Kaziranga National Park is a
forest that lies between the river Brahmaputra to the North and National
Highway Number 37 to the south. This highway connects Guwahati and Jorhat and
runs in an east-west orientation or direction. Kaziranga is closer to Jorhat (2
hours by car via Numaligarh) than Guwahati (5 hours by car via Nagaon). The
roads in either direction are excellent – at least when I travelled there in
late January 2015.
There are four entry points or
gates to the National Park to go to the different ranges within the forest. These
are all a little to the north of the main highway ranging from a few hundred
yards to a few kilometers. These are named Central (near Kohora), Eastern (near
Agoratoli), Western (near Bagori) and Burapahar which is to the west of the
Western Range. Although these are all parts of the same forest, in terms of
flora and fauna they are a little different.
Burapahar
Between Burapahar and Agoratoli
it is a distance of about 25 to 30 km or so. Most of the hotels are on or near
the highway. We stayed in a hotel right on the highway near Kohora. This is
where there are some small shops for basic grocery shopping, if you need
anything or medicines etc. Several shops here sell mementoes like wooden rhinos
or elephants. Hathikhuli Tea Estate, which is on the other side of the highway,
has a nice little shop for their tea.
Crested Serpent Eagle
The safari in Kaziranga happens
twice a day. Morning and afternoon. You have to hire open-hood Gypsies. There
are only a few points in the route where you can alight from the vehicle.
Otherwise you have to be seated in the vehicle all the time. Under no
circumstances can you get down anywhere else. Beware of dust and the petrol
exhaust. These are two major menaces you have to deal with and be prepared for
in Kaziranga NP. No one talks about these in their reports on Kaziranga but
these are two real issues. If you spot a bird and ask the driver to halt he
will never brake at once because that raises a huge dust storm behind. Cover
your head all the time with a cap and wear a synthetic outer jacket from which
it is easy to brush off the dust.
One-horned Rhinoceros
Elephant rides are popular with
the general tourist. It is a one hour ride. We didn’t take it and cannot
comment on it. But generally you are advised to take the government elephant
rides only which is available in Central Range. You can discuss this with your
hotelier or the Gypsy driver.
Spot-billed Pelican
We stayed for three days in
Kaziranga and this is how we planned our days. Day one, we started at 7 am with
packed breakfast given by the restaurant. Went to Central Range first. Came
back to the hotel for lunch at around 11:30. Went to the Western Range for the
second half.
Bar-headed Goose
On day two also we started at
around 7 am for Agoratoli with packed breakfast. We came out at around 12 noon
to a resort near the gate called Agoratoli Resort. Had our lunch there and went
back inside the same forest once again. The lunch at the resort is quite
expensive but basic. It’s quite a luxury hotel in terms of looks but nothing
much in reality.
Black-necked Stork
On the third morning we went to
Burapahar. We had planned to go for the Western Range in the second half but
had to leave for Guwahati in the afternoon as someone informed us there was a
bandh declared the next day.
Northern Lapwing
These five safaris for the three
of us with our two still cameras cost us Rs 12,000 – all inclusive. Not very
cheap. But since we had spent a lot of
money to go and stay there, thought might as well utilise it to the fullest
extent possible.
Red Jungle Fowl
I have no idea about the other
hotels in Kaziranga but the one we stayed in turned out to be really very basic
and therefore quite expensive at Rs 2000 per night. I would never stay in
Agoratoli Resort even if it comes free. I didn’t like the surroundings in the
immediate vicinity of the hotel.
If money was not an issue, I
would probably stay in Borgos, which I am told is very expensive.
Brown-headed Fish Eagle
