A kvetching Kiwi?
Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part three: 2013-2014
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
A kvetching Kiwi?
Like you I only had a short time there and we were there as a family with small children so it was a rather different experience probably. We had a driver and car from Bangkok but he got lost and what should have been a relatively short journey took hours and hours. But it was fine when we did finally get there. I can't remember that much about what Wildlife I saw but we did the night drive on the truck and saw a lot of Sambar, a civet, a Loris etc. No Elephants though they were around.
Kaziranga. You definately can't enter the Park outside visiting hours. Jeep/truck rides are the norm but in one area you can do Elephant-back rides, but obviously they don't cover a lot of ground whereas the jeeps do the whole road circuits. The rhinos can sometimes be decidely dodgy- they will chase the jeeps if you get too near or just because they feel like it and its not funny. You can't fail to see them, my first one was a couple of minutes from the entrance. I must have seen dozens during my stay.
Near the city(?) of Gauhati there is a small breeding station for Pygmy Hogs- you can(or could) visit to see them as I did it.
Guwahati is where I start and finish in Assam (flying in and out from Kolkata). I plan on visiting the captive pigmy hogs there. At Nameri there is also another breeding station for them but I have been told there's only one animal there (?) and the supervisors are a bit tetchy about visitors. Pigmy hog is one of the "possibly impossible" species I will be looking for at Manas. Apparently if the grass has been burned off then they are possibly gettable, otherwise not at all.
pink-headed duck is not a pheasant
Really my route in Burma was the very standard tourist route (although I don't like to say that!) so not much chance of seeing unexpected animals.
(There is someone in Burma currently [I think] searching for the ducks)
And how mad will you be if this person finds them right by an area you went to
Maybe then you'll understand TLD's pain.
~Thylo
the search is well outside my area of travel. TLD's pain remains his own.And how mad will you be if this person finds them right by an area you went to
Maybe then you'll understand TLD's pain
If it helps any, I've seen wild Eurasian Otter, Eurasian Polecat, Eurasian Badger, Pine Marten and White-tailed Sea Eagle, and have petted a captive Scottish Wildcat
If it helps any, I've seen wild Eurasian Otter, Eurasian Polecat, Eurasian Badger, Pine Marten and White-tailed Sea Eagle, and have petted a captive Scottish Wildcat
Well aren't you both soooo special!
~Thylo
that alright, I don't get jealous -- I get evenIf it helps any, I've seen wild Eurasian Otter, Eurasian Polecat, Eurasian Badger, Pine Marten and White-tailed Sea Eagle, and have petted a captive Scottish Wildcat
I can also respond in kind with wild smooth-coated otter, mountain weasel, hog badger, small-toothed palm civet and white-tailed sea eagle. Plus flat-headed cat.
well today was a bit of a massive failure. I was trying to get to a city park called Sri Nakorn Kuen Khan which is good for birding. There are no buses or trains that run there, but I had instructions for getting there by taxi, namely taking the expressway to Suksawat Road and then the turn-off for Prapra Daeng, and then follow that road till you find the park. Easy because there's only one road that leads to it. Unfortunately, despite the taxi driver's assurances beforehand that he knew exactly where Suksawat Road and Prapra Daeng were, we ended up going to somewhere not even close to the right destination. It took almost two hours to get that wrong place due to the horrendous traffic, and there was little point trying to continue on to the right place because it would have been nearing noon by the time we would have got there. So I called it off and told him to take me to the nearest skytrain station -- even that took almost an hour despite only being a few kilometres away. In all we covered over thirty kilometres and I just wasted money I needed.
Also, in sad news, my ex-Belgian-Army canvas shoulder-bag which has been on every adventure with me since 2006, has died. The straps finally gave up the ghost yesterday. I am going to see if I can get it fixed but I may need to buy a new one and it just won't be the same.
Also, in sad news, my ex-Belgian-Army canvas shoulder-bag which has been on every adventure with me since 2006, has died. The straps finally gave up the ghost yesterday. I am going to see if I can get it fixed but I may need to buy a new one and it just won't be the same.
That is a pity about your bag, (at least for me) a backpack is one of the most precious things to have, especially if it has endured (and travelled) a lot... I would have gone crazy if the rats would have started eating it, but luckily they preferred my small bag....
I think the captive breeding place is definately your best bet for Pygmy Hogs. Are you looking for Floricans?
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
We really do need a like button on here,just for comments like that!!!!
I would have if I could have caught it!Bet you haven't petted one though
I have petted a cheetah. Not at all what I expected -- the fur is really greasy and coarse.
I am at least hopeful of seeing the captive ones! Obviously I don't mind at all going out searching for impossible animals in the wild though, it makes seeing them all the better if you succeed. The other "possibly impossible" animal I mentioned is the Ganges dolphin. There are supposedly reliable sites for it, but at this time of year the rivers are low and it makes it harder or impossible. I will not know until I get there. But fingers crossed.
I will be trying to see as many birds as possible too, and floricans have a funny name so they are definitely in, but mammals are the driving force behind the Assam trip. I will be spending four days at each major park, so hopefully at (for example) Kaziranga I can see all the mega mammals on day one and two (rhino, elephant, wild water buffalo, barasingha, etc) and then the second two days can be reserved for birds. I'm really not sure of the chances of tiger at any of the places I will be but, again, fingers crossed!
You will see Rhino and Water Buffalo on day one for sure (and every day probably). Barasingha are easy but more concentrated in a few areas. Elephants far more hit and miss. The park is divided into three sectors- East, Central and West. From memory, the Western section has less rhinos than the others, but some big wetland areas so is good for waterbirds.
Tiger- I believe Kaziranga has(or had) about 80 all told! Its a matter of luck but the longer your stay, the better the chance obviously. I knew someone who failed to see one at all in a 10 day stay, whereas I was lucky and saw two in a stay of similar duration. Both were at around 10 a.m. in the morning- one very close but just a glimpse walking down a track- the other for much longer(20 minutes, he was on the prowl for Hog Deer) but distant. Check anything 'gold' in the distance that catches the sun, or what might look like a single deer drinking at a waterhole....
Of course you have additional chances at the other reserves like Manas too- in tiger reserves everyone is constantly on the lookout hoping to see one of course so they aren't easily missed.
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