Nabin Thapa
Grassland, gharial and the patience to sit still for forty minutes
A trained naturalist who can pick a rhino out of elephant grass and tell you what the alarm call meant.
- Based in Sauraha, Chitwan
- Trips led 520
- Seasons Oct - Mar, park largely closed in the monsoon
- Licensed Government licensed guide
- Languages Tharu, Nepali, English, Hindi
- Regions Chitwan, Bardia, Terai
Specialities
- Jungle safari
- Bird watching
- Wildlife photography
About Nabin Thapa
Nabin trained as a naturalist at Chitwan and has been guiding in the park for twelve years. He grew up in a Tharu village on the buffer zone, so the jungle is not a workplace he commutes to - it is where he has been since he was small.
He is a bird man first, which is why his safaris tend to see more than everybody else's. He will stop the jeep for a call nobody else registered, and he is honest about tigers: he will tell you the odds rather than sell you a promise.
He also handles the canoe trips on the Rapti and the village walks, and he is the reason our Chitwan itineraries no longer include elephant back rides.
The deer tells you where the tiger is long before you see anything yourself.
Strengths
- Trained naturalist Over five hundred bird species recorded in the park, and he knows most of them by call.
- Reads the jungle Alarm calls, tracks and pug marks - which is how his jeep gets there first.
- Ethical wildlife Jeep and canoe only. He was part of the reason we stopped selling elephant rides.
Routes led
- Chitwan jeep safari
- Rapti canoe and river walk
- Bardia extension
- Tharu village trail
Training and certification
- Nepal Tourism Board nature guide licence
- Chitwan National Park naturalist certification
- Bird identification course, Bird Conservation Nepal
- First aid certified
What travellers say
Three rhinos before nine in the morning, and a full explanation of why they were where they were. Vikram J., Kanpur
No tiger, but he never pretended one was likely. We saw more birds in a morning than I have in years. Hannah M., Leeds