[motomaverick]

Kaziranga National Park (Assamese: Kazirônga Rastriyô Uddan) is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India.

A World Heritage Site, the park hosts two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses. Kaziranga boasts the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. Located on the edge of the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot, the park combines high species diversity and visibility. Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, crisscrossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and the park includes numerous small bodies of water.

Kaziranga was the main attraction of our journey back to my native in Assam this time around. My wife and I were both prepared to spend any amount to spot the big cat (atleast its tail if not the entire body) this time when visiting a NP.

A teaser before the travelogue which is more of a Photolog.

[TaureanBull]

Wow. I went to north East last year but somehow could not make it to Kaziranga. Let me see it through your lens. It looks like you people spottted the Tiger too. That would be great.

Do let us know about the stay, expenses etc. Hooked on to see the pics.

[SILVERWOOD]

Wow, what a sight.

This pic is enough to send shivers down the spine.

[kaushikr]

Hi motomaverick, looking forward to the travelogue.

If you did travel from Bangalore to Kaziranga National Park, could you also share the details of the travel along with accommodation info please . This has been on my places to visit list for ages now!

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Wow. I went to north East last year but somehow could not make it to Kaziranga. Let me see it through your lens. It looks like you people spottted the Tiger too. That would be great.

Do let us know about the stay, expenses etc. Hooked on to see the pics.

Well the keep reading the travelogue to unveil what i saw

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

Wow, what a sight.

This pic is enough to send shivers down the spine.

Well yes if you look at the Rhino they look dangerous but they are actually very gentle and do not bother with anyone unless ofcourse provoked.

Originally Posted by kaushikr

Hi motomaverick, looking forward to the travelogue.

If you did travel from Bangalore to Kaziranga National Park, could you also share the details of the travel along with accommodation info please . This has been on my places to visit list for ages now!

Well i did not do a road trip from Blore (will do that in due course ) but had gone to my hometown for 15days out of which 2 days were spent at Kaziranga.

[lordofgondor]

Looking at the close ups of Rhinos, I find them more comical then scary. They seem to have this funny expression on their face!

motomaverick, looking forward to glimpses of the NP through your lens.

[rk_sans]

Looks of the Rhino is terrific. Waiting for more pics and info about the national park.

[motomaverick]

Day 1: 9th Nov 2010.

We had booked a taxi to drive down to Kaziranga from Ghy, its some 300 odd kms apprx. The drive from Ghy to Nagaon was terrible with 4 laning everywhere and no diversion markings add to it a rash taxi driver and you now know what happened to people sitting in the rear of the Indica.

I wanted to desperately reach before 1pm to be able to take the evening jeep safari but I guess murphy was working over time that day. After we got over the bad roads, we got stuck in a local rally for around 30mins, that sorted we had a major tyre puncture which took away some 40 mins but somehow we were able to reach the guest house by 1:30pm.

Guest House Details:

Aranya Tourist Lodge
Kohora, Kaziranga
Ph: +91-3776-262423 & 262429
Standard non-a/c Dbl room: 800/- per night

Quickly freshened up and had lunch, jeep was already booked for us by the guest manager who was very helpful throughout our entire stay. The evening safari was planned in the Central range i.e. Kohora.

A little information about the ranges and their tariffs.

Safari Ranges

1. Central Range: Central Range or also called Kohora can be completed as a evening safari if you are reaching Kaziranga by afternoon. Rs. 800/- is the jeep fee. Entry & other charges are different and I am mentioning below later.

2. Western Range: Western Range or also called Bagori can be completed as a early morning elephant safari if you are reaching Kaziranga by afternoon the previous day. Rs. 350/- is the per person fee. If you do not have your own car then you will need to arrange for a jeep for pickup & drop for 400/- as the range is some 10kms from Kohora. Entry & other charges are different and I am mentioning below later.

3. Eastern Range: Eastern Range or also called Agaratoli can only be completed in the early morning or early afternoon. As the jeep safari itself takes some 3hrs and another 1hr for to & fro journey from Kohora. Jeep safari cost is 1200/- apart from the usual entry fees.

Here are pics from the first day.

1. Caught a pair of sparrows near the guest house trees. She was sitting pretty for a long time.


2. This was the male counterpart, very very active could capture it somehow.


3. A far of Rhino, even my lens could get close to it.


4. A sambha deer (if i am correct)


5. A few of them were grazing far off, a cropped picture.


6. An eagle but what kind not aware maybe someone can throw some light.


7. This one was graing on the flowers very near almost 10ft from the jeep tracks


8. The tall elephant grass that Kaziranga is famous for.


9. A monitor lizard perhaps (pardon my ignorance but still learning the names of these wildlife)


10. Some wild buffaloes grazing in the distance while returning on the jeep trail.


11. Closer up with one of the buffaloes. See the amount of gnu's on it.


12. Water bodies are a plenty after the floods that engulf most of Kaziranga during monsoons.


13. Rhino upclose with its platoon.

[srikanthpotluri]

cant wait to see the next set of pics....f5 f5 f5 f5 f5

[rk_sans]

is that 7th pic, is barking deer ? If it is then i believe it is rear to see them as they are very shy creatures than normal deers.
Any experts on wildlife in the forum can comment on if it is a barking deer or not ?

[motomaverick]

Day 2: 10th Nov 2010

The day started very very early 4am, why? We had a elephant ride at 5.30am and the jeep to transfer us from the lodge to the elephant riding point in the western range was coming at 4.20am. I must say elephant is the way to go in terms of observing wildlife, these creatures just about go anywhere they want, ofcourse controlled by the mahut. Our elephant was a crazy one, at one point of time it suddenly decided to sit on the swamp it was crossing, thankfully the mahut was skilled and made it stand, otherwise 4 of us who were riding it would have been in the cold cold waters.

Came back from the wonderful ride and realized that it was Assam Bandh declared so we could not head back to Guwahati as planned. That bought a huge smile to my face as I always wanted to visit the eastern range or also called Agaratoli, its huge safari around 20kms in total I think and the best part is you get to see all the migratory birds, elephants, and the best of all tigers.
Called the same morning wala jeep fellow and arranged for the safari post lunch time. In the meanwhile with time in hand and the cam, me & wifey went around the guest house walking and clicking picks. Picked up quite a few interesting birds.

How was the eastern safari? Well let the pics do the talking.

A few pictures from the previous days safari.











Pics from the early morning elephant ride.

























Pics taken in and around the guest house

[addyhemmige]

Nice pictures motomaverick. Me and my cousin had planned to go to Kaziranga last year, but due to various circumstances, it had to be cancelled. Your pics make me feel I have missed a lot by not going there. Hopefully, I'll go there once

Originally Posted by rk_sans

is that 7th pic, is barking deer ? If it is then i believe it is rear to see them as they are very shy creatures than normal deers.
Any experts on wildlife in the forum can comment on if it is a barking deer or not ?

It is indeed a barking deer

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Nice pictures motomaverick. Me and my cousin had planned to go to Kaziranga last year, but due to various circumstances, it had to be cancelled. Your pics make me feel I have missed a lot by not going there. Hopefully, I'll go there once It is indeed a barking deer

What i learn't is the best time for Kaziranga is Late Feb or March, that is when the elephant grass is very short and a lot of herbivorous come to feed on them, this ofcourse means the carnivores will not be left behind

[TaureanBull]

The place provides a good potential for wildlife photographers. What gear did you use to shoot? The pics are really good although you went out of focus at few places.

Did you go by flight to GHY?

[San Phrangmung]

Your pictures prove that just the elephant ride is not enough, jeep safari is a must for visitors to the National park. There were news about government starting even boat safaris from this year and elephant rides even in Burapahar range.