A dream of wild India, finally realized: February 2016

[janzin]

Kaziranga was absolutely fabulous for birds. No wonder birding tours go there! Not only were there many new species we hadn't seen further south, but they were more out in the open and easier to photograph (well, sometimes!)

 

We had of course seen Indian Roller down in the central reserves--its certainly a common bird, but none posed as photogenically as we had here.

 

 

 

There were parrots everywhere. I never expected to see so many parrots and parakeets in India.

 

 

 

 

They weren't all new, but they were more out in the open and accessible for photography.

 

 

 

We saw many nesting.

 

 

More to come...

[michael-ibk]

Great shots, love the birds! That´s the Eastern gate as I remember. About the armed ranger - we only had one for one of our six(?) drives.

[Galana]

Some of your photos did not show. First Rhino before the crossing shot, Hog deer and Barasingha. Just 'code'. Is that just me? Like Michael I don't recall an armed ranger but we did pick up a 'guide'

Great pictures as usual.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Galana

[michael-ibk]

Pictures work fine here. And no, not even a park guide with us.

[janzin]

Some of your photos did not show. First Rhino before the crossing shot, Hog deer and Barasingha. Just 'code'. Is that just me? Like Michael I don't recall an armed ranger but we did pick up a 'guide'

Great pictures as usual.

 

@@Galana weird, they show here--maybe try reloading the page?

 

Interesting about not having an armed ranger! We definitely had one on every drive in Kaziranga, except for one when they were all reassigned because some poachers had been spotted. Maybe its something new...

[Galana]

All OK now. Most odd. The upside being even more nice photos.

[janzin]

We were scheduled to have six game drives and one elephant ride at Kaziranga. We were a bit undecided about the elephant ride, mainly because we'd heard that it was hard on the back, and neither of us have particularly good backs. Also...I confess I was just a little scared of being up on an elephant! So we decided that if we were to do it, we'd leave it for the last day.

 

Unlike in most other parks, there's no need to get pre-permited for a specific "zone", so you could decide on a daily basis whether to go to the Western, Central, or Eastern routes. To drive from any of the gates to another required "speeding" along the 2 lane "highway" in the open gypsy. This was not only quite chilly in the early mornings and late evenings, but downright scary at times (this was the main--pretty much only--route through the entire area, and so continually had large trucks barreling through.) In the open gypsy (especially ours--more on that later) it was quite unnerving, with all the honking and continual passing and being passed by crazy truck drivers.

However, it was certainly worth going to all three areas, as each was quite different. The Central area holds the elephant riding areas and a couple of observation towers, and dead-ends (more or less) at the Brahmaputra River. The Western end does connect to the Central route, but it seems the less traveled. All had ample wildlife, but we found the Eastern one best for birding, because it goes through some denser forest where some more uncommon birds, and owls, can be found. If I recall correctly, we did the Western end once, and the Central and Eastern drives twice each. That only adds up to five, you say? More on that later...

Unfortunately I really don't remember in which zone specific sightings occurred. I know, I really should take notes like many of you do, but I am usually--no, always--too wrapped up in either the photography aspect or keeping track of our bird sightings. So you'll just have to bear with this rather haphazard report!

We had this wonderful Rhino sighting on morning as we were entering the gate--we watched this mother and child as we were waiting for Tarun to procure the paperwork.

Wake up mom, I'm ready to move!



Get up already!

 

Mom did get up eventually I am not sure why mom seems to be missing her horn, whether that was a natural occurrence or whether it was removed for protection? Didn't notice it until reviewing the photos at home, so couldn't ask Tarun.

 

Gaur may be present here, but we did not see any. However, Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo were common. Sometimes with hats.



And along with Rhino, Kaziranga is a stronghold for wild Elephant. Of course, we'd seen elephants in Central India, but they were all domesticated. Late one afternoon, were thrilled to have this large tusker cross the road. The elephants were always seen far from the entrances, at the far reaches of the reserve.

 

He stopped momentarily and gave us quite the look..then went on his way. While this is a big male, they are still much smaller than African Bull elephants. But they look darn big when giving you the eye!

 

And we had this lovely herd one misty morning.

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by janzin

[janzin]

One evening Tarun asked us if we wanted to go birding in the nearby tea plantation the next morning, prior to our game drive. Of course! I might not have mentioned that this whole area is a very large tea growing area. The main road is lined with plantation after plantation. One very large, organic plantation seemed to take up much of the area around Wild Grass Lodge: Hathikuli. Interesting article about their vision, the importance of being organic in this sensitive area, and the wildlife on this property here: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/conservation/8934-hathikuli-goes-organic.html

 

They have a nice little shop on the main road and on our last evening we asked Tarun to stop so that we could buy some tea to bring home. Its delicious tea--and they also had organic pepper and other spices. A nice place for souvenirs, because surprisingly, there are a dearth of souvenir shops in the area...even right by the entrance gates...we searched high and low for a t-shirt and only found one--literally one--which was too small, but we bought it anyway (because we are suckers for t-shirts.) There were no problems getting shirts and other souvenirs in Kanha or Tadoba!

 

Anyway...we drove through the tea plantation at first light. Surprisingly there really weren't that many birds, although we did pick up a couple of Jungle Owlets in the trees. Too dark for photos though.

 

As the light came up, there was more bird activity, but nothing unusual. Still, the plantation was lovely...

 

 

 

But then...Tarun heard a call of a bird we'd been hoping for..Great Hornbill! We saw it fly...into the woods along the edges of the plantation. Tarun asked if we wanted to follow...which meant bushwacking and clambering over some downed trees. We blindly followed Tarun through the brush...it was only afterwards that it occurred to me that this was probably incredibly stupid, because there are lots of very poisonous snakes in India...and this was exactly the sort of place to find them!

 

But we did reach a bit of a space where we could see our target bird...Great Hornbill!

 

 

In fact there was a pair, and we could hear them calling to each other, and eventually they ended up on the same branch. But photography was tough (lots of branches in the way) and I was handholding my very heavy big 200-400VR lens since I'd jumped out of the vehicle with it. I believe this was taken using Tarun's shoulder as a brace.

 

It was heading back to the gypsy that I started wondering about the snakes.... :o

Edited July 30, 2016 by janzin

[janzin]

As a postscript to this, I'll just briefly mention that just a few days after our visit to Svasara Lodge, one of their very respected, experienced, and loved naturalists, Chirag Roy, was bitten by a cobra, and died. I won't go into details here as its been covered in other places on the forum, but it was devastatingly sad and just underscores that snakes in India are not to be taken lightly.

 

Back shortly with more...

Edited July 30, 2016 by janzin

[Alexander33]

Your photo of the elephant herd in the mist is particularly lovely. The great hornbill is just, well, great! I would have tromped off through the forest for that, too, although your warning about the need to watch for snakes is especially poignant.

[janzin]

A few more of the birds seen at Kaziranga.

 

Grey-headed Fish Eagles were quite common.

 

 

This one is a juvenile having lunch.

 

 

Emerald Dove

 

 

Green Imperial Pigeon

 

 

Jungle Myna

 

 

Female Streak-throated Woodpecker

 

 

No, not a rooster!...but a wild relative--Red Junglefowl

 

 

Last, but certainly not least...this was one of our top "target" birds and Tarun finally found us one, deep in one of the more wooded areas of the park--way out in a very untraveled part of the eastern range. We hadn't seen another vehicle in quite awhile so Tarun encouraged us to jump out briefly for a better view, as we really couldn't get an unobstructed view from the road. This was the best I could do...again using Tarun's shoulder as a brace!

 

Brown Fishing Owl--our sixth owl species of the trip--and all in the daytime! Did I mention India is great for owls?

 

[janzin]

So you may be wondering--what about tigers at Kaziranga? They are there, and relatively abundant, but--so we'd heard--very hard to see. Between the high grass and the large areas where there is no road access, we were warned not to expect to see any tigers at Kaziranga.

 

Well, it seems that sightings are on the rise because Tarun told us it was not impossible and that he'd had several sightings in the last month or so. Still..not an everyday occurrence, and we had no expectations. Really, NO expectations! But hope!

 

So imagine our surprise when on our last afternoon drive, we found pug marks in the road. Shortly following that, another vehicle reported hearing a tiger in the high grass just ahead, so we quickly made a bee-line for that area. Apparently (another vehicle told us) the tiger had just crossed and was heading towards the river nearby...needless to say excitement was building and we made a quick about-face and arrived in time to see this--quite distant--

 

 

These photos were taken standing on the seat of the gypsy in order to see over the brush, and trying to stay balanced--and trying to stay calm! And while this was going on, other gypsies were arriving and it started to get crazy, in fact two young Indian men jumped out of their vehicle and tried to get into ours, because we had the better view! One barely missed stepping on my other camera which was on the seat--and nearly knocked me off of my precarious perch! Well Tarun made short work of these guys but I rather empathized; if the shoe had been on the other foot I might have been tempted to do the same

 

Anyway, we watched for a long time as the tiger relaxed in his bath, and then climbed out on to the bank...it appeared to be quite a large male.

 

 

He clearly wasn't hungry, as he walked right through and past this small group of Hog deer, who made no attempt to run--although they were certainly on alert.

 

 

Within a few moments he walked into the tall grass and disappeared. You can see how tall that grass is, and how impossible it would be to see a tiger in there if it didn't emerge. There could be dozens of tigers in there and you'd never know!

 

Interestingly, when we returned to Wild Grass we spoke to another group of guests who had been a different section and at the exact time as we were seeing THIS tiger, they were watching ANOTHER tiger from the observation tower in the central section!

 

So what an amazing and unexpected way to end the trip! Although it wasn't quite over yet...we still had one more morning....

Edited July 31, 2016 by janzin

[Galana]

Nice one. The excitement of going on any game drive is that you never know what you may chance upon. That's what makes it so addictive.

[michael-ibk]

Great you saw Tiger at Kaziranga - that´s a big one!

[janzin]

We were supposed to have six game drives at Kaziranga, but on our last afternoon, the manager at Wild Grass informed us that he'd been contacted by Wild World India to inform us that our return flight to Delhi had been changed and was now several hours earlier. This meant that we really did not have time to do a final morning game drive. We were bummed...but as it turned out, we would have time to do the elephant ride. So, that was the tipping factor that encouraged us to go for the elephant ride--bad backs or not! And I'm so glad that we did...because it was a really wonderful experience. So quiet...peaceful...just to be out there among the wildlife early in the misty morning...

Getting ready...



Our personal taxi and driver. We were glad that we got a smaller elephant; seems they use the larger ones for three people; the two-seaters are smaller.

 

Heading out. You'll notice the baby elephants accompany the mothers.

 

We started out all as one group but soon the group split and headed in two different directions, so we weren't crowded or crowding the animals. We had just one other elephant with us. Tarun had told our mahout that we were interested in birds and we especially were hoping to find the Bengal Florican, which is a ground bird difficult to find in the tall grasses, but sometimes it can be spotted from the elephant ride. One of the first things that our guide pointed out was this Monitor Lizard...



But of course the main attraction was getting up close to the Rhinos. And close we did get! I should note that to facilitate handling the camera on the elephant, I only took my 24-120mm F4 lens. This was perfect as we were plenty close to the animals to get frame-filling shots at 120mm and allowed for some nice wider angles as well.

We spent some time with this mother and baby.

 

 

 

In the morning mist...

 

 

 

 

 

Not only Rhino...

 

 

Sadly heading back...it felt like too soon!

 

We never did find the Florican, but nonetheless we really loved the elephant ride. In fact if we had been staying more days I might have even done it again.

Edited August 1, 2016 by janzin

[Galana]

A Silver lining to the cloud of early departure. Nice sightings.

[jilm]

@@janzin...what a beautiful report and such wonderful photos, not to mention the great memories you are having....I hope I am as lucky as you were....

[janzin]

@@jilm I am sure you will see as much as me and more, if you are staying in India for a month! No matter what you will have a fabulous trip. I am already thinking about the next one.

[jilm]

Actually we are going for 2 plus months and I am very excited...but it is daunting to work on....

[Zubbie15]

Thanks for sharing @@janzin, I really enjoyed following along (maybe there's more? One can hope...). I don't think I'd have ever heard of Kaziranga if not for this site, and now I need to get there sometime.

[janzin]

Thanks @@Zubbie15 there's just a little more! I too learned of Kaziranga from reading reports on this site...so I am glad to help encourage you to go! I really think its not to be missed!

 

Just a few more words on Wild Grass Lodge.

I know that many folks here have been to Wild Grass and loved it. We appreciated its charms, but we did have some issues. I believe it was @@Galana who called Wild Grass "designer dilapidated". Well, that's putting it mildly--it is desperately in need of some attention. Its an interesting property with a lot of potential; built to look like it was from colonial days, it actually was built in the 70's, according to our guide, Tarun.

This building was completely gutted on the inside--with some scaffolding, but it didn't seem like there was any work being done. I hope that they are indeed preserving this building because it was quite magnificent.

 

Some of the detailing was incredible.

 

Here's a detail of that elephant.

 

 

Intricate plaster work on the walls.

 

 

However, it is really in urgent need of some repair. The rooms were fine; simple but comfortable enough. Really strong ceiling fans! However, the electrical system in our room seemed like a fire trap, with bare wires connecting the lights over our beds (I didn't dare use them for fear of electrocution.) Here's an photo of the crazy switches for the various electrics!

 

The food was pretty mediocre, especially compared to what we'd had at the previous lodges. One night they tried to please us by presenting us with an "American dinner"; we called it the night of the potatoes: white bread, french fries, roasted potatoes, some other potato dish, and some roast chicken. Warm sodas and after the 2nd night they ran out of beer (the only beer they had at all was "He-man 9000"!)

 

 

The service was well meaning, but completely inept--we dubbed the dining room "Fawlty Towers", complete with Manuel the waiter, who seemed to only be able to bring out one item at a time...and constantly forgetting things...(he actually even looked like Manuel from Fawlty Towers); he was sweet though and we actually tipped him extra and separately for trying so hard! But we did not look forward to going to dinner as it was just so dreadful.

All of this was taken in stride and (mostly) good humor, and would not have mattered much BUT the thing that really did seriously disturb us was the condition of the vehicles. The gypsy we had was a total disaster (see photo below) and broke down on every drive. I mean every drive--it would just die. Tarun and the driver would have to get out and fiddle under the hood, to get it going. This usually only took a few minutes but, as it would happen, the one drive that we had no ranger with us it broke down way out in the far reaches where we had not seen another vehicle, and it was nearing the end of the day so no vehicles would likely pass. AND to top it off, there was a rather large Rhino just feet from the vehicle, so Tarun and the driver could not get out until it moved away. So we waited nearly 20 minutes before the rhino finally moved off; but then it took another 20 minutes for them to get the vehicle going. I had visions of spending the night with the Rhinos (remember, these vehicles have no radios, unlike in Africa. And while they had cell phones they seemed very uninclined to ask for help.)

 

Our vehicle--which not only was unsafe, but uncomfortable as well.

 

Given the fact that at times the vehicle would actually stall WHILE WE WERE MOVING I was really, really nervous about the ride speeding back and forth between the western and eastern zones, especially at night in the dark. What if we stalled with one of those rigs barrelling down at us? Which is why I finally told Tarun to ask the driver to take it slow and not pass other trucks etc on that busy highway. Which thankfully he agreed to.

Other guests told us they had similar issues, with vehicles getting stuck and breaking down. So it was not an isolated case.

Wild Grass does have its advantages--its location is prime, it certainly has character, and the price is right! But unless the owner really puts some attention into the place, I cannot recommend staying there. We actually stayed there primarily to get Tarun as our guide, but he told us he can guide for other lodges as well.

 

Here's our great guide Tarun with Alan

 

No matter, we can laugh about it now, and it didn't deter us from having a fabulous time at Kaziranga!

Nothing much else to add, our return to Delhi and home was uneventful and I am eager to start planning a return trip to India (probably in early 2018--maybe Ranthambore and Gujurat this time!)

Thanks for coming along on this journey!

[Botswanadreams]

Thanks for coming along on this journey!

 

Hi janzin, it was a pleasure to travel with you. You and a few other ST members brought India a big step in my focus. The world is much bigger than the African Continent. Many thanks for sharing your Indian wildlife experiences with us.

[Galana]

Thanks for takings us along with you. I enjoyed the trip a lot. Nice to see Torun looking so well.

[Alexander33]

@@janzin

 

Thank you for a wonderful trip report and for sharing your beautiful photographs. This one definitely goes into my India file for the day I start planning our first trip there. Thanks again.

[amybatt]

I just read this in one sitting over lunch at work. Curses, now I have another destination on my list! What wonderful photos and great stories. Looks like an excellent journey all in all!