In that part of the country the internet connectivity was almost nil and I could not really know about the new challenge till yesterday after returning back to New Delhi. And then I didn’t want to miss this one but I really was stumped as to what to include in this challenge.

I came across this one photo taken on the beaches of Andaman Islands two years back. My daughter along with her father wanted to make a hut of her own from the leaves of palm and the vines lying on the beach. With hardly any know-how of hut making, this simplest wish seemed a herculean task to meet. But they “launched” themselves any way because the holidays are meant for all sorts of adventures…..

Having posted this picture, I thought of sorting the photographs of our latest vacation trip and I sure came across some pictures which could fit the photo challenge of this week. We were excited to begin our early morning jungle safari in search of the one horned rhino and what is better than ride on the great Indian Tusker to launch on this adventure….

The Indian elephant though smaller than its African cousin but it still demands  lot of respect and no animal dares to cross its path. One loud trumpet by the beast makes all animals back off…. This one Rhino was lazing around and did not pay heed to the visitors atop the elephant. The trainer of our elephant coaxed it to trumpet and the rhino launched itself finally to move away from the tusker and our prying eyes …..

The elephants, rhinos and their babies were a treat to the eyes and our trip to the national reserve was a fulfilling and enjoyable experience.

I guess that is what holidays are supposed to be…. enjoyable, adventurous and relaxing!

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A baby Indian one horned rhinoceros was born the morning of December 22 after it’s mother, 11 year-old Kalu, carried it for  16 months.

This marks the first ever successful birth of this highly endangered species in the history of all South Florida zoos and only the third birth in the U.S this year, according to Zoo Miami spokesperson Ron Magill.

SLIDESHOW: Zoo Miami Welcomes Indian Rhinoceros.

The arrival of this bundle of joy is also a major landmark in the international efforts to maintain this scarce species. Poached extensively for their horn, the species is down to about only 3,000 left in the wild.

The proud parents were brought to Zoo Miami from San Diego and New York as part of a breeding loan meant to add to their already dwindling numbers.

The sex of this bundle of joy will be determined once the veterinary team is able to perform a neonatal exam.

This is the first offspring for both Suru and Kalu.

Please call in and support this appeal to save the rhino‘s.  There are fewer Javan Rhino’s 40 left, due to poaching and disease, and the Krakatoa Volcano. Crime Syndicates have provoked people into thinking that Rhino horn can cure cancer, among other various miraculous health cures.

These final remaining Javan Rhinos, less than 40 need to be moved to a protected area.  There are no Rhinos in captivity now to work with, none at any of the zoo’s around the world.  Like many of the species such as the buffalo in these our United States original buffalo these Rhinos are being hunted  into extinction.   In less than two decades we have seen these animals hunted onto the critically endangered species list. These animals need to be moved and it costs 5-70 Thousand of Dollars,  due to the three T’s: Tracking, Tranq’ing and Trans-locating. Rhino Horn is now world more per ounce than Gold.
Contact the World Wildlife Fund Today

Other than said in most guides, there actually are some lovely sites for food and accommodation outside the state-run tourist complex. Do not go in to the main village, stroll down the road eastward bound and after a short 2-5 min walk you’ll see some recently established places, like this lovely Assamese restaurant we found there.

When you go in ot the park, be prepared for camera fees and all other fees you can possibly imagine (“Film Camera 16mm Fee”). but: Make sure you do invest in a guide. Our guide made our trip in to Kaziranga Natinal-Park worthwhile. All but elephants and one-horned Rhino would have passed us unseen, if not for her. She not only had binoculars (yep…we are not the best safari people and had not thought about it…), she made us see… and: she boosted our knowledge about flora and fauna in the most lovely and non-intrusive way, but still a lot…

To book a guide in Kaziranga National Park, simply tell the car-rental people, where the guides wait stand by. To arrange in advance with our lovely guide – simply get in touch with her:

Trishna Nat – Naturalist for Rehabilitation of Snakes and Birds – Tourist Guide | Nature Guide in Kaziranga and elsewhere.

Phone number within India 09854844906

From overseas call +91 9854844906

Or simply mail to trishnanth94 [ ad ] gmail.com

Before coming to Kazirange National Park, I did some cooking with my couchsurfing host in Guwahati. Recipes of Assamese Food here. Next join us on our trip to Nagaland here.
–

Other posts from our India Travel Diary are:
I use Trains when travelling in India
Happy Holi – Spring in India
Running from Holi we took Rescue in Haridwar
Half Indian Doors and Memories in little red Note Books
Guwahati, Assam, North-East India.
Assamese Cuisine, German Spätzle And What’s Slime Got To Do With It
Tea Gardens And Kaziranga
Lovely People and Empty Ministries: Kohima
Twice a Day a Bus at the End of the Known World: Khonoma
Last Stop Paradise: Meghalaya, India
Another Travel Diary of mine takes you to Israel and Palestine in 2012. You can start reading it here. 

Assam State Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain, center right, and forest officials look at the carcass of an endangered one-horned rhinoceros allegedly killed by poachers at Kaziranga National Park, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of Gauhati, India, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010. According to news reports, the rhino was killed using automatic weapons and the horn gouged out. Rhino horns are in great demand globally, particularly in Southeast Asia, for their alleged efficacy in producing aphrodisiacs and traditional medicines. Some people also use them to make decorative dagger handles.

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This set of animal cards was issued during a time when animal welfare was not top priority. Wild animals, many that are rarer than the old cigarette cards that depict them, were mercilessly hunted and turned into items of vanity: fashion accessories and wall mounted trophies. Clues to societies’ primitive attitudes towards them can be found in the descriptive text on the backs of some cards, such as that on the card featuring the supposedly “Common Otter”: “Its fur is of considerable value”. This nicely illustrated, slightly embossed card set includes a good selection of animals from around the world, including the tiger, lion, zebra, Kangaroo and many more.

Godfrey Phillips, Animal Studies, 1936 (30 cards)

Includes:Striped Hyena,Indian Rhinoceros,Lion,Tiger,Common Eland,Northern Fur Seal,Elk or Moose,Caracal,Reindeer,Camel,Polar Bear,Muscat Gazelle,Indian Wild Boar,Elephant,Cape Buffalo,Hippopotamus,Chamois,Fox,Walrus,Common Otter,Burchell’s Zebra,Tasmanian Devil,, Puma,Guenon,Red Kangaroo,Cheeta,Clouded Leopard,Badger,Black-Backed Jackal,Mandrill

If you would like to find out more about the classic animal cards featured in this blog please click here.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you found it interesting!

Route Map

We turned right from NH 52 at the village of Baihata Chariali and continued on a unpaved road for two kms to reach the base of the hill on top of which is the Madan Kamdev Temple. None of the seven temples in the complex are extant and are identifies by their plinth and foundation and the numerous exquisite sculptural fragments. The misty morning air and the strangely golden vegetation made for rather interesting ambiance.

All that remains of the once glorious temples

Lintel of what was once a door jamb

Mist-clad desolation

Loose sculpture

The goddess

After about an hour at Madan Kamdev, we resumed our onward journey towards Tezpur. The roads passed through Assam’s idyllic rural heartland. We kept stopping every now and then to capture the life around us.

I don't belong here!

Potter on his way to the haat

Mirchi!

And of course there were the tea gardens, reminding me of home

Mustard fields forever!

Tezpur was wrapped up at a feverish pace and we could not wait to reach Kaziranga. We were to stop here for the night and were booked at the Jhupuri Ghor, a resort run by Assam Tourism. The resort consisted of a number of independent cottages built in the traditional style with cane and bamboo. We checked in around 2:30 in the afternoon and took off immediately to the Baghori range for a jeep safari.

At the entrance to Kaziranga

My cottage @ Jhupuri Ghor

Interiors - I

Interiors - II

Welcome to Kaziranga!

The safari took us the the westernmost range of the park, Baghori. When we met the Managing Director of Assam Tourism for dinner on the first night, he had told us that “Rhinos in Kaziranga are like cattle… they graze everywhere”. At first we thought that we was simply building it up for us, but then when we spotted four rhinos from the highway itself, we started getting hopeful.

Across the stream is Kaziranga!

First sighting, Wild Water Buffalo (Bubalis bubalis arnee)

I need a good telephoto...gosh they are so expensive!

Hog Deer (Axis porcinus)

The grasslands of Kaziranga

There he is, the Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)

One more time, folks!

Rhino spotting seems to be the easiest thing at Kaziranga. I actually saw so many of them that by the end of it i started wondering if there are any other animals except them. At one point of time, i was staring at a field and i could count 26 of them. No, but seriously, it was amazing. Considering this is one of the few places in the world, you can see the Indian, Rhino, may their numbers increase ever so steadily. The Managing Director was right. He was not only building it up for us, but was complimenting himself on a job very well done!

The cattle of Kaziranga!

Damn them tourists!

Guardhouse, Kaziranga-style!

Sunset @ Kaziranga

Sunset @ Kaziranga

Sunset @ Kaziranga

After the delightful evening in Kaziranga, went to check out some of the local hotels and collect the details for inclusion into the book. One place that stood out was Wild Grass Resort. It had a small hut which acted as a namghor (a place of worship for Assamese Vaishnavites) where a priest was reading the kirtan (devotional hymns). The feel of the place was completely out of the world and i could not resist clicking some.

Worship - I

Worship - II

Traditional murals on the ceiling of the shrine

The Priest!

That was that for the day. Tomorrow we are to head eastwards towards our next destination, Jorhat.

————————————————————————————————————————–

The next morning, we could afford to conduct our businesses at a more relaxed pace as our next destination, Jorhat was only 97 kms away. But as is the rule, we never travel at one go. We stop for pictures,conversation and most critically, food!

Anyway, our first stop en route Jorhat was a little village on the way. The village was populated by people of the Mishing tribe. They have lived for centuries along the basin of the Brahmaputra and their history, culture and tradition are intricately linked to the great river. The trademark of Mishing people are their unique houses. Built on stilts, the houses help avoid the rising water levels of the river during the floods.

Mishing houses

Mishing House

After the Mishing village we stopped at a little eatery in Bokakhat, the last settlement in Kaziranga and ordered puri sabzi. Interestingly it came on banana leaves and was accompanied by a very hot, and very tasty chilly achar.

Breakfast!

Sometime i wonder if man made god or god made man!

Sweet-maker!

Finally someone clicks me...with the boss, that too! Notice how i put the gamosa to good use. I will demonstrate more uses for this wonderful piece of fabric in subsequent photographs.

Basket shop!

Around 25 kms from Bokakhat, after the town of Dergaon is a small village called Negheriting. It is home to a dol (derived from deul, meaning temple) built in the 17th century by the Ahom kings in the panchayatana ( where the main shrine is accompanied by four subsidiary shrines, usually in the four cardinal directions) style. Located on top of a hill, the main garbhagriha enshrines a shivalinga while the four subsidiary shines were dedicated to Durga, Vishnu, Surya and Ganesh.

Negheriting Shiva dol

Sculpture on the northern walls of the dol

Imprisoned by faith? Temple priest at Negheriting

This is interesting! The round red chillies you see here are supposed to be the hottest in the world. Locals call it Bhoot Jholokiya (one that makes you see ghosts). I was very pleased with myself when i finished an entire chilli over lunch a few days later!

By the time we reached Jorhat it was well past 2 in the afternoon and we decided to go pay a visit to the Hoolock Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, 20 kms from Jorhat. As the name suggests, the park protects India’s only ape, the Hoolock Gibbon. We did not see any apes but i got some interesting pics.

Hoolock Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

The region has seen an influx of migrants from Nepal. Many of them stray into the forest to illegally collect firewood. One such expedition was underway, but hearing us approach, the people fled, leaving behind these huge stacks of wood.

Someday i shall find employment as a gamosa model!

In my defense, i was unaware of the moment this pic was taken.

My room at Hotel Paradise, Jorhat. Could it BE ( a la Chandler Bing) more tacky?

Well, folks, that is as much as i got for you this time. Next up, we discover more of Jorhat and the amazing Shivaagar.

Till then…

“Oh, he’s having a coffee and a fag by the river,” Steph the red-haired English girl said, fiercely munching on a piece of toast. Roger, her boyfriend and John the Irish, both worked on their breakfast with dedication.

I almost dropped my coffee mug, but quickly steadied myself and turned my head to the riverside. The morning fog was still hovering above the water, and Den was nowhere to be seen.

“A fag??” I turned back to Steph, set down my coffee, and asked.

“Oh~~~!” The three of them stared at me briefly, then burst into roaring laughter. The wooden sky parlor, which was our restaurant, was vibrating.

“Den is not having a gay man,” Luke caught his breath first and said. “A fag in English is a cigarette.”

Now that made sense, I guess.

I met John the Irish guy at a Himalayan village, and found that we both were heading to the Royal Chitwan National Park , which covers a subtropical jungle on Nepal’s inner Terai lowlands.

My orientation to English-Irish English started on the bus ride from Kathmandu to Chitwan.

“What’s the crack?” John told me, in Ireland, means “What’s up?”

“Americans say ‘awesome.’ We say ‘deadly’ or ‘bang-on,’’’ he coached me.

And there were others that are not fit for print.

John was an accountant, and the worsening economy swept him from his job. Luckily, he’d been planning a prolonged backpacking trip for a while, so he took off.

On our way from Chitwan’s bus stop to the nearby village, we met Luke, Steph, who are medical students from England, and Den, who’s a Thai artist. The five of us hang out together ever since. Den didn’t speak much English beyond “yes” and “no,” but he seemed to be laughing at exactly the right notes when someone else cracked jokes.

After breakfast, we gathered by the river and filed into a long slim dug-out canoe. Den appeared energized from his coffee and fag. Ganesh, our lodge manager and guide held a thick wooden stick across his laps, sat at the nose of the canoe. Our boat glided into the sandy river towards the deep of the jungle.

The fog parted slightly and soft morning sunrays brushed on the water. A warm breeze skimped across the swampy banks and the reeds bowed their fuzzy heads. Big white egrets strutted on the marsh. Azure king fishers perched on driftwoods. Little black swallows flocked to the sky from the crown of ancient trees. A piece of log with cracked brown bark drifted a few meters in front of our canoe. Ganesh pointed out the two ominous eyes set on top of the log, and we realized we were staring at a crocodile sailing across the river.

We abandoned the canoe at the river’s bend and started on foot in knee-high grass.

“Nice trekking shoes, Yanmei!” John pointed to my Merrill sandals and joked. “The leeches will love you.”

Yes, they will. I thought to myself and trained my eyes on my exposed skin for any blood-suckers.

I thought I made a smart decision by leaving my trail running shoes back in Kathmandu and packed only the sandals to the jungle. “It will be hot” was my reasoning.

When we were sitting by the river, sipping cocktails and watching the sunset the day before, John and Luke helpfully fed me stories such as a one-foot-long leech bleeding a person to death.

When the marsh came to an end and the jungle started, Ganesh laid down the rules for us:

Walk quietly.

If chased by a rhino, run zigzag or up a tree.

If a tiger attacks, throw the backpack on its path.

“Imagine a village kid here, the parents is not telling him ‘Look both ways for cars when you cross the street,” Luke ventured. “But ‘look out for crazy rhinos and run zigzag if they charge at you.’”

Ganesh was an observing and resourceful guide. Following the murmurs of the trees, he led us to a pack of gray langur monkeys. The black-faced creatures scurried between leaves and stopped to make faces at us. The sound of fallen leaves crunching under the weight of bodies gave way to golden rhesus monkeys and brown muntjac deer traveling through thick bushes. Gigantic footprints and massive piles of dung brought us to a little pond hidden in rippling reeds. At the patch where the sun hit, a dark brown knoll and a horn parked immobile on the water.

Rhinos have bad eyesight, Ganesh had told us at the beginning of the safari, but they smell and hear really well.

A breeze carried whiffs of human bodies across the pond. The brown knoll shook and rose. Soon the massive body of a single-horned Indian Rhinoceros emerged above the water, its armor-like hide damp and gleaming in the sun. It paused and turned its giant head slightly as if to detect the source of suspicious smell, and waddled imperially into the reeds.

We were still holding our breath after the rhino disappeared.

I was the first to break the silence: “It’s just bang-on!”

“It’s deadly,” John followed.

And I looked down. A tiny black leech was getting fat on the back of my right foot.

Today Kaziranga and Manas are the only natural habitat for the one horned Indian Rhinoceros in India. It is the home for many other wild animals too. This beautiful grassland is listed as a world heritage site since 1985. Elephant safari through Kaziranga is once in a lifetime experience. Jorhat is the nearest airport to reach Kaziranga and Furkating is the nearest Railway station. These two places are well connected by road to the National Park. There are a couple of wildlife resorts in Kaziranga for those who prefer to spend some time in the wild.

Zoological name: Rhinoceros Unicornis

Range: The Great Indian Rhinoceros is found in India, Bhutan and Nepal in wildlife sanctuaries in the sub-Himalayan belt. It is found in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam (where the largest population of Rhinos worldwide exists in Kaziranga National Park), in the Chitwan valley in Nepal and in lowland Bhutan.

Estimated population: The estimated population of wild rhinoceroses in national parks worldwide is approximately 2400 of which 1600 are in India, primarily in the Kaziranga and Manas wildlife sanctuaries in Assam in North East India.

Physical characteristics: The Indian Rhinoceros was described by early travelers as a unicorn because of its single horn. The Rhinoceros has a somewhat pre-historic appearance and looks as if it has armor plates, because of the loose folds of its thick hide, which is a dark brown or blackish color and can also be gray in some cases. A fully-grown male Rhino can reach up to 1.8 meters high and 3.6 meters long and can weigh over 2 tonnes (or 2000 Kg). The distinctive horn of the Rhinoceros is seen after Rhinos are a year old and can grow to a size of 20 – 60 cm.

Habitat: The Indian Rhinoceros is found in marshy lowlands. Tall grass, thick forests, and swamps are Rhino territory. The Rhino spends a significant amount of time during the day, wallowing in mud or marshy pools.

Diet: The Indian Rhinoceros feeds on grass, leaves and twigs. It usually feeds in the morning and evening and spends the hot daytime cooling off in a mud wallow. The prehensile upper lip of the Rhino helps it in feeding.

Behavior: The Indian Rhinoceros is usually a solitary animal. Calves live with their mothers for several years. Male Rhinos are known to fight over territory and during the mating season. The Rhino’s horn is used as a threatening display as well as to attack other male Rhinos or any intruders in its territory. Rhinos can run fast, up to 55 Kmph for short distances and rely on their sharp sense of smell and hearing. Their eyesight is comparatively poor. Rhinos live for 30-45 years in the wild and have been recorded as living up to 47 years in captivity.

Status: The Indian Rhinoceros is an endangered species. The pressure of human populations on the last remaining habitats of the rhinoceros, poaching for the sake of its horn and tiger predation of its calves are threats to its continued survival in the wild.

Tourists can see the Indian Rhinoceros in the Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam.

We visit Kaziranga National Park on our tour “Big Five Of India” & Customized trip for Rhino watching tours.

For tour details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info or email: ntrails@gmail.com