INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 3

 December 19, 2024

Third day, fourth safari drive, fourth area of the national park. You'll notice that this is a shorter post. By now, we had seen most of the animals we were going to see and the novelty had worn of just a little bit--at least for some of us.

Off we go! I'm prone to motion sickness, so I'm that person who always has to sit in the front seat. Chris usually sat with me, and the men got the bumpy back seat. That's our guide Bablu Hussain taking the selfie, and our driver (whose name I've unfortunately forgotten but who was incredible) is on the right.

We would have missed so much if we had not had Bablu's expertise and binocular-level eyes spotting birds and other creatures as we drove along. See that little bird on the low-hanging branch below? That's a good example. 

Indochinese roller

This beast, on the other hand, was impossible to miss. We were very impressed by the size and pointiness of its horn. 

Rhinos and elephants weren't the only large animals we saw. There were also quite a few water buffalo. This one was taking his mid-morning nap.

A Bengal monitor lizard was basking in the sun. Wikipedia says they are very shy and avoid humans, so we were lucky to see one.

We saw other animals on this morning safari--lots of birds, a wild hog, and plenty of deer. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the experience. When lunchtime approached, we headed back to our lodge, passing several groups of hard-working women carrying large loads of bamboo on their heads.

After lunch we had time for a short rest in our room before heading out again.

I love this pond with its multiple species wading in the water and skimming plants from the surface.  Look carefully and you'll see a mama rhino in the water and her baby on the far left of the photo below. 

On the other side of the pond is a mama water buffalo being tailed by her baby.

Bablu said the baby rhino was probably about two days old. As we watched, he waded deeper into the water to be closer to his mama. 

We were worried the baby might drown, but Mama didn't seem concerned.

Another water buffalo was enjoying the bountiful salad.

Bablu really wanted to make Bob's tiger-sighting dream come true, so he was always on the radio with other guides, looking for clues that might lead us to a tiger. He heard there were skittish noises made by deer and calls made by birds that indicated the presence of a tiger in this area, so we pulled off the side of the road and waited. And waited. And waited.

It was beautiful scenery, but it would have been even more beautiful with a gold and black streak running (or even better, strolling) across the road. No such luck.

No luck in this gorgeous spot either:

The sun was sinking lower on the horizon, and it was time to head back to the lodge.

Even the water buffalo was coming to the local watering hole for a bit of a drink.

When the wild boar show up, you KNOW it's time for dinner.

This is almost as good as seeing a tiger. (Unless you're Bob, and then it's nowhere near as good as seeing a tiger.)

I'm struck by how the colors of our dinner match the colors of the photo above.