Kaziranga

My first trip to eastern India. A short stay in Guwahati and a visit to the local Kamakhya temple and I was off to Kaziranga. Got there after a 5 hour drive. Stayed there at the Aranya lodge. A government lodge which is considered one of the best at the most reasonable price. On the way there is a viewpoint. Saw an adjutant and a rhino and I was not even in the forest. Kaziranga itself is divided into 3 zones. Each of them quite different from the other in terms of flora and fauna. I had intended to at least get an idea of what each zone held.

The Eastern Zone:

This is the furthest away from the lodges and the town area. Mostly surrounded by tea gardens and farm lands it is the best area for bird sightings. This is also the only location where tourists can get up to the banks of Brahmaputra. Managed to spot one rhino and a few buffaloes there but all else where birds, mostly eagles and hawks. The foliage is quite dense and no elephant rides either. The jeep ride for this is also the most expensive at about 1000 bucks. All this of course ensures that the zone is comparatively less crowded.

The foliage hides quite a few eagles. Spotted one carrying a fish away as well. There is a watch tower near a watering hole which provides the best observations. Managed to see open beak, black necked and woolly necked storks, bar headed geese, ruddy shelducks, and the usual adjutants and ibis. The river would have provided some more but most of the road was blocked due to excessive rain from earlier.

The western zone:

The most popular zone on account of the sheer abundance of rhinos and water buffaloes. Also the jeep rides are the cheapest at 650. This was the first zone I visited and a watch tower near a waterhole provided some great views of a herd of buffaloes and a couple of rhinos. Rains threatened to play spoilsport but there were plenty of rhinos, adjutants, hog deer and buffaloes to keep company. Spotted a small herd of elephants as well. 2 rangers on elephants provided some company on the road.

The elephant ride in the morning is a nice way to get close however in the western zone, it is managed by a private company. The entire thing is handled very shabbily. Unnecessary delays, shortened trips to accommodate more and gross mismanagement left a very bad impression especially since this was not done by the government. Most elephants carry 4-6 people and it does get cramped. All this despite having a much more abundant wildlife compared to the other zones.

The central zone:

My favorite zone, there are areas of dense forests as well as plains. The elephant ride here is a great way to get very close to the rhinos. The rides here are managed by the tourism department with easily about 31 elephants for at least 2 rides early in the morning. Managed to sight a tiger which cut across right in front of our elephant. Then all elephants began trumpeting, the calves which were playing nearby rushed back to their mothers and the elephants refused to proceed in the direction where the tiger had disappeared into the tall grass. Managed to get very close to a rhino but it panicked and ran away when it was getting surrounded by the elephants.

The jeep ride here in the evening was very pleasant. There are specific entry times so the drivers are generally glad to let you have all the time you want. Watching the sunset as the pelicans came back to roost was highlight of the drive. The other sights were the huge herds of elephants strangely with a fully grown male nearby as well, scattered rhinos and buffaloes and some eagles.


Despite a fun filled 3 days with some fantastic views I was looking forward to the next trip to Manas, so immediately after the elephant ride in the western zone, we were off.