This blog is an continuation of my previous blog on Tawang. In case if you have missed any of it, here's the link for a quick revisit : Tawang: The peaceful land of the Rising Sun
Quick Recap:
We, a group of 5, landed at Guwahati in Assam, and then drove all the way to Tawang. We were lucky enough to witness the first snow of 2021, both in Bum La and Sela pass. The last 5 days we were travelling around the beautiful Tawang, exploring its mystical beauties. Tawang had us fall in awe. Unfortunately, as they say all good things come to and end, our stay in Arunachal Or Tawang in specific had now come to an end, and we were now heading towards Kaziranga.
Day 1: Drive to Kaziranga
We started from Bomdilla in Arunachal, going via Sessa, Tippi, Bhalukpong, Tezpur. Since this was quiet a lengthy journey, we had plenty of pitstops on our way.
We even visited the Nameri national Park. We reached Nameri somewhere in the afternoon, around 3-4pm, but to our dismay, we found that it was not the right time to visit. People here, generally visit early in the morning, and can have safari, boat rides, and even surfing to some extent. Instead we headed to Kameng river bank and spend some time by the banks of river.
Kaziranga was still 2-3hours from here. After having some snacks, we headed straight to Kaziranga. We had previously made reservations for our stay as we expected it to be quiet crowded. We reached our resort and post having dinner called off for the day.
The next morning we had a elephant safari planned. This safari has to be booked in advance and during the peak season would be very crowded as well. Usually the hotel/resort people will help in getting the safari booked.
Day 2: Rhinoceros spotting from top of an Elephant
We had our safari booked in the western range , aka, Bagori range. Good thing about this range is there are plenty of private elephant safari providers. Hence the chances of getting safari slot is higher than central range. We had opted for the early morning safari, which starts around 5:30am. Elephant safari usually take around an hour or so. Post this, there is one more slot, starting around 7am.
One has to reach at the reporting time mentioned, around 30mins prior to the starting time of ride. At the reception, based on your booking, your name's called and you would have to collect the token for elephant ride. Then one heads to the next section, where he/she climbs the elephant. Usually 4 adults sit on an elephant.
We managed to reach well in time and were all set for our elephant safari. The elephant safari was worth the experience though. Starting from the Elephant boarding station, the mahout guide the elephant towards the Rhino's based on their previous days sighting. One more good thing about elephant safari is one can see the One horned Rhino from a very close distance. Elephants can go up to as close as 2-3meters. We all did enjoy the elephant safari very much and to add to it, we had chosen the first safari ride of the day. The weather too was all beautiful making the safari a much sweeter experience. Its said that one would see at least one Rhino in this morning safari, we had lucky to have spotted more than 10.
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| The elephant safari in slight mist at dawn |
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| The One Horned Rhino |
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| Sunrise at Kohra Range |
Post the elephant safari, we still had some time left. Hence we decided to peruse the jeep safari, but the only change was the venue. We were in western, Bagori range. But we wanted to explore central range as well. Hence we headed to central Kohra range for the jeep safari. Jeep safari unlike elephant safari doesn't require an prior bookings. One can directly visit the respective safari check post and can book any available jeeps for safari.
In the central Kohra range, just like in Bagori, elephant safari too was in 2 slots. Post the elephant safari was the time for jeep safari. And we just reached on time for the jeep safari. Jeep safari usually is of around 2 hours, and if ones lucky one gets to spot tiger as well. Its always advisable to do jeep safari in the afternoon session, as the probability of spotting tiger is more that time.
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| The Jeep safari at Kohra range |
Jeep safari too was a wonderful experience. Though after having done the elephant safari, we were not as excited before, we did manage to capture Rhino, elephant, hog deer, and other animal and birds.
Our jeep safari lasted a good 2 hours. It was now around 11, post having some breakfast we headed to our resort to checkout. We were now heading towards Shillong in Meghalaya for the next destination.
Just before we leave Kaziranga, we decided to visit Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park. Initially we imagined this place to be a small park, which would get over in some 30mins or so. But after reaching there we found it completely opposite. This park is spread over a huge area, boasting of so many things like Arts, Culture, Traditional, Medicinal plants, Bamboo's, Lake, boating including Orchid. It took us almost 3 hours to cover the park. One good thing about this park is that its very well maintained. Each area has dedicated guides who explain with so much patience, and even answer your queries. One must definitely visit this when in Kaziranga.
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| One of the Orchids in Kaziranga Orchid park |
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| Orchid Varities |
It was almost 4 in the evening. We still had a long way to go. However our small stint in Kaziranga had now come to an end as we were headed to Shillong. I shall continue the remaining part of our journey in my next post.
Kaziranga, is an amazing place to be. One can feel so close to nature here. And especially the elephant safari's are worth the experience. If anyone's planning visit to Assam do include the Kaziranga Safari and visit to Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park.
Continue reading the next part of our trip : Meghalaya: The land of waterfalls
Additional Info:
Our stay in KazirangaKodom Bari Retreat: Akash (7896022622)
