Take to elephant back in Kaziranga national park to get you up close and personal with the indian one-horned rhinoceros
The flat country and vast grasslands bordering the Brahmaputra river are the best place in India to see the endangered Indian one-horned rhinoceros.
To view rhinoceros at close quarters, we can arrange game drives with elephants. They are the perfect mobile hide for getting up fantastically close to other animals, which barely seem to notice even when you are just a few meters away.
In the cold half-light at 6.30am as you climb the steps to the mounting platform at the elephant stable, the great height of your wrinkly steed suddenly becomes abundantly clear. The mahout smirks knowingly but makes sure passengers and howdah are balanced and secure before giving the command for your elephant to trundle into the unknown.
In the early morning the grasslands are enveloped in a thick ground mist that would equal traffic jams and the need for fog lights anywhere else, but the mahouts are wise to the rhinoceros’s habitual well-worn trails. You’ll quickly get so close to them you’ll be able to count the tubercles on their armour-plated flanks.
+ Read More
ATOL Protected
24/7 Guidance & Support
20+ Years of Experience
We take care of the leg work
We find you the best deal
A print anthology of safari and wilderness travel with over 220 pages of travel inspiration.
It’s thought that there were as few as a dozen one-horned rhinoceroses left at Kaziranga at the start of the 20th century.
With careful management and conservation work, they now number around 1800, accounting for around 80% of the world’s population.
Kaziranga is open to visitors from November to the end of April. Controlled fires burn the tall grasses in mid-winter which makes it easier to spot wildlife from December.
Huge numbers of migratory birds descend on the park lakes and marshlands during the winter months including Greylag and Bar-Headed Geese, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwall, Falcated Duck, Red-Crested Pochard and the Northern Shoveller.
Daytime temperature reaches a pleasant 25’C (77’F) in winter, though it is chilly in the early morning and evening so you will need warm clothes when setting out on safari. A thick ground mist covers the park in the morning – an eerie experience when you’re on elephant back and suddenly come face to face with a rhinoceros.
“Natural High shines rays of adventurous light into some of the least explore, most exciting corners of the wider world.– Financial Times
Situated on the banks of the river, Diphlu River Lodge is the newest and by far the best accommodation for visitors to Kaziranga National Park.
Learn More
Need some more inspiration? Request a copy of Into The Wild, our comprehensive anthology of safaris and wilderness travel.
A print anthology of safari and wilderness travel with over 220 pages of travel inspiration.
