Kaziranga is a national park which is located in the Indian state of Assam. It is one of the major national parks and tiger reserve in India and is one of the last adobe of the Indian Rhino. For the winter break this year, our family decided to visit both Kaziranga and Manas National Parks.
We had visited Manas before Kaziranga and headed over to Kazianga on the 1st of January. This was a ver long journey so we were only able to the morning safari in Kaziranga before we started the 8hr long journey.
Leaving right after the first safari, we reached Kaziranga at around 7:30pm. We took the road which went via Tezpur so that we could bypass Guwahati. Upon reaching the periphery of the park, our driver informed us that there are chances of seeing animals crossing the highway. He himself has seen tigers on the highway after dark, so our eyes were peeled. Unfortunately it turns out we just missed a mother tiger and her cubs but we did see a rhino dash across the highway. When we saw the rhino cross the road we stopped next to the car in-front of us. While talking to them, they informed us that they were initially behind our car and a tiger with her cubs passed behind us. We were extremely surprised to hear this and seeing a rhino cross the road outside a normal safari was surreal.
Seeing how we were treated by a Rhino on a first day, we were super excited for the safari!
Day 1
Getting on the first safari was a bit chaotic. How the safari works in Kaziranga is that you can go an any jeep and any driver and there is no set driver and jeep with your ticket. Now we just reached he night before and we realised then that the front of house was a bit unorganised. So when we woke up and reached the reception at 6:30 for a 7am start, there was no one at the reception. Luckily a safari driver had come and my dad started talking to him. Instantly the driver took action and said he could take us. This was very fortunate as it turns out we got a very good driver who took down all our information about number of salaries and what we were interested in.
Turns out he has taken many photographers with him previously like Sudhir Shivaram Sir and he was also interested in birds. Because of him we were able to have amazing safaris in Kaziranga with over 120 birds species added to our list.
According to his plan, we would spend the first safari in the central zone, 2nd safari in the western zone, 3rd safari in the eastern zone and last safari back in the central. His aim was to see birds in the central and eastern zone, rhinos mainly in the western zone and other mammals like tigers, gaur, samber deer and hog deer in the central zone.
Before we went for safari, we had a quick breakfast and left.
Safari 1
With the palpable excitement, we entered the park around 7:45 am. Within the first 5 km we were bombarded left and right by a variety of birds and mammals. We spent a good amount of time photographing a heard of hog deers, heard of Wild Water Buffalos and a few birds namely Crested Serpent Eagles, Pallas Fish Eagle and Kingfishers. These were all within the first 5km and was indicative of the density of biodiversity of the park. We first stopped for the hog deers in the initial wooded area of the park while the rest were seen at a clearing near the river which was the end of the wooded area.
We waited for a good amount of time in the clearing photographing all the animals around.While in the clearing we say our first few rhinos in the park located on the opposite bank of the river and lake.
Once we were content with the photos, we moved a bit forward to get better photos of the Pallas Fish Eagle as we noticed there was a nest. While on the way to the nest, which was a short distance from where we were, we noticed a young calf rhino close to the road on the left. it was posting very well and started photographing it. Out of the sudden, our driver got excited and said be ready and look infront. Upon elaboration he tells us that an important behivaour he noticed was 1) rhino calfs are never left alone and 2) the calf was calling. He then concluded from the people in the jeep infront that the mother must be on the right side of the road and will cross the road to her half. He also told us that hold on tight as a mother rhino separated from her calf is very dangerous. While we waited he positioned on the middle of the road and put some distance between ourselves and the calf.
After a minute of waiting, his prediction came true and the mother majestically walked out and crossed the road to her calf. When she came out of the bush, she put her head down and pointed it to the jeep which was ahead of us. This was indicative that she was aggressive and the jeep infront quick reversed and put some distance between them and the mother.
When the two reunited, the mother and calf moved a bit ahead and the calf started drinking milk from it's mother. Looks like the calf was just hungary! It was an amazing sight to see!
Once the dust settled and the mother and calf walked away, we got backed to birdwatching. Some of the birds we photographed in the vicinity after the rhino sighting were the Indochinese roller ( some authorities say it's a subspecies of the Indian Roller, some say it's a different species) and Pallas Fish Eagle.
This one are had a huge bounty of animals and once we got good photos we moved ahead to a watch tower. Our driver wanted to bring us to the area as near the watch tower was a fruiting tree which attracted a lot of birds, namely Hornbills and barbets, and also there was a lake near the watch tower which had a Tundra Swan! Tundra Swan are rare vagrants in India and according to the driver, it came in a couple of weeks ago with a flock of bar headed geese. We saw the swan but it was on the other side of the lake. My brother had a p900 and the swan was still far for his camera, but the picture is sufficient enough for a positive id. These were some of the highlights of this safari. At the pond/lake we saw a wide variety of waterfowl including pelicans and black necked storks.
Overall it was an amazing safari. Although we were supposed to leave the park at 9 we stayed till 11am photographing everything.
Safari 2
Our second safari started at 2pm so we had short amount of time to refresh and eat some food. In the second safari we went to the western zone and was rhino dense. This part of the park was a bit different from the central zone where it had many more small lakes and ponds while the central part had fewer but larger lakes and more grasslands. We were able to see rhinos left an right and had an amazing sighting at the starting of the park.
Here the rhino was just 10 meters behind our jeep and was very calmly eating grass and wasn't bothered by our presence. We were able to get amazing shots of this individual, both close ups and environmental shops. One thing to highlight is the excellent abilities of our driver. He knew that the rhino was comfortable with our presence and thats why he brought us so close to the rhino. While it was behind us, he wasn't able to see the rhino, but he still needed to keep an eye on the distance. To do this, he looked through my dad's phones camera through the rear view mirror. He moved the car once the rhino came too close to us.
Over the entire course of the safari we were able to get various shots and angles of different rhinos as well as a variety of birds. Since the habitat was slightly different from the central zone, we were able to see more fresh water birds.
As we were exiting, we were able to get nice photos of the sunset and the animals on the banks.
Day 2
After restful night we meet up with our driver and headed to the eastern zone. The eastern zone was further away then the other zones and so we left a bit earlier at 6:00am.
Safari 3
This part of the park has slightly different habitat from the other parts of the park. It is a mix of freshwater lakes, swampy grasslands and dense woodlands. This area was abundant with a variety of birds, some of which were lifers for us. This safari was solely for birdwatching, although we had some excitement regarding alarm calls. It was overcast, so the pictures had a slightly different feel.
We were very happy with our hall of birds even though the skies let out towards the end.
Safari 4
The last safari was in the central zone and was petty uneventful due to the rains. After the morning safari, the rains picked up and was threatening the possibilities of the last safari of the trip. However it had subsided and we still went. This safari was uneventful since most animals were hiding due to the rain. It was uneventful but very calm. I managed to get a nice shot of the last rhino of our trip. It was very dark, so it is not the sharpest photo.
Overall it was an amazing trip and would recommend visiting. Our guides name was babul and we would recommend him as a guide.
We had visited Manas before Kaziranga and headed over to Kazianga on the 1st of January. This was a ver long journey so we were only able to the morning safari in Kaziranga before we started the 8hr long journey.
Leaving right after the first safari, we reached Kaziranga at around 7:30pm. We took the road which went via Tezpur so that we could bypass Guwahati. Upon reaching the periphery of the park, our driver informed us that there are chances of seeing animals crossing the highway. He himself has seen tigers on the highway after dark, so our eyes were peeled. Unfortunately it turns out we just missed a mother tiger and her cubs but we did see a rhino dash across the highway. When we saw the rhino cross the road we stopped next to the car in-front of us. While talking to them, they informed us that they were initially behind our car and a tiger with her cubs passed behind us. We were extremely surprised to hear this and seeing a rhino cross the road outside a normal safari was surreal.
Seeing how we were treated by a Rhino on a first day, we were super excited for the safari!
Day 1
Getting on the first safari was a bit chaotic. How the safari works in Kaziranga is that you can go an any jeep and any driver and there is no set driver and jeep with your ticket. Now we just reached he night before and we realised then that the front of house was a bit unorganised. So when we woke up and reached the reception at 6:30 for a 7am start, there was no one at the reception. Luckily a safari driver had come and my dad started talking to him. Instantly the driver took action and said he could take us. This was very fortunate as it turns out we got a very good driver who took down all our information about number of salaries and what we were interested in.
Turns out he has taken many photographers with him previously like Sudhir Shivaram Sir and he was also interested in birds. Because of him we were able to have amazing safaris in Kaziranga with over 120 birds species added to our list.
According to his plan, we would spend the first safari in the central zone, 2nd safari in the western zone, 3rd safari in the eastern zone and last safari back in the central. His aim was to see birds in the central and eastern zone, rhinos mainly in the western zone and other mammals like tigers, gaur, samber deer and hog deer in the central zone.
Before we went for safari, we had a quick breakfast and left.
Safari 1
With the palpable excitement, we entered the park around 7:45 am. Within the first 5 km we were bombarded left and right by a variety of birds and mammals. We spent a good amount of time photographing a heard of hog deers, heard of Wild Water Buffalos and a few birds namely Crested Serpent Eagles, Pallas Fish Eagle and Kingfishers. These were all within the first 5km and was indicative of the density of biodiversity of the park. We first stopped for the hog deers in the initial wooded area of the park while the rest were seen at a clearing near the river which was the end of the wooded area.
 |
| Male Hog Deer |
 |
| Female Hog Deer |
We waited for a good amount of time in the clearing photographing all the animals around.While in the clearing we say our first few rhinos in the park located on the opposite bank of the river and lake.
 |
| Water Buffalo |
 |
| Water Buffalo |
 |
| Crested Serpent Eagle |
Once we were content with the photos, we moved a bit forward to get better photos of the Pallas Fish Eagle as we noticed there was a nest. While on the way to the nest, which was a short distance from where we were, we noticed a young calf rhino close to the road on the left. it was posting very well and started photographing it. Out of the sudden, our driver got excited and said be ready and look infront. Upon elaboration he tells us that an important behivaour he noticed was 1) rhino calfs are never left alone and 2) the calf was calling. He then concluded from the people in the jeep infront that the mother must be on the right side of the road and will cross the road to her half. He also told us that hold on tight as a mother rhino separated from her calf is very dangerous. While we waited he positioned on the middle of the road and put some distance between ourselves and the calf.
 |
| Rhino Calf |
After a minute of waiting, his prediction came true and the mother majestically walked out and crossed the road to her calf. When she came out of the bush, she put her head down and pointed it to the jeep which was ahead of us. This was indicative that she was aggressive and the jeep infront quick reversed and put some distance between them and the mother.
 |
| Mother Charging |
 |
| Rhino Crossing |
When the two reunited, the mother and calf moved a bit ahead and the calf started drinking milk from it's mother. Looks like the calf was just hungary! It was an amazing sight to see!
Once the dust settled and the mother and calf walked away, we got backed to birdwatching. Some of the birds we photographed in the vicinity after the rhino sighting were the Indochinese roller ( some authorities say it's a subspecies of the Indian Roller, some say it's a different species) and Pallas Fish Eagle.
 |
| Indochinese Roller |
 |
| Pallas Fish Eagle |
 |
| Calf Drinking Milk |
This one are had a huge bounty of animals and once we got good photos we moved ahead to a watch tower. Our driver wanted to bring us to the area as near the watch tower was a fruiting tree which attracted a lot of birds, namely Hornbills and barbets, and also there was a lake near the watch tower which had a Tundra Swan! Tundra Swan are rare vagrants in India and according to the driver, it came in a couple of weeks ago with a flock of bar headed geese. We saw the swan but it was on the other side of the lake. My brother had a p900 and the swan was still far for his camera, but the picture is sufficient enough for a positive id. These were some of the highlights of this safari. At the pond/lake we saw a wide variety of waterfowl including pelicans and black necked storks.
 |
| Swan |
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| Swan |
 |
| Darter Sun Bathing |
 |
| Scarlet Minivuet |
 |
| Pelicans |
Overall it was an amazing safari. Although we were supposed to leave the park at 9 we stayed till 11am photographing everything.
 |
| Hog Deer mother and baby |
Safari 2
Our second safari started at 2pm so we had short amount of time to refresh and eat some food. In the second safari we went to the western zone and was rhino dense. This part of the park was a bit different from the central zone where it had many more small lakes and ponds while the central part had fewer but larger lakes and more grasslands. We were able to see rhinos left an right and had an amazing sighting at the starting of the park.
Here the rhino was just 10 meters behind our jeep and was very calmly eating grass and wasn't bothered by our presence. We were able to get amazing shots of this individual, both close ups and environmental shops. One thing to highlight is the excellent abilities of our driver. He knew that the rhino was comfortable with our presence and thats why he brought us so close to the rhino. While it was behind us, he wasn't able to see the rhino, but he still needed to keep an eye on the distance. To do this, he looked through my dad's phones camera through the rear view mirror. He moved the car once the rhino came too close to us.
Over the entire course of the safari we were able to get various shots and angles of different rhinos as well as a variety of birds. Since the habitat was slightly different from the central zone, we were able to see more fresh water birds.
 |
| Bronze Winged Jacana |
 |
| Siberian Stonechat |
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| Asian Open Billed Stork |
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| Asian Barred Owlet |
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| Brown Crake |
As we were exiting, we were able to get nice photos of the sunset and the animals on the banks.
Day 2
After restful night we meet up with our driver and headed to the eastern zone. The eastern zone was further away then the other zones and so we left a bit earlier at 6:00am.
Safari 3
This part of the park has slightly different habitat from the other parts of the park. It is a mix of freshwater lakes, swampy grasslands and dense woodlands. This area was abundant with a variety of birds, some of which were lifers for us. This safari was solely for birdwatching, although we had some excitement regarding alarm calls. It was overcast, so the pictures had a slightly different feel.
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| Black Backed Shrike |
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| Parakeet |
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| Grey Headed Fish Eagle |
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| Asian Elephants |
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| Hog Deer Crossing |
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| Black Necked Stork |
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| Booted Eagle |
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| Asian Barred Owlet |
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| Bar Headed Geese |
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| Water Buffalo |
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| Spotted Owlet |
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| Grey Lapwing |
We were very happy with our hall of birds even though the skies let out towards the end.
Safari 4
The last safari was in the central zone and was petty uneventful due to the rains. After the morning safari, the rains picked up and was threatening the possibilities of the last safari of the trip. However it had subsided and we still went. This safari was uneventful since most animals were hiding due to the rain. It was uneventful but very calm. I managed to get a nice shot of the last rhino of our trip. It was very dark, so it is not the sharpest photo.
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| Woolly Necked Stork |
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| Lesser Coucal |
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| Darter |
Overall it was an amazing trip and would recommend visiting. Our guides name was babul and we would recommend him as a guide.
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