Kaziranga - A Tryst with the Unicorn

Tryst: A meeting is when people get together for any reason. But when they are sneaking to meet, notably as secret lovers, it's called a tryst.

The current Pandemic situation has put paid to many a livelihood, not to mention numerous plans to travel! When the family was getting completely restless, we tried doing local trips within the city. However access to the favourite location was cutoff due to a dispute between the Forest Department and the Municipal Body.

Come 2021, we were hoping for an improvement in the situation and they did. Trains and Planes started to operate and places were begining to open up to visitors. The inherent fear of the situation still created enough uncertainities that a couple of travel plans had to be dropped.

Finally a chance conversation with Kesava and Santhosh of Birdwing https://www.birdwing.in threw up the opportunity for a trip to the NorthEastern part of India, more specifically - Kaziranga.

TRIP TIP:With no clear information available on the Covid protocols across states, we decided to get ourselves tested at home and carry the test results with us during the travel. The test report proved to be a huge bonus, with us breezing through the exit process at Guwahati Airport, while those who did not have the report had to go through a series of sessions, including filling out a form, having themselves examined before they could go out of the Airport - A process that took upwards of 30 minutes in most cases.

With the cabs being pre-arranged, we settled in for the ride to Kaziranga. With a quick stop for lunch, we reached well in time to go on the afternoon Safari ride; our first of the trip. The cabs went away after dropping off the luggage at the resort, while we were inside the Park.

An Introduction to Kaziranga: The park is spread across three districts in the Indian state of Assam—the Kaliabor subdivision of Nagaon district, Bokajan sub division of Karbi Anglong and the Bokakhat subdivision of Golaghat district. The park is approximately 40 km (25 mi) in length from east to west, and 13 km (8 mi) in breadth from north to south. Kaziranga covers an area of 378 km2 (146 sq mi), with approximately 51.14 km2 (20 sq mi) lost to erosion. A total addition of 429 km2 (166 sq mi) along the present boundary of the park has been made and designated with separate national park status to provide extended habitat for increasing the population of wildlife or, as a corridor for safe movement of animals to Karbi Anglong Hills. Elevation ranges from 40 m (131 ft) to 80 m (262 ft). The park area is circumscribed by the Brahmaputra River, which forms the northern and eastern boundaries, and the Mora Diphlu, which forms the southern boundary. Other notable rivers within the park are the Diphlu and Mora Dhansiri.

Four main types of vegetation exist in this park; alluvial inundated grasslands, alluvial savanna woodlands, tropical moist mixed deciduous forests, and tropical semi-evergreen forests. Approximate coverage by vegetation is: tall grasses 41%, short grasses 11%, open jungle 29%, swamps 4%, rivers and water bodies 8%, and sand 6%.

There is a difference in altitude between the eastern and western areas of the park, with the western side being at a lower altitude. The western reaches of the park are dominated by grasslands. Tall elephant grass is found on higher ground, while short grasses cover the lower grounds surrounding the beels or flood-created ponds. Annual flooding, grazing by herbivores, and controlled burning maintain and fertilize the grasslands and reeds. Common tall grasses are sugarcanes, spear grass, elephant grass, and the common reed. Amidst the grasses, providing cover and shade are scattered trees—dominant species including kumbhi, Indian gooseberry, the cotton tree (in savanna woodlands), and elephant apple (in inundated grasslands).

Kaziranga contains significant breeding populations of 35 mammalian species. The park has the distinction of being home to the world's largest population of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros , wild Asiatic water buffalo and eastern swamp deer. Significant populations of large herbivores include indian elephants, gaur and sambar. Small herbivores include the Indian muntjac, wild boar, and hog deer. The One-Horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo and swamp deer are collectively known as 'Big Five' of Kaziranga.

Safaris at Kaziranga do not have the element of mad rush (at least this trip had none!!) No racing across the park in search of a tiger! All the vehicles in the park were running at a sedate pace and this in itself was remarkable. So all you tiger fanatics, it would do you good to keep this in mind. 

In any case if you do get a tiger sighting, consider yourself extremely lucky!! With the grass still green this year, the usual practice of burning the undergrowth did not happen and as a result despite having close quarter alarm calls, we did not even get a glimpse of a predator.

Having said this, the Park is by no means a dull affair. Every turn, every corner seem to have some activity or the other, whether it is a Gray Headed Fishing Eagle on its kill or running into a Tusker at a Watch Tower or a Monitor Lizard crossing the road. Take a look at the pics and enjoy a glimpse of what we experienced over a 4 day period at a piece of heaven called Kaziranga National Park.

Like all vacations, this one did have its own downsides as well. This time it was the resort. Blame it on the Pandemic if you will, but the resort although old and quaint was poorly maintained. 

Absence of proper staff meant that food; although tasty, was a homely affair and rarely on time. However for the serious wildlifers, this should not be a hurdle at all. Afterall we only look for a safe and relatively clean place to rest while we ponder over the just completed trip and anticipate next one into the Park.

All in all, a wonderful time spent with some new and some old pals with hilarious anecdotes over cups  of the local brew.

When its time to return back to your routine, do remember to pack some of the local Chai patti (Tea Leaves). I did and I'm enjoying a cuppa while I write this blog. Signing off until the next time!! 

Ciao!! Stay safe and stay healthy!! Keeping a safe distance from fellow humans and wild critters will ensure that Safety element. Do remember to wear your mask even if you see no one else wearing it. It is for your own safety.

Thanks for your time!! God Bless!! 

Be back soon with the next episode!!

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

Wild Life trips

Bandhavgarh Plateau

Having seen some brilliant pictures and write ups about the beauty and wonder of Bandhavgarh made it a must visit for me. Sitting with Kesavamurthy of Birdwing, one night after a safari at Corbett, I asked him to pen me in for the next trip planned to this wonderful place. So the seeds of this trip were sown way back in Feb 2018.

This was a trip that I planned to make with the family and after several yes and nos, the family finally confirmed their coming along. The nearest airport being Jabalpur sort of complicated the travel plans, with no direct connectivity between Bangalore where I reside, to Jabalpur. The excitement of travelling to a place of dreams also meant that I wan't thinking straight!! Afterall if I did, I would have landed up saving a tidy sum of money on travel.

The fact that flight to Jabalpur from Hyderabad was at around 11:00, meant that we had to be at Hyderabad in the morning. Had I planned better, we could have taken the overnight train or bus to Hyderabad and hopped on to the flight to Jabalpur.

Worse was yet to come!! The airline for the flight to Jabalpur announced their winter schedule, which preponed the flights by almost 2 hours, affecting our final Safari towards the end of the trip.

Rants aside, Bandhavagarh is pure Gold literally and figuratively!! Initially I was wondering why were the vehicles racing to be the first at the gate to enter the forest....Our first trip in was into the Magadhi zone and soon enough, I knew why!!

We were literally eating dust...raised by the wake of the vehicle ahead! Soon enough, we spotted a couple of Indian Grey Hornbills and my excitement rose...pretty soon our driver.... Guddu got word of a tiger and soon we were racing across the plains....holding on to dear life with one hand and the camera in the other!

Bamera Son! 

It was a sight to behold....a huge male tiger was sighted walking across the plains and we raced to catch him on the other side and what a sight he was!! The Son of Bamera! Such a promising start set the expectations soaring sky high!! 

The rest of the trip was spent in wonder; recollecting the majesty and beauty of the tiger and dreaming of what is to come! We returned back to the Resort to freshen up and get ready for the afternoon.

Contrary to expectations, the afternoon trip into the Khitauli zone was an almost total washout. Such was the experience that we had actually packed up the gear to protect against the dust and as a result...missed out on an extremely rare opportunity:

Drive through

A jungle cat mom was carrying her kitten to a safer location and crossed our path. She even paused in the middle of the path to get a better grip on the kitten and then went on her way.


Next morning we were assigned to the Tala Zone. Before we go further, a little bit about Bandhavgarh....

Bandhavgarh National Park is  located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968, with an area of 105 square km. The buffer is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni,and totals 820 square km. 

The park derives its name from the most prominent hillock of the area, which was said to be given by Lord Rama to his brother Lakshmana to keep a watch on Lanka. Hence the name Bandhavgarh (Sanskrit: Brother's Fort).

The three main zones of the national park are Tala, Magdhi and Khitauli. Tala is the richest zone in terms of biodiversity, mainly tigers. Together, these three ranges comprise the 'Core' of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve constituting a total area of 716 km2. The buffer zone is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals another 820 square km. The legal status as a national park dates back to 1968, but was limited only to the present Tala range for a considerable length of time. In 1993 the present scheme of things was put in place.

According to biogeographic classification, the area lies in Zone 6A- Deccan Peninsula, Central Highlands (Rodgers, Panwar & Mathur, 2000). The classification of Champion & Seth lists the area under Northern India Moist Deciduous Forests. The vegetation is chiefly of Sal forest in the valleys and on the lower slopes, gradually changing to mixed deciduous forest on the hills and in the hotter drier areas of the park in the south and west.

Landscape and Vegetation

The wide valleys along the streams carry long linear grasslands flanked by Sal forests. Rich mixed forests consisting of Sal (shorea rubusta), Saja, Salai, and Dhobin, etc. with dense bamboo thickets occur in many places. These together provide Bandhavgarh its rich biodiversity.

Back to our trip. We reached the Tala Gate and were greeted by a filming crew. I was carrying mixed feelings about their presence, however this was soon forgotten. No sooner than we entered Tala, did we hear the news about a tiger near the road. Soon it was a mad dash to reach the point where the tiger was sighted.

 Just looking at the video, one will be able to make out that the vehicle drivers and guides seem to go bonkers at the sight of a tiger. Being our first visit, we were not aware of this fact and as a result, many an opportunity to make beautiful pictures went abegging.

Tigress Spotty

The second tiger to be spotted was Spotty. She has recently delivered three cubs and was the subject of the filming crew. This meant that Spotty not only had to brave the invading horde of tourists(including us!) but also the filming crew's elephants and filming equipment. No wonder she looked pissed!!

The rest of the trip was an anticlimax after the two sightings. However it does not take away the fact that Bandhavgarh is probably as good if not better than Corbett Tiger Reserve, with its beauty, varied landscapes, flora and not to mention the fauna. 

I'm definitely looking forward to going back soon!!

Crow mobbing a Crested Serpent Eagle

Indian Jackal

Indian Grey Hornbill

Indian Roller/ NeelKanth 

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Black Faced Langur/ Hanuman Langur

Sambar Stag

Shikra