So far we had visited the south east, south west and north west corners of India. A visit in the north east was still unchecked on our list. In November 2016 some good friends from Sweden arrived to spend some time with us. Their wish was to go to Kaziranga National Park in Assam on the Indian border with Bhutan and Bangladesh. YES! We are in. Their slogan is "Kaziranga excites the senses, arrests the soul. It beckons a visit." What's not to love?
"Kaziranga National Park was built in 1905 as the Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest.It's main goal is to preserve the one-horned rhinos in the region. The park is home to the largest population of the world's one-horned rhino species. The park also has the largest numbers of the wild Asiatic water buffalo, Eastern swamp deer and the highest density of tigers at about one tiger per five kms squared. Also, 9 of the 14 primate species in the country live in the park."
Our main mission - to see rhinos and maybe a tiger.
After a 2 hour flight from Delhi to Guwahati and then a 5 hour car ride we arrived at our home for the next 3 nights - Wild Grass Lodge, Kaziranga.
A wonderful homestay close to the park.
Lots of charm, interesting artifacts and cool furniture
He-Man 9000. Well, in Sweden we have a saying "man tager vad man haver" - be happy with what is available (sort of translation ...). After a few of these, we were. 8%!
We were tired after a long day travelling, so after dinner it was time to hit the sack.
Breakfast bright and early the next morning.
India is a very big country. According to Google: " It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres (1,269,219 sq mi). India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (4,671 mi)." And the whole country is in the same time zone - IST, Indian Standard Time (a.k.a. Indian Stretchy Time). Up in the North East corner it gets dark at 5pm! So, to use the day, it has to start early (holiday!!??).
Our limousine and driver were already waiting outside.
No, we did actually have a driver other than Ian.
Off to the Kaziranga national park and our first glimps of wild elephants ...
... and or first rhinoseros!
Our first day in the park and our first safari - an amazing experience! Tired and happy we had a meal and went straight to bed.
"Kaziranga National Park was built in 1905 as the Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest.It's main goal is to preserve the one-horned rhinos in the region. The park is home to the largest population of the world's one-horned rhino species. The park also has the largest numbers of the wild Asiatic water buffalo, Eastern swamp deer and the highest density of tigers at about one tiger per five kms squared. Also, 9 of the 14 primate species in the country live in the park."
Our main mission - to see rhinos and maybe a tiger.
After a 2 hour flight from Delhi to Guwahati and then a 5 hour car ride we arrived at our home for the next 3 nights - Wild Grass Lodge, Kaziranga.
India is a very big country. According to Google: " It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres (1,269,219 sq mi). India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (4,671 mi)." And the whole country is in the same time zone - IST, Indian Standard Time (a.k.a. Indian Stretchy Time). Up in the North East corner it gets dark at 5pm! So, to use the day, it has to start early (holiday!!??).
