Cat Tien National Park Tour 2 Days

Cat Tien National Park is a treasure trove of biodiversity. Here in the tropical forests of southern Vietnam live some of the world's most endangered species. Out of an array of unique and endemic species, Cat Tien is perhaps most famous for its herd of Javan rhinos, which for 40 years were thought to be extinct. When caught in a camera trap in 1999, the whole world took notice. The park, one of the largest in the country, was established in recognition of Cat Tien's unique wildlife and the importance of protecting it.

Those wanting to find out about Vietnam's flora and fauna will find a trip to Nam Cat Tien National Park a rewarding experience. Located 160 km from Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Cat Tien is reported to have 600 varieties of plants, 240 types of birds and 50 species of mammals...

Details of Tour: 
Day 1: Saigon - Cat Tien National Park (Lunch, Dinner)
Start in the morning for our drive to Nam Cat Tien. After leaving the busy city of Sai gon, turning off the National Highway 1 leads visitors to a mountainous area dotted with rubber and green coffee plantations. Crossing the Dong Nai river to enter the Cat Tien National Park, we begin our wildlife experience.

Afternoon, we do a three hour trekking to through the Reserved Core Area. We will see many kinds of hundreds of years old trees. They return to the center for dinner. After dinner, we board our jeep car to Crocodile Lake in the park for wild animals' night life watching. This evening we staying the tree house situated in the centre of the park.

Day 2: Cat Tien National Park - Saigon (Breakfast, Lunch)
Rising early to the sounds of the forest, we take breakfast before embarking on our four-hour trekking to see the Crocodiles swamp and back to the headquarter for lunch. In the afternoon, drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Tour price:

The trip includes

• The car with air-condition

• English speaking tour guide

• Vietnamese lunch

• Accommodation at National Park hotel

• All entrance, permission and visiting fees

• Mineral water

The trip excludes 

• Visa to Vietnam

• Departure airport tax

• Meals which are not included in the program

• Personal travel & medical insurance

• International flights to and from Vietnam

• All personal & daily expenses

• All gratuities and tips to drivers and guides

Note:

• Please not wearing skirts or shorts when visiting these places.

• Surcharges for peak seasons, Christmas and New Year Holidays, lunar New Year Festival, extras for room, air tickets upgrades shall be applied

General information about Cat Tien National Park:

Overview
at Tien National Park is located in three provinces of Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc.

Cat Tien National Park has a diversified topography with hills along the banks, plains and sloping flows.

In 1978, the South Cat Tien and North Cat Tien parks were put under the State's protection. In 1992, the Cat Loc Park was listed in the programme for the protection of natural wild animals and flora. In December 1998, these three parks joined together to become the Cat Tien National Park, under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Coming along National Highway 20 from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat, turning left about 24km at Milestone No.174 being Tan Phu cross-road, visitors will reach Cat Tien National Park.

Covering an area of 74,319ha, the Cat Tien National Park has preserved its original natural soil with a diverse ecological system and many rare and valuable species of animals listed in the Red Book of Endangered Animals. The landscape surrounding the Park is magnificent, and the local people have maintained practising customs and habits full of national cultural identities.

Let come into the forest on a trail covered with tree leaves. The sunshine was on the canopies, layer after layer. The air was humid. The cicadas resounded over the forest. Don't forget to see a 400-year-old conife there. Going a bit further you can see another tree, called bang lang (Lagerstroemie corniculata), which is almost 300 years old. From its trunk of nearly 3m in diameter, 6 ivory sub-trunks sprouted. There are many other strange trees in the forest: a red-wood tree having a diametre of 3.7m, a benjamin fig having a fasciculate root that runs along the stream and can shade about 20 people, a banyan tree having a hollow trunk which is large enough for 3 people, to name but a few. So far, in Cat Tien Park, 1,610 kinds of flora have been classified which belong to 75 species, 162 families and 724 branches, many of them listed in the Red Book.

The Dong Nai River is a natural boundary that embraces three sides of Cat Tien Park. On the left bank, villages and gardens are built close to the water, and on the right bank are wild forests with primitive green canopies. Numerous species of birds built their nests in the canopies. Inside the primitive forest, there are various kinds of fauna typical for the low land of the eastern Truong Son and the Central Highlands.
According to surveys made by the Park's Management Board, there are 77 kinds of animals belonging to 28 families and 10 species; 326 kinds of bird in 62 families and 18 species; 37 kinds of reptiles in 18 families and 3 species; 133 kinds of fish in 28 families, and a wide range of insects. Most worthy of note are the animals listed in the Red Book of Endangered Animals such as Ban ten bull, Gaur bull, tiger, bear, wolf, black-foot monkey, peacock, white-neck crane, pheasant (which are found only in Southeast Asia), crocodile, pantheon, etc. In particular, there is a group of 7-8 one-tusk rhinoceros, which has attracted attention from both domestic and foreign scientists. At 4 am, on May 17th, 1999, an automatic set of cameras captured images of a grown-up rhinoceros, which has been classified as a member of the Java rhinoceros family.
In November 1998, in Phu My Village, Nam Cat Tien Commune, an ancient village dating back 2,500-3,000 years was discovered. This is a complex of relics, including temples and towers and many artifacts, which proved the mixture of the Chan Lap civilization of the south and the Cham Pa civilization of the north. Among the artifacts, there are several statues which were for worshipping, such as the Linga-Yoni (sacred worshipping items representing the human sexual organs). There is a Linga, 2.1m high, which is the biggest of this kind in the world. Many other vestiges showed that Cat Tien was the Holy Land of the ancient Phu Nam Kingdom built about 2,000 years ago.