Hollong: the river i adore

Tripoto
20th Jan 2020
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Day 1

Moving through the wooden bridge over the river flowing through the middle of the forest, i caught a glimpse of a adult female rhino. Slowly dribbling through the chilly water into the muddy banks.

Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das

Enjoying the serenity of wilderness, i had a full lunch with fish, local vegetables at the forest lodge. Taking a post lunch walk towards the salt pit, a grazing rhino came to my notice. He was totally involved and was completely ignorant to human proximity.

Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das


The afternoon was filled with a herbivorous display. Herds of gaurs, arrived near the salt pit along with calves. The mothers were always alert for impending dangers. A wild bull bison came later and had a provocative built with convex dorsal ridge. Some of them almost crossed the narrow stretch of 'khola' which was between us. But, they returned after quenching thirst.

Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das

The sunset was evidently near, there came two sub adult rhinos. Licking salt was the primary intention. They looked perplexed by the human presence nearby. Dithering to get near the water stream, they hoped that i retreat. Creating a convincing posture, i took few steps back only to be illusive towards the confused rhinos. Waiting for few minutes gave results. Now, the two of them came to the water for drinking. Getting my dslr to work, i shot a couple of short length portraits of the princes of Jaldapara. It was low light almost evening, and patience gave off.

Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das

The night was of a full moon. I dined early where steamed rice was served with egg curry along salad. Returning from the dining, a pair of geckos welcomed me from the age old wooden ceilings of the corridor. Geckos are large lizard like creatures with a head to end tail length of 12-18 inches. They have a very sharp growling or croaking call.

Getting into my room, i was all by the window for the rest of the night. Focusing my long range search light, glowing eyes of bisons, rhinos and sambars were aplenty. The dense jungle was absent near the salt pit. Shrubs and bushes covers the land with a marshy setup near the khola which runs in between. Reddish light comes out from the eyes of gaurs, where sambars reflect greenish light points. A layer of tapetum lucidum behind the retina of these nocturnal animals make their eyes shine in darkness.
I woke up suddenly by a barking sound. Got sleepy by resting on the mehegony easy chair beside the window. Stood in front of the window saw a barking deer in the grassy lawn below as i focused my torch. It was about 2 a.m. when a baby rhino accompanied its mother near the salt pit. It was chasing the stationed herbivores in a playful manner. Both the bisons and the deer ran for cover due to the heavily built adult female rhino. But the baby got cheerful overestimating its own impact. The mother took notice of the situation but seemed calm. The full grown horn of this female rhino was about 10-12 inches in length and sharply bend at its tip, can easily pierce through the abdomen of any attacking carnivore. Usually, leopards are in plenty in these jungles. They often attack baby herbivores if not adults. The prowess of a leopard often makes it the primary predator in these jungles where tigers are scarcely noticed. An adult leopard can easily kill a rhino calf and hoist it on a branch of a tree for slow dinning. The mother rhino remains ever alert for such dangers.
By the end of night, the animals gathered outside moved into the thickets of the forest and i found myself cuddled into the bed fast asleep.

Day 2

The morning was a chilly one with drops of dew on the grassy lawn and leaves on treetops. Jaldapara is covered with a dense natural forest cover of sal, teak and simul trees. Few bisons appeared near the salt pit for a breakfast on a foggy morning. A barking deer came slowly from the dense into the water front. Tinkering their tail, she drank water and jumped into the forest opposite side. A pair of hornbills flew past over me and sat on a high branch of the century old simul tree at the lawn. Flock of parrots came to the salt pit screeching and nibbling particles by their beak. The open land near the salt pit now is crowded with peacocks and rhesus monkeys playfully having their shares.

Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das
Photo of Hollong: the river i adore by Somak Das


I was off for my breakfast in the dinning where hot puris were served with tasty vegetables, boiled eggs and bananas. After having the second cup of black tea since morning, i took my backpacks and moved on the waiting jeep. As i moved out off the core forest and drove past the torsha river bridge, i stopped and looked back to the dense greens beside the dark blue water.
Alluvial Savannah forms a major part of this area with more than one third of this forest is grass lands. The flood plain of torsha river plays a vital role towards the richness of these marshy and swampy grasslands. Thus making it an ideal habitat of the single horned rhinoceros.