India: Kaziranga National Park Extension

Indian (Greater One-horned) Rhinoceros © Exotic Journeys

Spectacular birding, world-class mammal viewing, and superlative photographic opportunities are assured on this optional extension to our Ganges River and Himalayas tour, to one of the most important national parks and wildlife preserves in all of Asia.

This optional post-tour extension to marvelous Kaziranga National Park, in the northeastern state of Assam, has as its centerpiece the park’s large population of Indian (Greater One-horned) Rhinoceros. But here on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra River, the marshes, reedbeds, gallery woodlands, and lowland subtropical forests teem with all kinds of birds and mammals, which we will view over the course of our stay by jeep and on elephant back. The park’s unparalleled list of mammals includes Asian Elephant, Hoolock Gibbon, Hog Badger, Leopard, Jungle Cat, and Gaur or Indian Bison; even the Bengal Tiger is a possibility. The opportunities here for photographers are outstanding.

Kaziranga is also a first-rate birding locality, with hundreds of resident and wintering species, some of them threatened or endangered. Among the waterfowl, we will be looking in particular for Bar-headed Goose and Falcated Duck; long-legged waders are represented by Black-necked Stork, Greater Adjutant, and Cinnamon Bittern. Overhead, we may see soaring Spot-billed Pelican, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Himalayan Griffon, Brahminy Kite, or Pallas’s and Gray-headed fish-eagles. Swamp Francolin, Bengal Florican, Great Hornbill, and Red-headed Trogon may also make their way onto our impressive tally. All told, our visit to Kaziranga offers a precious glimpse of what wild Asia must once have looked like.

All nights in the park at a single luxurious lodge, with stylish, modern accommodations and refined Indian and international food in two first-rate restaurants; travel by jeep and by elephant; pleasantly cool mornings and warm afternoons; typically dry, with low probabilities of rain.

Great Hornbill © teekayu/Shutterstock