Shuklaphanta National Park

Shuklaphanta National Park lies in the Western Tarai of Nepal's Sudurpaschim Province. It shares its southern border with India's Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh. The park covers an area of 305 km² (118 sq mi) with a mix of open grassland, sal forests, riverbeds, and tropical wetlands at an altitude of 174 to 1,386 m (571 to 4,547 ft). It is said to be among the largest open grasslands in South Asia.

Understand

History

Shuklaphanta jungle was used by Nepali royalty until the late 1960s as a hunting reserve until 1973 when it was declared the Royal Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve. In 2017 it was declared a national park.

Landscape

The Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve has a large variety of different biomes. Walking through the park you can move be in the woods of sal and then a minute later walking into open grasslands that goes on as far as the eye can see.

Flora and fauna

The Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve has a majority of Sal Forrest, open elephant grass lands, and swamp lands. It has many species of deer including a large population of Swamp deer whose herds in the open grass land can number more than 500. An amazing sight to see. In recent count, the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve has 17 Bengal tigers living in its jungle. It has wild elephants as well as rhinos that seasonally migrate between Shuklaphanta and India's Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. There are over 350 species of birds there including sarus crane, swamp francolin, grass owl, warblers, flycatchers, Bengal florican.

Climate

The climate of the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve is sub tropical, with temperatures in the summer reaching as high as 45 °C, and in the winter, as low as 8-9 °C.

Get in

Round trip flights from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi (the nearest working airport) are available daily (approximately US$450 for foreigners and under half that for Nepalese). The flight time is 1.2 hours. The taxi from the Dhangadhi Airport to Shuklaphanta (45 km) should be no more NRs 3000 or US$25. The trip is 1.5 to two hours. Overnight bus rides from Kathmandu are also available, and take about 20 hours. And Mahendranagar's main bazaar is 3 kilometers from the park entrance, and transport should only cost US$1.50-2.00 (NRs 150-200) for a one way motorcycle taxi or E-tuk tuk.

The park can also be accessed overland via the Bhimdatta-Mahendranagar (Nepal) - Banbassa (India) border (Mahakali River bridge) crossing. The crossing by foreigners is only allowed in the morning hours. Once across the borde motorcycle taxis, various tuk tuks and occasionally taxis are available for the approximately 7 km (15 minutes) journey to the park entrance.

Fees and permits

The daily entry fee into the park for foreigners is around US$11 (NRs 1,050), SAARC nationals is NRs 500 per day per day, and for Nepalese - US$0.50 (NRs 50) per day. All day Jeep rides are available as well. The cost of a guide should be around US$20 (Rs 2,000) for all day. Jungle walks are available as well.

Get around

Motorcycles taxis, E- three-wheelers, and regular taxis are available from the main bazaar.

See

There is a small museum just at the park's entrance.

The Dodhara Chandani Suspension bridge, approximately 6 km southwest of the park entrance, is one of the longest suspension bridges. It is the longest multi-span pedestrian cable bridge in Nepal at 1.5 km long.

Do

Tharu village walks (the Tharu are the local indigenous group) can be done on your own. They have beautiful traditional mud homes as well as more modern brick homes. You can buy local handicrafts such as baskets. There are also of course jeep and in main tourist season elephant back safari available. The main bazaar of Mahendranagar is only 3 km away.

Buy

You can buy local handicrafts such as baskets in the village areas. All else including clothing, shoes, mosquito nets, etc. are easily available in the Mahendranagar main Bazaar.

Eat

Nepali Dal bhat (rice, lentils, and vegetables) is everywhere but you in the Mahendranagar bazaar western food is also available in the many restaurants there.

Drink

There is no restriction on drinks.

Lodging

There are many inexpensive to medium-priced hotels with air-conditioning and restaurants to choose from in Mahendranagar.

Just outside the national park there are two small resorts.

Hotel-Lodge

Shuklaphanta Jungle Cottage where you can stay in individual air-conditioned bungalows. Information- Phone- +977-99-414223 +977-9848994693

Camping

The Shuklaphanta Tented Camp has decent sized tents to stay in. E-mail- suklaphnatajc@gmail.com

You cannot camp inside the park.

Stay safe

Caution should always be taken when arranging local transport with motorcycle taxis and other transport particularly at night.

It is literally a jungle out there with elephants and rhinos. Appropriate caution should always be taken when walking in and near the Shuklaphanta jungle. A local guide can keep you from getting lost.

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