Chitwan National Park is located in the southern part of Nepal, known as the Terai region. The Rapti river forms the border between the villages and the park. The land is flat here and often wide open, and the climate is hot and humid. During the warm, rainy season, the elephant grass in the fields becomes so tall and dense that it’s hard to see clearly five feet ahead. In other areas, there are dense jungles with huge trees. Interestingly enough, it’s slightly easier to see in some parts of the jungle because of the many paths animals create by constantly crossing to and from the river and water holes. The paths in the grasslands are much harder to see because the tall grasses collapse back onto the path immediately after an animal walks through, leaving minimal trace of the path taken. The poor visibility makes safe travel through the area very difficult. However, traveling becomes much safer during the cold months when the grasses are down.
The entire region is filled with large animals like elephants, tigers, rhinos, crocodiles, deer and monkeys. The area also has a large diversity of smaller creatures like brightly-colored birds and bugs, large snails, and many types of dragonflies. Unfortunately, the biodiversity also includes a large number of mosquitoes and leeches.
