Temple Tiger Green Jungle Resort

Founded 37 years ago as a jungle lodge inside Chitwan National Park, the Temple Tiger group later built Green Jungle Resort at Amaltari, on the banks of the Narayani River. The park itself lies a half-hour boat ride away. Twenty villas, each single or duplex, stand within the resort's own patch of forest, built with local timber and roofed in siru grass thatch that settles the buildings into the tree line. Bathrooms mix wood, granite and rattan, and hot water comes from solar heaters; the property runs what it says is Nepal's largest photovoltaic plant, and every reading lamp and fan draws on that same renewable supply. Balconies face the park, the nearby Bote villages, or the river. You can watch both resident and migratory birds from the man-made lake by the dining terrace, and a resident herd of chain-free elephants is fed and briefed on site. An organic garden supplies vegetables and milk to the kitchen. More than 80% of staff come from neighbouring villages, and the resort has long sponsored a teacher's salary at the local primary school. Guests reach the park by boat for tiger and rhino tracking, or head out on jeep and elephant safaris, birdwatching walks and village visits with the Tharu community nearby. Evenings often end with a sundowner on the Narayani's banks.