Kaziranga had been on my bucket list for quite sometime – a penchant to see the Indian one horned rhino. Kaziranga remains closed during the monsoon season – May to October and we planned the trip in the last week of April. We stayed in Diphlu River Lodge and went on 2 safaris every day. Kaziranga National Park is split into 4 safari zones – Eastern, Central, Western and Far West. Each zone is special in its own way
- Eastern – my favourite zone since we spotted the big 5, hornbill, cap languar, black necked stork and also saw the gibbons on the way to the eastern zone.
- Western – in this zone we could see the rhinos very close
- Far West – another favourite of mine for the birds and specially seeing vultures at close proximity.
- Central – this zone and the western zone were most popular with tourists (most of the hotels and resorts are close to these zones)
The Big 5 in Kaziranga are – Rhino, Wild Buffalo, Elephant, Swamp deer and Bengal Tiger. We were lucky to see all the big 5 in the eastern zone. Seeing these wonderful animals upclose from the safari jeep in their natural habitat was an exhilarating experience.
The Hoolock gibbon is the only ape found in India. On the first day of the safari, we could hear the calls of the hoolock gibbon, but were unable to spot them. However we were lucky on the second day and spotted a gibbon family swinging across the tall trees.
