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| Tambuli Wetland |
Trip Itinerary:
- Guwahati (Port of entry/exit)
- Pobitora : 1 day
- Meghalaya curated tour : 6 days
- Chandub : 1 day
- Kaziranga : 2 days
Dates: Nov 15th to 25th, 2025
Travelling: We travelled by hired cab between the spots.
Facilities: We stayed mostly in resorts close to the sanctuary places. Bird life was abundant in all. Food was mostly rice based with basic dhal. We tried some local dishes at our stays. Guwahati city while driving to and from airport was quite dusty and hot. We got a good guide at both Pobitara and Kaziranga.
This is our Assam part of our North East India trip. The reason for including Assam for what was primarily a Meghalaya trip is the Guwahati airport. Shillong is too small and prone to cancellations. So, since we were here anyway, we added a day before and 3 days after to experience some of Assam also.
Click here for the blog on Meghalaya part of the trip.
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| One-horned Rhino |
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary was on our itinerary because our guide felt we would enjoy sighting the One-horned Rhino here where it was less crowded and was closer to Guwahati than at Kaziranga. That was true. It was smaller and very few tourists. Rhino sighting was easier and closer. But we got an unexpected bonus with the stop as we did some awesome birding mostly because of our guides. The evening safari was guided by Narruttam from forest department along with Ujjal a research intern. Both excellent birders and naturalists who were very nice to help us explore the area.
Tambuli wetland which we visited in the morning was unplanned and as they say that turned out be the one of the best experiences of our trip. It was about 2 to 3 kms from our place of stay but we got to ride on scooters, also fun!, to the wetland instead of walking up. The bird life was good in the sanctuary but the Tambuli wetland was just out of the world for us personally. The place was teeming with water birds, wading, swimming and flying in as we stood on the road in awe, with a backdrop of grasslands where we could spot the One-horned Rhino as well as the Water buffaloes. Assam government thankfully has ensure this spot is not disturbed with guards in station all around 25/7. Our only regret was that we could stay only for few hours and we didn't have a spotting scope.
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| Boat ride to Chandubi Lake Stay |
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| Mynas and Starlings bathing |
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| Bronze-winged Jacana |
Chandubi was picked as a stop over on our way back from Meghalaya for our Kaziranga stint since the drive would be too long otherwise. It turned out to be a lovely lake with a rustic resort on the banks that we reached via an optional short boat ride as there was road access too. The place was quiet with plenty of lake birding as well as forest birding along the shore.
We had only few hours in the evening and morning, so our walk was barely a kilometer each time on the same path. Highlight was spotting 100s of Red-breasted Parakeets coming to roost on the trees along the bank. We also got to witness a cute sight of Mynahs and Starlings, taking bath in polite turns in the water channels that were irrigating the farmland along the banks.
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| Favourite pastime |
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| Culture show |
We drove from Chandubi past Guwahati to Kaziranga. On the way itself, there were couple of view points where we skirted the vast national park and its incredible grassland habitat. Rhinos, Hog deers and Buffaloes were all easily visible from these. On reaching our stay, Habitas by Rhino, we were early enough to make it to catch a well done culture show at the Orchid Park which was close by. We explored the park itself the next day to see their collection of many varieties of Orchids, and 20 zones show casing aspects of Assam heritage and culture.
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| Agaratoli Habitat |
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| Bar-headed Geese |
There are different ranges for Safari in Kaziranga. Eastern, West, Central by jeep and the short one on Elephant. We picked Eastern(Agaratoli) in the morning as it had the most diverse train of grasslands, wetlands and forest area also. Our aim was bird watching and this gave us the best opportunity. Jeep safaris are independently operated with Sanctuary permission at Kaziranga. Our resort organized one for us with a driver who had some knowledge of birds on our request. Bhaikon delivered perfectly for us. Spotting, identifying and giving us enough time to take in the sightings.
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| Hog deer |
Of course we saw all the usual mammals too, Rhinos, Buffaloes, Deers, Elephants and with the highlight of a huge Python. Birds were plenty and I got to see many migratory Bar-headed Geese for the first time! Overall, we thorougly enjoyed this track that took over 3 hrs to finish from gate to exit.
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| On Elephant Safari |
Final day morning was the Elephant Safari which is more of an experience than for any nature sightings. Rhino is guaranteed as a few hang out near the trails itself. Bird watching is near impossible with the few stops and the Elephant making sure you are having a roller coaster ride. So, fun for elderly and kids but not for serious nature enthusiasts.
Overall, we enjoyed all our stays in Assam which was teeming with avi fauna in stark comparison to Meghalaya where they were mostly absent in the places we travelled. Birding especially was very good and to our hearts content.
Assam Photo Album
Ebird Trip Report
