Kaziranga National Park

(This post also appears in an article section of some other site.)
I have been on a NE spree! After Gangtok and Lachung, I set on to explore Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. Reaching Kaziranga National Park from Guwahati is a day’s affair. And Why Not? Of all the living beings elephants have appealed me the most. Possessing some predilection for elephants, I was throughout haunted by idea of visiting their land. Thanks to my office PC that granted me one chance to visit Kaziranga National Park. It was on my PC that I got stuck with an outstanding photograph of a group of elephants on Flickr uploaded by India Hotel Review site.

Zipped to Kaziranga from Lachung
Took a taxi from Lachung hotel to New Jalpaiguri, which took me 8 hrs to reach the destination, followed by 8 hrs train journey, Dbrt Rajdhani (2424; all days) to Guwahati! I stayed overnight in one of the Guwahati hotels. Next morning was the commencement to Kaziranga National Park (4 hrs); and to mention with a break at Nagaon district. It took me a day to reel off to Kaziranga from Lachung. Kaziranga National Park lies on the NH37 that cuts the park across.

Accommodation
I entered Kaziranga National Park at sharp 12:00 followed by my check in at the Bagori Rest House. Kaziranga has ample of accommodations with ITDC’s guest house to forest rest house’s and forest lodges for the tourists.

Kaziranga Elephants
The greens did appease me but going by the notion of visiting with guides was not my idea of vacation. My desire made me go a long way. I decided to go and catch some of them in their proclivity, hiding myself, as my presence would have been deterrent to their god made frolic. After going through the swampy lands of Kaziranga and enjoying the jeep safari, I was still not influenced. Climbing the elephant and spotting one or two hither-thither made my sedated desire, to a lesser extent find a gushing vent on the second morning of the trip.

The (Elephant) E-Day...
I left my Forest Rest House in a complete mess, hurrying my steps to way out exit of hotel while some wild thoughts acted as fillers for my empty mind, which was about to be flooded with ferocious faces of a tiger or some melodious rhythm of a sweet cuckoo. Owing my concentration to these elephant I could not have allowed other images to engross my psychoactive plane.

While I tried making my way into the dense forest I caught one or two uprooting a tuft of grass with their trunk and dusting it off against their knees. Those, of course, made me stop for a while, only interrupted by the rumble of young tuskers who romped on the bank of a breathtaking watercourse at Kaziranga National Park. The tusker show was to commence as it gathered the initial froth. Soon after this I encountered the sight of the wild herd that pranced their way towards us. My eyes got fixed on one bull (the male elephant) who seemed to be the Don. He pulled a mouthful of vegetation and casually flapped his ears, played some acrobatics and trumpeted on a regular interval. The other gang members played mischievously, in a free reign, with their trunks and plucked a trunk of green leaves from the tree. Interestingly, the younger most was not comfortable to share its space with the birds of Kaziranga as it often rolled its trunk upwards on a chorus perch. On account of viewing my hidden day time jungle matinee, I candidly take the pleasure to announce my liking for the bull for the reason that it was the 'Don'. And the Don exulted as he talced himself with the dust of the forest floor. I captured one shot in my camera which is now a desktop of my Lappy.

Seeing an elephant in the wild was one unforgettable experience, more of watching an entertaining drama on TV. When a herd of elephants feed themselves together, it can be like a giant kitty party, with dozens of trunks reaching out to pluck the most succulent leaves. Feast apart, sitting on the back of the elephant made me realize that an elephant can carry you places where 4x4 vehicles can't across rivers, through dense grasslands and jungles- an indomitable 5x5, counting its four legs and trunks. Despite their bulk, these animals move with a remarkable silence. Elephants are much more interesting to watch when they go out for bathing in groups. A flying glimpse of elephants under water turned to be an hours drama show, reminding me with a humanly emotion mother- child affection. While under water the matriarchs do exercise their limits of control with a great degree of affection by jostling and twining their trunks. It was a scene that lends great penetration into elephant's emotional plane; their tears, laughter, and incredible memories they have. Just when I was dwindling for these thoughts, i caught a glimpse of an elephant playing between an elders' leg, rolling in the mud and spraying them in water. The ele-babies are raised and nurtured by their so called 'aunties', or just to say the elder elephant’s cow.
The tedious task of capturing the sight of elephants in a mood to celebrate was really adventurous when serendipity pronounced on me and soon …

In the evening I spent an hour watching an elderly bull wallowing in a backwater pool. He kept lifting a submerged tree with his tusk, then letting it fall with a splash providing entertainment for him and us. Back, after jungle feast, in our resort, we re-counted many new discoveries about the elephants. Some of them goes like this an elephant's trunk can get very heavy and it is not uncommon to see them resting their trunks on the tusks. Elephants are sensitive beings where the entire family rumbles when the baby elephants complain. I forgot the most important to share that elephants do not drink with their trunks, but use them as a tool to drink with.I went to sleep with the idea of gifting a travelogue to my much eager and yet interesting idea of visiting Kaziranga National Park.