Travels and thoughts

  A couple of hours past midday, two open top Maruti Gypsy jeeps landed at the entrance to Borgos resort where we were staying. We got in while the forest officer explained the rigmarole. A short drive of 5 mins and we were entering the central part of Kaziranga sanctuary spread over 430 sq km in Assam. The Forest officers examined our bags to ensure we carried no food. We drove into the forest at a slow speed keeping in the mind the speed limits so as not to disturb the animals. We stood on the open jeep which was a thrilling experience for us. There was dirt track to both our sides, the grounds were plain and we could see for stretches of miles. The shrubbery started growing taller and taller as we went deeper into the forest. The tree barks were brown in color with many branches that were bare of the leaves. The dense growth, dry now for several months without rain seemed to be waiting for the arrival of monsoon. Beyond the gnarled branches of the trees we could spot herds of...

Hunt for the one horned rhino The morning of Feb 12 2018, we were asked by Minto - our handy man for the 2 days at Kaziranga, to meet him at the entrance to the park at 5 am. The open Jungle land of Kaziranga lies in the flood plains of Brahmaputra river.  Lying between the latitudes of 26°30' N and 26°45' N, and longitudes 93°08' E to 93°36' E within two districts of Assam, Golaghat and Nagaon,  is sprawled over an area of 378 square km. It was a cold, misty winter morning when we looked out of our hotel window.  We woke up and reached at the appointed time for our morning safari at Kaziranga jungle.  We were in the Eastern part of India. As we reached the outskirts to the elephant safari.it seemed that  sun would be up soon. The morning fog was heavier in the open jungle. A vast blanket of gray, covered the forest. It swallowed the river flowing through the jungle. The tree leaves were smeared gray by the silvery fog. We could hear few birds chirpin...