Nameri - An Adrenaline Adventure

Nameri - a place of pure wilderness, a place to experience an adrenaline adventure is a lovely sanctuary placed on the border of Assam and Arunachal.

The Nameri landscape just mesmerizes us as if it has directly come out of some wallpaper.  

Here, we can go on a nature trail inside the jungle and get an adrenaline rush with the thought of coming across wildlife face to face. Encounter wild elephants, hear the scary sound of barking deer, walk with the forest guard armed with a gun. The silence of the forest speaks differently. The chirping of the birds fills the space.

Nameri is the home of endangered white-winged wood duck. But they are very few in numbers and difficult to spot.

We stayed in Balighora nature camp. It is made of sustainable bamboo huts. Experienced a night sky with bright stars, caught hold of a lonely firefly as well. Spotted lovely yellow Mynas and different kinds of colorful butterflies as well. 

River rafting in the Jia Bhoroli river is also a little adventurous thing to do. The water was not particularly flowing vigorously. So it was good to get a first-time experience of river rafting.  Non-swimmers and children can also ride on the boat. It was good to spot beautiful landscapes of the jungle,  different birds like divers, ruddy shelducks, kingfisher, etc.

On the way back from river rafting we closely got a glimpse of a wild elephant trying to enter the village zone.

The villagers often bear the nuances of elephants destroying the crops. But anyway, most of them are living on the land of forest belonging to the Government. Elephants have the right to stay there just like them.

Nameri - a beautiful sanctuary that gives an altogether different life experience.  We are fortunate to experience pure adrenaline adventure here. May the forest here stay lovely and fresh forever!

 

Kaziranga - the land of Rhinos

 

Kaziranga- the land of Rhinos is truly India’s (and Assam’s) pride! 

Green grasslands, serene water bodies, and lovely landscapes make it unique. Never-seen-before birds make it a lovely place. One must visit Kaziranga at least once in a lifetime to cherish the moments.

Kaziranga is truly the land of Rhinos. As we entered the Kaziranga reserved area, our driver Monirul enthusiastically showed us a bunch of them.  Yes. They were far from us..but it was a delightful sight.

 

We stayed at ATDCs Aranya tourist lodge near the central zone. Kaziranga is a tourist hub after all. So, if we imagine that it would be a quiet and peaceful place. We surely get dejected. In fact, the main road has heavy traffic. Overspeeding vehicles are charged as there are animal crossing zones. The encroachment of villages and agriculture left little space for wildlife. During the floods of Brahmaputra wildlife enters the village zones. The only positive aspect is that the poaching of animals, especially rhinos, has been curbed to a greater extent.

 

There are three zones, Western, Central, and Eastern.  Wildlife safari from each gate takes us to various locations within Kaziranga wildlife reserve. We can locate rhinos in each zone either through jeep safari or elephant safari. There is no good or bad zone. But the western range has good chances of spotting rhinos from an eye's distance.

 

Thanks to the internet, we chose the eastern zone. It has Sohola Beel which is a freshwater lake formed by six(?) water bodies.  We can spot many migratory waterbirds in that region. I have got a newfound interest in observing birds. So, despite booking a hotel in the central zone, we traveled to the east gate at 7 am. (without a cup of tea!)

Along the lake, we spotted hornbills, storks, Indian roller, bee-eaters, parakeets, Siberian goose, kingfisher, eagle, owl. I cannot identify birds on a micro level..but surely know the above categories. Next time, if we decide to visit Kaziranga again, I would choose a bird watching tour!

Elephant safari has a greater chance of seeing a rhino at arm’s distance. But we came to know later that it is only available in the morning time. On another note, safari is an expensive affair. It surely makes a hole in your pocket ;-). Mostly one sticks to the either-or way while choosing a safari.

 

We were lucky enough to spot one rhino at 200 meters. He was busy munching on the grass. Well, he is lucky. He can eat the same thing throughout the day the whole year. We, humans, are quite picky eaters. We easily get bored eating the same stuff. 

 

Sorry for the diversion from Rhinos! So, grazing Rhino just once looked up and stared at us. Our Kaziranga safari was सुफळ संपूर्ण with that look! 

 

We also spotted many deers. My daughter found them absolutely cute (in her own style). Yeah, they were quite close by.

We have done quite a few safaris till now and most of the time we were disheartened not to spot great wildlife. But Kaziranga was different.

The landscape of the mighty Brahmaputra made it different.

Giant and cute (!) rhinos made it unique.

Mesmerizing birds made it lovely!

Kaziranga - the land of rhinos is surely the sight to behold!