Tips for upcoming trip to India
Hello all,
I have been using this website for a couple years to read trip reports and gain knowledge on exotic mammals and I finally decided to make an account and join the community.
My name is Flemming, I am an ecologist from the Netherlands that originally graduated in marine biology.
Mammals however always had my interest as I thought that they were often overlooked.
In 2023 I traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia with the aim of seeing the Black-shanked duoc, the Yellow-cheek gibbon and the Asian elephant.
I can make a trip report later, I really tried to see wild elephants in Cambodia but unfortunately in the end did not succeed in seeing them.
This however made my next travel destination easy: India.
In about three weeks I will be heading to India, where I will be spending 5 days in Pench National Park, doing 6 safari’s including 1 night safari with the aim of seeing the Bengal tiger, Leopard, Nilgai, Dhole and the Four-horned antilope. 5 days in Kaziranga National Park for Indian Elephants, Indian Rhino, Barasinga, Hog deer and whatever else might come our way. Three days in Nameri National Park, this park was not specifically choosen to see specific mammals, but is convenient in location and 3 days in Hollongapar Gibbon Reserve for the Hoollock gibbon and Stump-tailed macaque.
I made the decision for these parks through trip reports that I read on this website and I was wondering if there is anything that you guys would recommend me doing when visiting any of these parks that would increase my chances of spotting interesting mammals? For example, do safaris from a specific gate in Kaziranga or go to a specific location nearby. I have to travel on a bit of a budget, so unfortunately I do not have the money to hire a professional guide to show me around for very specific animals.
I also wonder if anyone ever made the day trip from Guwahati to go and look for the Golden langur? I know where they are located, but on google maps it seems quite the drive and I was wondering if you could make it with a private driver in one day?
Thanks to anyone for answering me! I will make a trip report of my trip when I get back,
Post author
13 Comments
-
Flemming058
Hey Therabu, thank you for your reply.
Manas NP was in my original travel plans, but according to Google maps it is about a 10h drive by car from Manas to Hollongapar Gibbon Reserve, which is why in the end I settled on Nameri. We are flying from and to Guwahati.I have heard from several people that Nameri is a paradise for birds but not mammals. However, it is conveniently located as it is not to far from Kaziranga or Hollongapar. As a gibbon enthusiast, I really don’t want to miss out on Hollongapar Gibbon Reserve.
Do you think that it would be possible to do a successful day trip to Kakoijana for the Golden langurs from Guwahati? It also seems quite the distance by car… -
JMayersky391
Hello Flemming,
I went to India in early 2020 and I had the most fabulous time. I did not go to Pench or Nameri NP’s, but I did go to Kaziranga NP and Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
As for Pench I cannot say, but I did do some safaris in Tadoba Andhari National Park which isn’t too far from Pench. I loved it there and that’s where I saw the most Bengal tigers. I saw 6 or 7 there, some of which were a female with two cubs and a lone female swimming in the lake. I also saw gaur and a sloth bear there.
In Kaziranga I don’t remember which gates I went in, but I know I did different ones. Very easy to see the rhino and elephants there. I also saw barasingha, hog deer, Asian water buffalo, and smooth-coated otter. If you’re into rare herps, I did see the Assam roofed turtles there as well.
I went to Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary just for one day and I struck out on the gibbons. But I did see a lot of capped langur and a few stump-tailed macaques.
I also went to Manas NP which I highly recommend. It’s a lot less crowded than Kaziranga and I saw plenty of elephants and a few rhino, but definitely less rhino there. I did go right around when COVID started and I had to leave early because no foreigners were allowed in Assam then. Before I left, I got to see one Bengal tiger (they are definitely more wild and skittish there) and a melanistic leopard resting in a tree. I also saw a family of golden langurs, but they like to keep their distance.
I did all of this solo and I didn’t hire any professional guides. I did hire private jeeps and a park guide, however. -
Flemming058
Hello JMayersky39,
Thank you for your reply, I am glad to know that you saw the species that you saw and had a good time in Assam. I rechecked my travel schedule and unfortunately there is no way of changing it to visit Manas as well. I am however looking whether or not it is possible to see some golden langurs at Kakoijana for a day trip. Glad to hear that you could do it without guides, that gives me trust in my own travels to India.-
-
Flemming058
Dear Asanoth,
Unfortunately I do not have much wiggling room when I am in Pench, and have booked my safaris in advance as I read that this is necessary. For now I have booked 4 safaris from Turia gate, 1 from Khursapar gate and 1 night safari from khawasa gate.Do you have any advice in regards to Pench?
-
Asanoth
I meant wiggling room when in Assam.
Booking in advance in Pench is necessary (unlike in Kaziranga, at least when I was there in November 2018), so that is why I asked. We did see two tigers in Pench in 4 rides in 2023, but no leopards. I do not recall the gates, we only used Turia, but check where Khursapar is, and if you are able to get there by yourself (I guess not). Did you manage to book by yourself (= are you a god?! 😀 )?
I visited Assam as a wildlife inclined tourist, motivated pretty much only by rhino. By my today’s standards, I did not see much, but at that time I immensely enjoyed the trip, for both fauna and atmosphere. I was alone and in countries like India, this can greatly enhance a general travelling experience.
One thing I did not realize (but I was on a loose schedule, so no harm there) that it gets dark really soon in Assam, maybe at 4:30 or 5 in winter, so you can use the time after to travel. Of course, today I would use the time for spotlighting, but at that time I had no idea of the concept.
After visiting Meghalaya for the hanging bridges (I imagine night walking there in march might be productive, but that is out of topic), I went to Manas for one day, which was fairly dull, but I did “witness” something, a tiger probably, killing a boar in the bushes a few meters away from us. Sound only, no visuals; it was funny to see how the story grew and people were asking me “I heard you saw the tiger!” Kaziranga, or its rhinos, were the reason I went to Assam and I spent 2 days (originally planned one day only) – I would say it is enough. Rhinos are guaranteed, hog deer is very easy, I did see barasinghas, but not sure how common that is, and I only saw one elephant far out in the eastern sector. I would say 5 days are quite a lot, given what you can see in other areas of Assam (or Arunachal).
I spent a day on Majuli (remember, this was not a purely wildlife oriented trip), a day in Sibsagar, morning in Panidehing (you would need to hitchhike there from the main road), took a boat trip (1500 INR for a large private boat after hard haggling – not that there was anyone else to join me) from Tinsukia, a very ugly city, for dolphins, and another one at the near marsh for birdlife (250 INR per hour), which was fairly nice. I actually wanted to visit Dibru Saikhowa, but the ferry took quite some time to take off and then I was like “I have no idea what I am doing and what to do there, there are tigers, maybe not”. I went to Digboi for 2 days to visit Dihing Patkai, already saw the Hoolock gibbons there, and then to Mariani, just for one morning, where I saw by far the most, including the gibbons, only after the walk on the park’s edge, my first ratufa and a few other primate species including M. arctoides. From today’s point, I would probably like to stay there longer than one day, because the forest is small, forcing animals to congregate (Borneo model). After Mariani I went to Nagaland for the Dzukou valley and the coincidental Hornbill festival.
I think I wrote this all to tell you to consider spending 2 or 3 days of your Kaziranga itinerary elsewhere, but of course, it is up to you 🙂 .
By the way, this all cost me around 380 EUR in 2018, plus flights and visa. As said, I enjoyed Assam greatly, way more than my first trip to India (with nearl no wildlife on schedule) to Delhi – UP – UK – Rajasthan, and I would say I still cherish it more than my 3rd visit to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (save for tigers).
-
-
-
JMayersky391
You’re welcome. I wish you well with whichever locations you happen to visit on your trip. As for guides, the ones the park provides you can still do a great job at locating animals and tailoring your needs for certain animals. Most of them spoke at least enough English so I could ask them to focus on certain wildlife. They also should be in radio contact with other jeeps so you can have a better chance of seeing something cool. This is usually for the larger wildlife, though. Most people want to see the big cats so most of the guides will focus on them. Try to ask them what animals you want to see and show them a field guide or a photo of it to see if they know good spots in the park to find them.
-
-
mattystouffer
Hi Flemming, sounds like it will be a great trip! There was another recent RFI on the forum for a similar itinerary in northeast India (thread here: https://www.mammalwatching.com/community-post/planning-a-mammal-focused-trip-to-northeast-india-assam-arunachal-pradesh/) that might be worth a look. I have reproduced a redacted version of my response from that thread below:
My wife and I were just in Assam in November, based primarily at Diphlu River Lodge on the south side of Kaziranga. We did multiple drives in each range and had wonderful sightings in each, but found Central the least enjoyable. The odds of spotting a Tiger are probably highest in Central, but it is by far the busiest and dustiest part of the Park. When we were there, it was so crowded with other jeeps that the experience bordered on unpleasant. I would suggest instead prioritizing the Eastern range and Burapahar (the far western range), as these areas are seldom visited but are absolutely packed with wildlife. If you plan to base yourselves closer to the center of the Park and want to limit your transit time, we found that the Western range was best for good looks at the Kaziranga ‘Big Five’, as well as Smooth-coated Otter, and we vastly preferred it to Central.
If you have time, it’s worth getting out on the Brahmaputra in search of River Dolphins. They’re abundant and easily seen (if difficult to photograph) between Tezpur and Silghat. We got on a pair within a half hour of departing the dock at Silghat, approximately here: (26.63064107588362, 92.94589647297393).
A few notes on other likely and possible species around Kaziranga:
– Cats: with the exception of Tigers, your chance for cats will be highest in the upland areas. Our guides told us that Nameri is reasonably good for Leopards. We also heard that a Fishing Cat and her cubs are semi-regular nocturnal visitors on the Diphlu River Lodge campus, and that Mainland Leopard Cats are occasionally seen further east at Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
– Mustelids: apart from the Smooth-coated Otters, we had no mustelids during our time in Assam, but we heard from our guides that Yellow-throated Marten are reasonably common upslope of Nameri, at Pakke and around Eaglenest.
– Viverrids: we saw none around Kaziranga, but our guides told us that Nameri and the south part of Pakke are the best place in the region to see Binturong.
– Bats: there are multiple Indian Flying Fox roosts along the north side of the Assam Trunk Road south of Kaziranga, including a large roost just west of the Diphlu River Lodge driveway, approximately here: (26.576489719295182, 93.25352120370164).
– Squirrels: many seen, though no flying squirrels, which don’t really occur at or around Kaziranga. We had Irrawaddy Squirrels in every range, Pallas’s Squirrel along the Assam Trunk Road and inside the Park at Burapahar, and Black Giant Squirrels at Burapahar.
– Bears: our guides at Diphlu mentioned they infrequently encounter Sloth Bears in the Eastern and Central ranges at Kaziranga.
– Primates: your chances for primates around Kaziranga are highest at the west end of the Park. We had Western Hoolock Gibbon along the road opposite the Kanchanjuri tea estate, and a bit further west, we saw a family of Capped Langurs along the jeep path inside the Park at Burapahar. Rhesus Macaques are regular in all three ranges. Assamese Macaques are regular in the woodsy section along the Trunk Road from the entrance to Burapahar east to the Chirang Pahar View Point, roughly here: (26.574411863161775, 93.10013377528117).Best of luck and hope you have a wonderful trip!
-
Flemming058
Dear Mattystouffer,
Thank you with all your information about Kaziranga and the direct environment. Your coordinates are especially really useful, i have saved them all in my Google maps, and I will prioritize the other ranges in Kaziranga over the Central range as it is this busy (especially if I have already spotted a tiger in Pench).
-
-
Vana
You are better off to cover it in the following way –
From Pench via Nagpur come to Kolkata – then fly to Jorhat and visit Gibbon sanctuary. Then go to Kaziranga, and finally head to Manas. From Manas you can go to Kakoijana. That would be a better plan. Nameri is a great park but finding mammals will be difficult.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Therabu
Hi Flemming,
I’ve just done 8 days in Assam. Our itinerary was the following:
Landed at Jorhat, Hollongapar the morning after (I dipped on hoolock which seems very unusual, 3 days is very secure but you could probably decrease to 2)
– Kaziranga : 3 safaris in 3 sections, each were interesting and full of wildlife. Do not hesitate to spend time there
– Nameri, 1 day and a half. You won’t see a lot of mammals, it’s more famous for birders. The walk in the morning was a waste of time but I gather it depends a lot upon the guide you’re going with. The floating boat was a very nice experience.
– Manas, 3 nights, 3 safaris and one morning to Kakoijana for the golden langur. Manas has less wildlife than Kaziranga but might bring different stuff (like Gaur) and different landscape. That’s where we saw the most elephants, they were not so numerous at Kaziranga during our visit.
We went with Jungle Travels, they were serious and competitive price-wise.