Day 32

Distance covered: 226 km
Total distance 5537 km

Woke up eager to get to Kaziranga but with trepidation about the road ahead after what we had just driven on. We were traveling a good 1500 km only to visit Kaziranga and I was in fear of being sorely disappointed. Surprise, surprise, the road was actually an absolute beauty and the distance of 200 km can be covered in four hours with ease. The scenery is nothing spectacular with lots of paddy fields and small groves of trees - a glimpse of every hue and shade of green. With no luggage to worry about we were flying to our destination. The only traffic was a steady stream of army convoys, heavily armed with mounted machine guns seemingly heading out to war. As we approached Kaziranga the roads have signs about watching out for animals and keeping an eye on the left hand side to spot them in the wild. All we were able to spot for a while were cows and were beginning to joke about it when I had to bring Kaya to a screeching halt. Right there, on the left bank was a large one horned Rhino and just that one sight made every minute of the 800 km we had so far covered worth it. We stopped there for a long time as the big fellow kept on posing for us, showing us every profile. He was a big guy lazily chewing on the grass taking the finest pick followed by a cool bath in the pools of water. We were really excited and back on the bike but we had barely gone a couple of km and there were four more of them blissfully grazing away. We reached the tourist complex and after a quick lunch got onto the jeep safaris that begin at 2.00 pm. The entry is 200Rs plus camera charges and 200Rs for a guide per jeep. The jeep costs an additional 500Rs. but it works out cheap if you can get people to share it with you. We got very lucky and met two very cool people. First we met Dwain, a Canadian who was booked on a different ride, but more importantly we met a Mr. Dasgupta who accompanied us and he made the entire experience more worthwhile. He is an old gentleman who loves wildlife and has been visiting Kaziranga for the last 20 years and has been to parks all over India and Asia. The best thing about it was he was an ornithologist and his enthusiasm was infectious. The entire buzz of watching birds with somebody who can tell you what you are looking at is great. You are not allowed to take private bikes and cars inside but jeeps and suv’s with 4-wheel drive are permitted. The ride in the gypsy was very rough and extremely bumpy but our driver turned out to be a very knowledgeable guy with a few tricks up his sleeve. We spotted a lot of deer and rhino to start with but they were either too far or amongst the tall elephant grass that makes up most of the area with small groves, streams, marshes and intermittent pools. We then came a massive rhino very close by and he wasn’t shy at all - that’s when our driver revealed one of his secrets. He knew the call of the rhino and sure enough the minute he made the honking sound the rhino was all attention. Wonders never cease, a few minutes later he was calling out to wild elephants - though they don’t spare you much more than a glance, what with more important things to do like a dunk in the pool and a cool trumpet shower. The highlight though came right at the end when we came up close and personal with a mother rhino and her young calf walking straight into our path. It is a rare moment because they are very protective about their young ones. You have to leave the park before sunset and we were left watching as the orange sun slowly bid farewell to the serene forest. We met up with Dwain and took a walk down a small path to do a bit of exploring. He is a biologist and does projects that take him to some of the wildest places - Alaska, Thailand, Africa - and he’s all of 26 years old. He’s just completed a bike ride across Thailand and Cambodia so we really got talking and swapping travel stories. Before we knew it darkness was upon us and we were in for a sound and light show that was nothing short of magical. The crickets, frogs and birds were in full song, while the teeming fireflies put on a dazzling display reminiscent of star wars. It was truly beautiful. We met Mr. Dasgupta for dinner and good conversation about the wild before hitting the sack at the dormitory.