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We sent Naturetrek’s newest recruit, Bret Charman, on a month long trip to India to get a taste of this diverse country. We did give Bret one main task before he left: take plenty of photographs. He was more than happy to oblige.
A herd of Asian Elephant by Bret Charman
For the next three days we were going to be visiting Kaziranga National Park, home to the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros, Asian Elephant, Water Buffalo and of course the Tiger. We had three different destinations inside the park that would require us to travel on the cruise boat and by vehicle. As we were travelling downstream along the Brahmaputra this meant we would visit the Eastern Range first.
Our first day in Kaziranga did not disappoint; we got our first glimpses of Rhinoceros, Elephant and Buffalo as well as a slightly more unusual animal. We were driving on the thick forest edge, hoping to get to a spot where Giant Hornbill had been seen earlier in the day, when the jeep stopped suddenly as our tour leader (Sujan Chatterjee) spotted something. We then noticed a Coati-like creature emerge from the roadside leaf litter and head for the cover of the forest. With some very rushed photographs and a heap of excitement and chatter, our guide Sujan told us that this strange animal was a Hog Badger. A Hog Badger may not be as rare as the Great One-horned Rhinoceros or as beautiful as a Bengal Tiger but it is seen very rarely indeed. This species of badger is strictly nocturnal and is never really photographed, especially not in the middle of the day. Only a few of our clients and I were lucky enough to see this elusive creature and I for one feel very privileged to have been there. We carried on once the Hog Badger was out of sight and found the hornbills which we were on the way to see before our unexpected sighting.
We spent a further two days exploring the forest and grassland of Kaziranga and we saw plenty more Rhinoceros, Elephant, Buffalo, Swamp Deer and even a brief glimpse of the critically endangered Bengal Florican. On our last day the weather took a turn for a worse and for the next three days we saw little wildlife and absolutely no Sun. That is always the trouble with any trip, if the weather does not cooperate, your sightings generally dwindle.
We eventually made our way downriver to the outskirts of Guwahati, Assam’s major city. Our closest encounter here was a troop of Golden Langur monkeys and they were more than willing to pose for a photo or two in return for some toast. We were visiting a small Hindu temple on Peacock Island but the monkeys stole the show. On our final day in Assam, after experiencing a little more culture around this pleasant city, we set off for the rubbish dump. Now this sounds an unlikely wildlife haven but it draws in huge numbers of Black Kite, Cattle Egret and Greater Adjutant Stork. The Greater Adjutant Stork is a huge bird and its numbers have plummeted in recent years but a small population has made the city dump its home and that is what we had come to see. The smell was indescribable, it was absolutely awful, but being able to get so close to these amazing birds was well worth it.
After nearly two weeks in Assam it was time to head back to Kolkata where some of group would be travelling on to the Sunderbans, others back home to the UK, and I was heading for the city of Nagpur in Central India. I for one will never forget my cruise down the Brahmaputra River and I shall never forget the amazing wildlife moments I witnessed.
For more information on our tours to India, click here.