Rhino Alert!! Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary

Hello friends, sorry for being MIA for so long. Hope you guys are keeping fine. The festive season is here and we are enjoying a very pleasant weather in Guwahati, Assam. Also this is the time for family trips, outings and picnics in Assam. Among lots of beautiful spots this time my family wanted to visit somewhere new. So, we chose Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary for a Sunday trip. Also since past few days, I was getting a lot of querries from my friends and relatives for suggestions on family trips and outings.

There are many suggestions already cropping up my mind, you can also read the previous posts. Another spot which I always wanted to share with you guys is the famous POBITORA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY. People from Assam and other parts of Northeast are very familiar with this place but I am sure many of my readers who are from the other parts of the country and are planning to visit Northeast should also know about it and plan a trip very soon.

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Morigaon District of Assam. By road, it is around 48kms from main city Guwahati. It is famous for the great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, you can trace a lot of them, trust me lots. You can see rhinos grazing all over the fields. Kaziranga National park is also famous for rhinos but if you are staying in Guwahati it is nearest. There are also other animals like leopard, barking deer, wild buffaloes but I am sure you must be lucky enough to trace one. Pobitora is also home to thousands and thousands of migratory birds. I didn’t buy my DSLR at that time so had to do photography with my Nikon Coolpix, sorry for the bad picture quality. Still, I tried to take as much better pictures as I could.

This is the best place for bird viewing, you will find lots of tourists pouring in just to see the enormous flock of birds. The best time to visit is from November to March, though you shall find December and January quite crowded due to tourists visiting or picnic parties. If you are planning for a family picnic or picnic with your friends, Pobitora is the best place. To reach Pobitora, you can board a flight from any location and land in Guwahati, the nearest airport is in there. There are 4 or 5 hotels/lodges in Pobitora, the Govt. lodge is more reliable one though I am not so sure about it. There are cabs or taxis that can be hired for a day to visit Pobitora.

So what we did, we packed light breakfast and started our journey in the morning at about 9 am. For entering the park they charge Rs50 per person as entry fee and Rs500 for foreign nationals. We reached there at around 11.30am. we missed the early morning Elephant Safari. So for sightseeing the management has made very good arrangements. The other major attractions include the Haduk Hanging Bridge and the Garanga Beel Pond. You have to cross the hanging bridge to reach the spot for elephant safari after the timings get over the gate to the other side remains closed.

For Elephant Safari you have to reach quite early. But I request you not to take elephant safari and trouble those innocent animals. There are two shifts, one at 6.30 and another at 7.30am. It also depends on the availability of tourists and the weather, sometimes due to heavy fog, they also change their timings. For Jeep safari, the management charges Rs 450 per person, at a time five-six adults can board the jeep, if you are visiting with your family you can also book the whole jeep for one hour ride at Rs.1000. If you are carrying camera they also charge for it as well, Rs50 for still and Rs500 for video and Rs500 for the movie camera.

The rates for foreign tourists are different.  Well-armed forest guards shall accompany you in the jeep and if you are planning to take some shots while in the middle of the jungle than you must know that tourists are not allowed to get down the jeep or even stop midway. But for us, it was a blessing in disguise when another jeep got stuck on the muddy roads and the driver and forest guard of our jeep had to get down to help them, we grabbed the moment and took some pictures. The bookings for jeep and elephant safari are on spot but if you can manage, you can also do it beforehand. But I think it’s better to get your own tickets since the process is quite simple.

During the journey, we couldn’t spot a single animal, just some migratory birds here and there, but on the way back to the place from where we started we spotted lots of rhinoceros grazing, that was a spectacular sight in itself.

After getting your tickets for jeep safari you may have to wait for some time since the other jeeps will be out for the tour, there are small tea shops inside the park where you can have some light refreshments. We enjoyed the whole trip quite a lot. The weather was bright and sunny. Hope you liked it, do email, drop in comments, tell me how you liked the post and also share your visit to Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

Posted By- Ishani Nath