: A government facility where the animals are not ridden, and the calves are the draw.

• Fits Between Kathmandu and Pokhara: Sauraha is on the highway, so the trip costs you a day rather than a week.

You arrive at Sauraha around lunchtime on day one, which leaves the afternoon for the elephant breeding centre, the Tharu village and a sunset on the Rapti riverbank. Day two is the wildlife day: a dawn canoe down the river, a jungle walk on the far bank, and a jeep safari into the park before lunch and the drive out.

That is one proper game drive and one early morning. It is genuinely enough to see rhino — Chitwan's population is dense and the animals are not shy — and to get a real sense of the Terai. It is not enough for tiger, and it is not enough if wildlife photography is the point of your trip. Be clear with yourself about which you are buying.

We do not sell elephant-back safaris. Riding is being phased out across Nepal's parks on welfare grounds and we stopped offering it before we had to; every game drive here is by four-wheel-drive jeep, on foot with an armed naturalist, or by dugout canoe. The elephant breeding centre visits are to a government facility where the animals are not ridden.

Inside the parks the rules are strict and your guide will enforce them: no getting out of the vehicle except at designated points, no calling to animals, no flash near rhino or tiger, and absolute quiet on foot. Walking safaris carry a genuine risk from rhino and sloth bear, which is why they go with two naturalists and why the briefing about climbing a tree is not a joke.

October to March is the season. The grass is cut and burned in January and February, which is when visibility is at its best and tiger sightings peak; October and November are green, comfortable and excellent for birds. April and May are hot but very good for wildlife, because animals concentrate at the water. We avoid June to September, when the monsoon floods the grasslands and much of the park closes.

Realistic expectations matter. Greater one-horned rhino are seen on most trips in Chitwan and Bardia; wild elephant, gharial, mugger crocodile, sloth bear, spotted and sambar deer and a great deal of birdlife are routine. Tiger is not routine anywhere — Bardia gives the best odds in Nepal and even there it is perhaps one trip in three. Anyone guaranteeing you a tiger is guaranteeing something they do not control.

Sauraha is around five to six hours from Kathmandu and four and a half from Pokhara on the highway, and the trip can start and finish in either city or run between the two — tell us which at booking and there is no price difference. A domestic flight to Bharatpur cuts the road time to twenty-five minutes and is available as an add-on.

Accommodation is a comfortable jungle lodge on the edge of the park with a garden, a restaurant and hot water. Bring neutral-coloured clothing — greens, browns and greys, not white or bright colours — long sleeves and trousers for the walk, closed shoes, insect repellent, sunscreen, a hat and binoculars if you own a pair. A torch is useful; village power is not continuous.

• Chitwan National Park Guide: Rhino, Tiger, and the Terai — Nepal's first national park and a UNESCO site, with the world's second-largest population of greater one-horned rhino, Bengal tigers, gharial crocodiles and over 500 bird species.