We booked the three day and two night safari. From start to finish, the tour operator stayed in touch every step of the way. Making sure we were happy with the itinerary, where to get the bus , our seat numbers. We even got a text the morning of the bus to make sure we were on the bus and all was ok ! The bus trip started at 6.50am and we arrived in Chitwan after lunch. The bus is comfortable, like sofa chairs. The road to Chitwan is rocky at times, it was monsoon and there were lots of mudslides that we had to get through and machinery clearing the road of rocks ahead of us . There are a couple of stops , with clean toilets , the stops are quick and you might be better to buy a snack or bring your own. The Carvery prices in these places are high! When we arrived in Chitwan we were met by a driver with our names on display who took us by mini bus to our hotel. The hotel is basic but clean ( we did not upgrade- so if you want fancy you could do that ) but the staff were amazing- could not have done any more for us . As it was monsoon it was quite. Maybe only one or two other guests , so we certainly got one on one service ! Cannot say enough about the lovely gentleman in the bar and restaurant who was so attentive, as was the lady in reception. Our guide for the few days , did not leave our side while we were there and tailor made the tour around us . I’m not a fan of seeing elephants chained up , nor am I a fan of the elephant breeding program, as the elephants are all in chains and all baby elephants are kept in captivity also. So did not want to support this part of the tour . Our guide worked around this and brought us out on walks instead , which were amazing. ( to be fair the guide explained that the army use the elephants to ride into dense parts of the jungle to prevent poaching which is a huge problem).
We did the jeep safari- where we were lucky enough to see loads of deer , rhinos and crocodiles. Think leopards are extremely rare in this park – there is another park nearby that have leopards- same with wild elephants. Not a huge amount.
We were really lucky to have a rhino cross the road in front of us , close enough to touch ! Same with a wild hog !
The last day we got the bus to Pokhara , this during monsoon , seems to be more of a local bus , understandably- as there are very little tourists- so lots of stops. We left at 7.50 am and arrived at around 2pm. Road was similar, due to mud slides . But what a view is all I can say ! Would def use this tour company again, unbelievably responsive and text throughout the tour to see if everything was ok!
