Did you know that there are only a couple of places on earth where you can see the one-horned rhino? A Kaziranga National Park safari is one of the best ways to get up close (and personal!) to these one-time near-extinct animals. If you are planning a trip to India, and want to view rare wildlife, look no further than Assam’s Kaziranga National Park.
Kaziranga National Park Safari: All the details
The Kaziranga National Park in the Northeastern state of Assam in India, is a sanctuary for a number of endangered species of fauna. The park consists of a grassland ecosystem that is largely undisturbed by man. It is famous for its big 5: the one-horned Indian Rhinoceros, the Asian elephant, the Bengal tiger, wild water buffalo and the swamp deer.
Nearly the entire world’s population of the one-horned rhinos are now found in Kaziranga National Park Safari, Assam and Chitwan, Nepal. The rhinoceros thrives in the tall grasslands, and lagoon-strewn flat landscape of the park.
History of Kaziranga National Park
The history of Kaziranga National Park goes back to the early 20th century. At that time, the Viceroy of India proposed establishing a reserve for the rhinoceros that roamed the plains of Kaziranga. This led to the establishment of the Kaziranga Reserve Forest in September 1905, covering an area of 232 sq. km (89.6 sq. miles) at the time.
Over time, the area was extended to the banks of the river Brahmaputra. However, poaching was rampant and the number of Indian rhinoceros dipped significantly to less than 100 animals. In 1954, the government of Assam passed the Rhinoceros Bill enforcing significant penalties for hunting rhinos. Kaziranga National Park was established in 1974 covering a size of 430 sq. km (166 sq. miles). The park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Furthermore, in 2006, Kaziranga was declared a Tiger Reserve.
When can you visit Kaziranga National Park?
Kaziranga National Park is closed from mid-April to mid-October due to the rainy season and annual flooding of the park areas by the Brahmaputra river. The rest of the year, from mid-October to the end of March, Kaziranga National Park remains open for tourists.
How to go to Kaziranga National Park
You can reach Kaziranga National Park by different means, from all the major cities of Assam as well as the main airports. Rent a car or take the bus to Kaziranga.
From Guwahati Airport
The Guwahati airport contains tourism kiosks where you can book a long-distance car with a driver to Kaziranga. Alternatively, you can also book a car to take you directly to your hotel in Kaziranga. As soon as you exit the airport premises, you will see a number of drivers calling out for passengers to different towns and cities in Assam. Make sure to double check with the driver your final destination.
From Guwahati City
The main bus stand in Guwahati is at Paltan Bazaar. Government buses (ASTC bus) run daily to Kaziranga. However, taking the bus will be a bit of a hassle if you have luggage with you. So, I would recommend taking a car instead. The prices are not steep, and you will have your choice of pit stops and places to eat. If you’re staying in a hotel, you can also request an Assam tourism-approved car through them.
What kind of safari should you opt for?
You can opt for either a jeep safari or elephant safari to see the Kaziranga National Park. Both options have their pros and cons. You can see more detailed information about them in the table below.
While the jeep tour allows you to cover more ground, the elephant safari was one of the most unique experiences of my life. Not only was it my first time atop an elephant, but it also offered a unique vantage point of being able to see above the tall grasses prevalent in the Kaziranga landscape.
However, I do want to note that elephant rides are controversial due to concerns over how they are treated and trained. I can confirm that the elephants in Kaziranga were treated very well during the safaris by their mahouts. They also limit them to 2 rides per day so as to not exert the pachyderms. However, I would encourage you to do your research in this area and draw your own conclusions.
Comparison between Jeep safari and Elephant safari
Feature | Jeep Safari | Elephant Safari |
Timing | From 7 am to 4 pm | 5:30 am and 6:30 am* |
Pricing model | Per jeep | Per person |
Range | Kohora, Bagori, Agaratoli | Kohora, Bagori (most preferred) |
Group number | 4-6 person in 1 jeep | 3 (max) per elephant |
Duration | 2 hours on average | 1 hour |
Point of view | About 1-2 feet above the ground (there are some watchtowers your jeep will stop at for larger views of the horizon) | 8-9 feet above the ground (allowing a view above the elephant grasses) |
Distance from rhinos | A bit far usually (30+ ft) | Very close by (10 ft) |
* The timings may be different in different seasons. This timing was for the winter when I visited in December.
Price of Kaziranga National Park safari
Note that although the prices below are current as of publishing this article, they may change slightly from time to time. However, I will try to keep the tables up-to-date.
Jeep prices for Indian and international tourists
Jeep Safari Zones | Indian National (Approx cost per jeep in INR) | Foreign National (Approx cost per jeep in INR) | Duration |
Kohora (Central) Range | 2700 | 5500 | 2 hours |
Bagori (Western) Range | 2800 | 5500 | 2 hours |
Agaratoli (Eastern) Range | 3300 | 6500 | 2 hours |
Per camera | 100 | 200 | 2 hours |
Kaziranga National Park safari: Elephant prices for Indian and international tourists
Elephant Safari | Indian National | Foreign National | Duration |
Per person | 900 | 1950 | 1 hour |
Per camera | 100 | 200 | 1 hour |
How to book a Kaziranga National Park safari
You can make a booking for a jeep safari online with a tour group. Another option is to request the hotel you stay at to make a the booking on your behalf. This is especially useful if you do not speak know the local language of Assamese. Most hotels will be able to make a booking for you. The hotels are trained to cater to tourists, and charge a nominal extra fee (Around INR 200) to have the jeeps pick you up from the hotel premises to take you to the park. However, make sure to ask them for all the details and cost breakdown, before proceeding.
Once you reach the park gate, you will need to deboard your jeep and buy tickets and show them your passport/ID (if you are an international traveler, prices are more expensive). Some hotels will provide you with a printed ticket and you will only need to show your identification and pay any extra fees, if applicable (eg. for a camera).
If you are traveling solo, you can also check with your hotel front desk to join another traveling group. You can do the same at the park gates as well. Since Kaziranga is a high-tourist area, most hotels cater to the tourists staying there by making bookings for them.
For an elephant safari, seats are limited, so make sure you book as early as possible. If you want to book through your hotel, let them know as soon as you confirm your reservation. You can book an elephant ride online through a tour group here although, personally, I would recommend booking through your hotel to get a better rate. I would not recommend trying to book at the park gates since the seats fill up quickly.
2-Day Itinerary to Kaziranga National Park: How to visit Kaziranga
Day 1 Morning - Arrive in Guwahati, take a car to Kaziranga
Arrive into Guwahati by flight or train in the morning. Rent a car to take you to your hotel in Kaziranga. Your drive from the city of Guwahati to Kaziranga will take you between 4 and 5 hours, depending on traffic. Note that commuting traffic is very heavy in Guwahati, so for the duration of your ride within the city limits, expect more traffic during these hours.
Day 1 Afternoon - Check in to your hotel, Jeep safari or Orchid garden
Check in to your hotel in the early afternoon. If you requested a jeep or elephant safari ahead of time with the hotel, make sure to get all the details on the timings and cost during check-in. Now, if you arrive prior to 3 pm and are up for a jeep tour, go for one in one of the popular ranges: Kohora or Bagori.
If you are planning an elephant safari, check which range of the park you will need to go to. Then, pick a different range for your jeep tour. That way, you can cover different parts of the park.
If you arrive after 3 pm, there won’t be enough time for a jeep safari. Go explore the town of Kaziranga instead. Check out Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park which boasts about 500 species of orchid found in Northeast India.
This park also contains a bamboo garden, a rice museum showcasing over 100 varieties of rice cultivated in this region of India, and my personal favorite, a handloom display and weaving center.
Day 1 Evening - Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park, dance performances
In the evening, the Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park hosts a music and dance performance (the change is about INR 250 pp). I was not super impressed with it but it is worthwhile if this is your first foray into the culture of NE India. Alternatively, many hotels provide their own entertainment in the form of Bihu dance troupes that put on performances for their guests by a bonfire every night. You can even participate in the dance and try out some new moves!
Day 2 Morning - Elephant safari and Jeep safari
Prepare for an early morning the following day if you want to go for an elephant safari. You will need to wake up before daylight breaks (around 5 am) and head to the Bagori or Kohora range. Expect foggy, cool mornings during the winter months. Your driver will drop you off at the location where you will mount the elephants and head off towards the tall grasses (aptly named, “elephant grass”) in a group of 10 elephants with their mahouts and a few forest rangers. Don’t forget your camera as this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
After, come back to your hotel and have breakfast, and get ready to check out before the next leg of your adventure.
In the mid-morning, go for the jeep safari (if you missed it the previous day). Jeep safari is the most popular way to explore KNP, and thus, the number of tourists increases as the day progresses. Hence, I would recommend leaving for the park as early as you can. Enjoy 2 hours of safari and see if you can spot the Big 5 of Kaziranga!
Day 2 Afternoon - Shopping and adventure sports
After lunch, head out for a spot of shopping for local artifacts at a local shop. For example, get a replica of a rhino in a wooden carving format to take home with you.
Adventure lovers can try our sports like mountain climbing and ziplining at the Mandu Resort.
Day 2 evening - back to Guwahati or a tea garden estate tour
In the evening, head back towards Guwahati and explore the city for a couple of days. Or head east towards Jorhat and go for a tea estate. My personal recommendation for a tea garden tour is Kaziranga Golf Resort.
What to expect on a Kaziranga National Park safari
- On the elephant safari, you will get pretty close to the rhinos (less than 10 feet away). Be sure to be respectful towards wildlife and do not make loud noises that could scare the elephants or the wildlife you will see.
- On a jeep safari, you will be on designated trails where the jeeps are allowed to go. You will easily spot rhinoceroses at a close distance, as these animals are quite unbothered by humans, however, other animals like elephants are going to be farther away. So, be sure to get your binoculars.
- If you have not been on a jeep safari before, note that the jeep offers little to no cushioning as you drive over the tough terrain of the park. So, if the ride is not the most comfortable. If you suffer from back pain, opt to sit in the middle of the jeep and avoid the back seats.
- It could get quite dusty on the safari. If you suffer from allergies, it’s a good idea to carry a face covering such as a mask or a stole.
- Daytime temperatures are hot, but early in the morning, it is quite cold. So, it is best to wear layers.
- Restrooms are not readily available. In fact, I saw only one during our jeep safari. So, bear that in mind. Thankfully, since the jeep safari is only 2 hours in duration, it was not a big deal for us.
What you can expect to see in Kaziranga
There are hundreds of species of animals and birds you can discover in Kaziranga National Park. Out of these, there are a favored “Big 5” of the park: the one-horned rhinoceros, the Asian elephant, the Bengal tiger, the water buffalo, and the swamp deer. In addition, over 500 species of migratory birds arrive annually in the park for breeding.
One-horned rhino
The one-horned rhino or the great Indian rhinoceros is native to the Indian subcontinent and can now be viewed only in two places in the world: Northeast India and Nepal. Wide conservation efforts in the last several decades have brought up the numbers of this species to over 3000 now. This animal has thick gray-brown skin, with a unicorn-like horn atop its snout. This horn makes it susceptible to poaching as it is believed to have medicinal properties. An average male rhino weighs about 2,200 kg (or 4,850 lb)!
Rhino sightings are quite high both on jeep and elephant safaris.
Water buffalo
You will see the black water buffaloes hanging out submerged in the lagoons in Kaziranga, with their heads outside the water. They have impressive horns that grow to about 2 m (79 in)! Yup, you read that right. They are also quite tall, at around 6 ft shoulder height. They cover themselves with mud in the lagoons to keep cool.
Swamp deer
The swamp deer are ubiquitous at KNP. You will likely see deer running around the foliage on both safaris even though this species is under threat of extinction.
Asian elephant
The Asian elephants found here are about 2 to 3.5 m tall and weigh between 2 and 5 tons.
We saw two groups of elephants during our jeep safari – one was an elephant herd of 4 adults and 2 teeny tiny little calves. Another time (and this was such a beautiful sight!) we saw a family of a father, a mother and their baby elephant! The female Asian elephant does not have tusks, unlike their African relatives. You can see in the photo below that one of the big elephants has tusks (father), one does not (mother) and the other is a baby!
Bengal tiger
Kaziranga was declared a “Tiger reserve” in 2006 and breeding programs were established to increase the population of Bengal tigers. The Bengal tiger has a body length of about 183–211 cm (72–83 in) and weighs about 130 to 170 kg. There are now over 100 tigers estimated to be Kaziranga National Park. Sighting a tiger is possible but rare.
The mahout for our elephant safari told us that the previous day, the group saw a tiger in the same area where we went. On the other hand, a family in our hotel who had been going into the park everyday for over one week had not seen a single tiger. So, it is highly luck-dependent.
Loads of birds
There are over 500 species of birds in the national park. These include the white-fronted goose, ferruginous duck, Baer’s pochard duck, black-necked stork, and Asian openbill stork. It was a cool experience to see the great Indian hornbill perched atop a tree on our trail the last time I visited Kaziranga.
What to wear on a Kaziranga National Park Safari
Get out your safari gear! Wear loose, airy fabrics if you’re traveling outside the months of Dec -Feb. In addition, this is what you should and should not wear on your Kaziranga National Park safari.
- For an elephant safari, and jeep safaris in the morning, dress warm in layers.
- For folks who feel extra cold (usually me) carry a hat to fight those chilly foggy mornings.
- Sturdy shoes – always a must for any safaris. Make sure you wear sturdy shoes that you can walk in. You likely won’t need to walk too much, but it’s always better to be prepared.
- Face covering – if you suffer from dust allergies.
- Sunglasses – as the day progresses, the sun gets stronger. Plus, sunglasses are super useful to keep the dust away from your eyes.
- Avoid wearing shorts or other clothes that show skin. This applies to traveling in all parts of India as the dressing convention is conservative.
- Avoid long dresses as you will need to straddle atop the elephant for the elephant safari. Even on a jeep safari, you will need to get in and out of the jeep several times. So, opt for pants/jeans instead.
What to carry for a Kaziranga National Park Safari
If you have been on a safari before, you know what to expect.
- Passport or ID – Foreign nationals must carry their passport in order to enter the park. For Indian nationals, carry an ID such as your PAN card.
- Cash in INR – Park fees due at the gate are only accepted in cash. So, make sure you carry the minimum amount in cash. Additionally, if you want to buy souvenirs, you will need cash.
- Binoculars – A pair of binoculars for each person is a must to transform your safari experience. Ornithology enthusiasts will be especially glad to have a pair on them.
- Camera gear – There’s a nominal price of INR 100 for Indian nationals and INR 200 for international tourists to carry a camera inside the park. It is well worth the price in my opinion. Note that there is no price for taking photos with your phone camera.
What to not do while visiting Kaziranga National Park
- Do not approach wildlife, including the rhinos. While they may appear nonchalant, if threatened, they can get aggressive. And they are fast too! They can run at speeds of over 50 kmph (31 mph) for short distances.
- Don’t stray far from your jeep without your guide’s knowledge.
- Be loud. Try to be as quiet as you can to not scare off the animals. While on tour, we observed some jeeps being loud near 2 rhinos, and sure enough, within a couple of seconds, they walked away further inside the tall grasslands.
- Visit only to see a tiger. As much as I would like to say otherwise, seeing a tiger is rare. However, we did see a tiger’s claw marks on the bark of a tree as pointed out by my guide which got us super excited! 😀
What is the best time to visit Kaziranga National Park?
It is best visited in the winter months of December to February for the best temperatures. Cool, foggy mornings that slowly heat up by mid-morning. However, if you are most interested to see a tiger, the best month is March. This is when the tall grasslands are burned under controlled fires leaving the jungle landscapes somewhat exposed. This allows easier spotting of tigers, as they tend to stay deep inside the grassland, rarely coming close to the jeep trails. However, daytime temperatures are going to be higher during this month (85 F/29 C).
As mentioned above, avoid traveling during monsoon season as the park remains closed to the public from mid-April to mid-October.
Where to stay in Kaziranga
There are several resorts and budget hotels around Kaziranga that cater to both domestic and foreign tourists. The following are a mix of some highly rated hotels, and those where I have stayed myself.
- Mandu the Escape Resort: This was my favorite place in Kaziranga. The resort offers luxury tents (for my fellow glamping lovers) and some cottages. They also have adventure sports such as zip lining within their complex. It is located about 14 km from the Bagori range.
- Iora – the Retreat: A beautiful resort with sprawling green grounds. I stayed here for a night and had a lot of fun at a Bihu dance performance in the evening. It is also located about 14 km from the Bagori range.
- Borgos Resort: An upscale resort with jungle-luxe amenities, Borgos resort is for the luxe traveler looking for a retreat in the forest. It is located about 13 km from the Bagori range.
- Manorama Lodge: A solid, well-rated budget option for travelers seeking to stay close to the Central range.
So, is Kaziranga National Park worth visiting?
If you are an animal lover or enjoy safaris, Kaziranga National Park is absolutely worth visiting! Not only is this one of two places on earth where you can view the one-horned rhino, but you can also see other rare animals such as the tiger, the Asian elephant, and the panther. If ornithology is your jam, you will be glad to know that more than 500 species of local and migratory birds can be observed in the Kaziranga National Park. Additionally, the associated cost makes it quite reasonable.
FAQs
Where is Kaziranga National Park is located?
Kaziranga National Park is located in the northeastern state of Assam in India, straddling parts of the Golaghat, Nagaon, and Sonitpur districts in Central-northern Assam. It lies on the floodplains of the Brahmaputra river, to the south of the river. It is located off National Highway (NH) 715, connecting the cities of Tezpur and Jorhat.
What is Kaziranga National Park famous for?
Kaziranga National Park is famous for being home to over 90% of the one-horned rhinoceroses in the world. The park is one of the largest conservation success stories in India. At one point in the late 19th century, the population of rhinos had declined to under a hundred. In addition, this park also houses tigers, panthers, swamp deer, water buffalo, and hundreds of species of migratory birds.
Kaziranga National Park nearest airport
The nearest airport to Kaziranga National Park is Jorhat Airport, located about 114 km from the park. It would take 2 hours and 30 mins to drive from the airport to the park. However, if you are an international traveler, flying to Guwahati airport (Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport) will be easier as this airport has more connecting flights to Delhi, Mumbai, and other hubs. A drive to the park from the Guwahati airport is about 180 km and will take between 4 to 5 hours.
There is also a small regional airport located close by, Tezpur Airport, which is about 40 km from the park. A drive from there will take you under an hour.
You have already booked a jeep safari. Should you still go for an elephant safari?
The elephant safari and jeep safari experiences are very different, in terms of wildlife viewing vantage points, duration, and ground coverage. So, even if you go for a jeep safari, an elephant safari is a unique experience in my opinion.
Will your guide speak English?
Make a request to your hotel to get a jeep driver who speaks English. For our group, even though we did not make such a request (since I speak Assamese), our jeep safari driver was able to point out various animals, and he spoke a little bit of English.
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Excellent writeup. Kaziranga will be visible by other people of the globe. The park needs more publicity for becoming a tourist attraction. Certainly you have done a good job in that directions. Thank you.
Thank you so much! Glad that you enjoyed it!