Tiger At Kaziranga, Scroll down please

  The elephant image is to give you an idea of how high are the Grass on both sides.

 

By now I have done over 20 safaris n viewed 18tigers from close or far. 

Have even seen one from 5 feet Distance. 

 

There was a grassland where a tiger had been seen n going by his past sightings guide was sure he would cross the road n there was 70 of us approx. standing on the watchtower waiting cameras on the ready. 

 

Elephant grass on both sides of the path for a km

and as we stood here for an hour or so, (Ok occasionally I did doze off) and those who did not were having a gaggle, In Blue sweatshirt is Nitin Chittal.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly there was a buzz n we ran back to the opposite side of the watchtower.

 

The tiger was crossing by the WATER body

PICT by Nitin Chittal

 

 

He had walked 600mtrs unto us n no one had heard or seen him, and he just glided by effortlessly n not a blade was disturbed as he walked by AMAZING to see his grace n smoothness of movement as he gave us a look n then once more melted into the elephant grass again.  Great sighting indeed. 

 

Only Nitin,  was able to capture the Tiger looking at us

 

I felt I had just watched a huge stuffed toy walk by so dreamlike was the tigers movement

 

 

 

It disappeared into the elephant grass only to re-appear 20 min later for those of us who lingered on n caught a 2nd sighting of the tiger.

 

 

 

 We left finally by central zone by 1700 hrs. after lingering around for another 20 minutes, yes we saw a few birds

 

 

 Another 15 minutes would have been nice to watch the Sunset from the Forest, Guessing the power that be had a reason for there decision to shoo us away by 1700 hrs.

 

Tommorow we will go to Buro Pahar,  a range/ a Zone that not many people know about , we woudl be looking for more birds principally and it is supposedly very preety.

 

© Rajat Ghosh, available as stock image/footage

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Remember while in a Jungle the TIGER is possibly watching you.

Day 1, Rhino Sighted

 

We started this day at 0600hrs our guide - Nipan Saikia,  was on time and we headed out to breakfast by 0630 reroute to Eastern entrance of the park

 

 

 

The hotel ( shack and been informed about our arrival and they were kind enough to prepare our breakfast this early in the morning. Wonderfull folks at the Home kitchen served us, The hotel is located 16 km from our hotel / central zone and is called: Na Khowa Chang Ghor at Panbari. Bang opposite us was a Tea Estate, the Greens so good for our eyes and our lungs were getting full of fresh air.

 

 

Puri sabji n eggs n tea later we were at the gate of the park, Entry tickets were purchased for five of us and for our cameras finally we were on with the 1st safari. Via King Cobra Camp.

The Kaziranga Park has Eastern zone/ central Zone/ western zone.

 

Central zone being most Popular and most developed possibly with elephant safari and jeep safari possible for this place.

 

Today as we started with The Eastern Zone,

We had just entered the Jungle area, our cameras barely cleared the bag, and lens caps removed, as we looked up there was this massive Rhino walking towards us, he was going to cross the road and we had to hurry, we had 3 seconds before we had to move out of his way, what a amazing sighting and we had just started,

 

 

 

Boy was I excited, perfect lighting at 0730 hours and a One Horned Rhino bearing down on us to start the day with, Great Great what else awaited us I wonder? We were so excited already , we looked to the right and there was a couple of Grey headed Goose ( these birds are migratory coming from as far away as Mongolia, they fly over the highest mountain, Mt Everest) were right in front of us. How magical.

 

 

 

Our Guide was very good at spotting birds and we were soon looking at a Owl inside a tree trunk, I presume these birds are resident of these trees.

 

 

 

 

There were more Rhinos to view in various avatar, eating sea weed in the water and so on, Looking at us occasionally.

 

 

 

We maintained our distance and there were 5 of us in the Jeep. Four photographers with huge lenses and one with binoculars.

The deer’s stood on the side of the road, The  deer’s typically will stand still, and observe if One is able to see them, they stay in a statue state and once they detect threat do they move.  It is magical to see and observe the animals in there natural habitat, to stay alert yet relaxed all 24 hours ,,,

 

 

Some of the birds were so close to us, it seemed to not mind us, we kept as still as we could while we were hunting the pictures of these birds with our Camera. The Northern Lapwing is migratory and is here for the winters, and Breeding in Iceland and Europe, parts of Asia.

 

 

 

Scarlet Minivet male in Red and Female in Yellow were some of the birds we say in our first safari itself,

 

 

 

 

Been quiet a while since I had seen a vulture, there was a narrow bill vulture looking down on us from a Shimul tree. Oh what a wonderful sight it was.

 

 

And it was not just one kind of vulture there was also : Himalayan Griffen Vulture ( hope you are taking note as you read this blog) 

 

 

 

Soon it was 1200 hours and time to end the morning safari, once done here we headed straight for Lunch,

 

Hotel Bhuveneshwari. Famous for mutton n rice was our destination, not too far from the Central Zone, and we made short work of the fabulous Mutton and we were getting a little sleepy, but then we were excited and made off towards the Central Zone, there were murmurs that we might see a Tiger, yes you heard it right, Tigers can be found in Corbett / Bhandavgarh/ Kahna, but we are in Kaziranga, will we find it here too?

Yes, we were hunting for a Tiger, Let me tell you, Tigers are very shy, male especially so, and one would have to be very patient and spend whole length of time chasing and waiting for the Tiger to Appear and most likely it will be a short view, But then a Tiger is a Tiger Is a Tiger eh.

 

Well let me tell you the tiger tale tomorrow, it sure deserves that I say

 

#Kaziranga#beauty#spring #reflection#motorbiketrip#backtonewnormalseries #jampotblues #minimalism#peace#motivation #editorialphotography#newfriends

#rajatghoshfilm #biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography #targetpractice#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph #storytellingimage #conceptualimages#assam

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Kaziranga National park and Kamakhya Temple - Day1

 

Yes I am taking a plane I am cutting short my road trip which is 28 hours each way and taking a flight which would be only 2 hours.

Usually I take this route and is a Two day ride at best Three, today it will take  2 hours. And cost almost same, or maybe cheaper if I fly. I am planning 2 trips and time is of essence for once.

 

 

This Morning  am up at 0430 yes am an anxious traveller, being a biker holding on to timely departure and being regulated is tough to deal with post-pandemic which was more of a positive thing for me, as I took charge of my life and became more laidback and self regulated to higher degree.

 

Today I have a flight at 0730 from kolkata CCU to Guwahati.  Morning rituals were quick and I Am ready to step out by 0500 hrs. Uber was helpful and  am at airport by 0525 a good 2 hours before the flight time as recommended by airlines, AM so proud of myself yet again.

 

On earlier occasions I have experienced really long lines at Kolkata airport, yes it was pre-pandemic days.  Thirty minutes at entrance and an hour at counter was normal, But this journey was different and today it was just Five minutes at the entrance, No need to scan check-in luggage, we sure are going high tech in Kolkata too, Neither was there a long Q at security, well I am thinking efficiency is why this is happening and not cause people are flying less. They even have Conveyer belts to move trays back to waiting customers on the security Q. Nice! No need to open shoe saw me at boarding gate in 30 min. Whew, I need not have had a sleepless night eh.

 

I caught 45 minutes of sleep, and no one interesting to talk around helped me sleep another 30 minutes. Chairs were in plenty and convenient for napping.

 

 

 

0740 my flight took off. It was a smallish aircraft, 2 in a row and it had propellers, not a jet, well no point wondering what happens if the propellers fail if it does fail? There are 2 engines, and then anyway there is 50 others travelling, was sure about karma balancing out and we would be reaching safely to our destination. It was a pleasant flight I had bought cashew nuts in case I felt hungry and I snoozed through the flight, we de- boarded right on time at 930. 

 

 

The plane had rotors and was thus slower travelling at 500kmph. Quiet a bit faster then my regular vehicle of choice to North East.  MY BIKE rides at 100kmph maybe 120 on some stretches if speed limit allows occasionally. 

 

 

 

At Guwahati airport i head to the baggage claim am sure my other travel buddies plane would arrive shortly.   Behold. They were already there n a quick round of hugs with known faces

Samrat Mukherjee ( an amazing wildlife Photographer)  and hellos to new folks , Nikhil and Ms Sarkar and Sanjay Mukherjee  we headed to our car Next stop would be Ma Kamakhya temple, a Shaktipeeth where the Womb of Devi Sati had fallen, Synonymous with Fertility and Supreme female power

 

Located on the Nilanchal hill 20 km from the airport is kamakhya Temple, took about 45 minutes for us to get there.

 

We had a darshan (temple doors close at 1200 hrs.) and enjoyed the environment of the temple.   Our group had a lady who made sure we had Prasad. By1130 we were headed to kaziranga.  191 km away. From kamakhya temple. 

 

We were hungry and would have loved a quick brunch as most of us had not had anything since morning, yet we had to wait quiet a while for lunch.   Our driver possibly on payroll of a hotel wanted us to enjoy lunch at a hotel of his choice and we were all too exhausted to argue so just dozed as the car sped along the countryside, he refused to stop till 1345 n we lunched at his hotel of choice. Hotel Monikanchan.

 

 

 

The hotel was Ok with food, has clean washrooms with funny quotes and also funny rules like

“

a. They refused to serve chole as a dish but they had chole Bator as a dish

b. Refusing to replace batura with roti. 

 

I would avoid such a hotel for sure.   

 

 

 

 

 

  Anyway lunch break was for an hour n we were off by 1500 again stopping 2 hours later for Tea. And once again the stop was for 45 min as we stretched and enjoyed the fresh countryside air, it was quiet windy and we savored on some seaside food (4 of us were from Mumbai and me too have spend 20 + years in Mumbai, loved street food)

 

 

 

 

, it was quiet windy- did I  mention.

 

By 1800 hours we reached our guesthouse Aranya Tourist Lodge, which would be our base for the next 5 days, as we Explore different zones of kaziranga national park.

 

 

You might be wondering why it took us so long to reach; well 50km of the Highway road was through kaziranga national forest where speed limit is 20 to 40kmph as it is an animal corridor.   We showered n settled into our rooms this day. 

 

 

 

Dinner followed n briefing about what was to follow over the next few days. 

 

Have you been to kaziranga national park? What was your experience while there ? What about Kamakhya Temple?

 

 

 

© Rajat Ghosh, available as stock image/footage

 #Kamakhyatemple#beauty#spring #reflection#motorbiketrip#backtonewnormalseries #jampotblues #minimalism#peace#motivation #editorialphotography#newfriends

#rajatghoshfilm #biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography #targetpractice#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph #storytellingimage #conceptualimages#assam

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