Barahi Jungle Lodge

At Barahi Jungle Lodge the safari starts with a boat. Guests cross the Rapti from the lodge's stretch of bank at Meghauli, enter Chitwan National Park at the Bhimle post, and pick from three jeep routes that run through more than 30 kilometres of grassland, riverine forest and sal woodland. Staying on the far side of the river from the park is the whole point here: the wilderness is opposite your balcony, not down the road.

Thatched huts on the riverbank

The lodge keeps things simple: 34 Deluxe rooms in thatched huts strung along the Rapti, a few tucked back into the jungle, plus one Presidential Suite. Every room has a private balcony, and six of the huts pair up as interconnecting units for families. Inside the 32 square metre huts you get king or twin beds, air conditioning and a mosaic-tiled bathroom with a handcrafted bathtub or walk-in shower. The suite adds two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a plunge pool, a fire pit and butler service. This is an eco-certified operation with substance behind the label: the World Travel and Tourism Council's Hotel Sustainability Basics verification, a Quality Austria environmental management certification, a TOFTigers practice award, and a place on CNN Travel's list of Nepal's top five responsible boutique hotels.

Each group has a private bonfire and a sumptuous multi-course meal is served.

Days in the park, dinners in the dark

That is the lodge's own description of its Bush Dinner, eaten in a lantern-lit clearing with the jungle making the background noise. Daytimes are naturalist territory: guided jungle walks of five to seven kilometres, boat safaris drifting to the confluence of the Rapti and Narayani for a sundowner cooked on the riverbank, and a 15 kilometre through-the-park walk that ends with lunch in Madi, a celebrated Tharu village. The Tharu cultural walk, with its community-run museum, is the one we would not skip; Chitwan's human story is as distinctive as its rhinos.