The cottages stand on stilts beside the Diphlu river, and the park is on the other bank. There is no fence between the lodge and Kaziranga. The owners chose not to interrupt the animal corridor, so the naturalists scan the far bank from the verandah before breakfast.
The cottages
Twelve of them, in bamboo and thatch on the pattern of a Mishing tribal house. Four face the river and eight face the paddy. All are much the same size, all are air-conditioned, and each sleeps two. A folding glass wall opens onto a verandah with cane chairs.
The plan
From November to the end of April the lodge sells one plan only, and it carries the whole day. Three meals, two jeep drives into Kaziranga, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, park entry and camera fees, and one of the lodge's own naturalists in the vehicle. Most of the naturalists grew up in the villages around the park. A country boat on the Brahmaputra looking for Gangetic dolphins can stand in for a day's drives. Elephant safaris are run by the forest department and sold at the counter the evening before, so the lodge will try and cannot promise.
The park
Kaziranga is 884 square kilometres of wetland and tall grass between the Brahmaputra and the Karbi Anglong hills. It holds the largest population of one-horned rhino in the world, with wild water buffalo, swamp deer and one of the highest tiger densities recorded anywhere. More than 400 bird species have been counted.
The rest of it
The Machan is the common room, raised above the river, with a bar on the larger verandah and breakfast on the smaller one over the farm. Bamboo walkways cross the lodge's own paddy to reach the cottages. There is a small spa, a sit-out by the pond, and a shop selling the work of the lodge's own weavers. The lodge was built in 2008 by the Phookan family on the site of a 1970s ecotourism camp.
Getting there
The lodge sits on National Highway 37 near Bagori, 220 kilometres east of Guwahati. Guwahati airport is about four hours by road, Jorhat two and a half, Tezpur one. Drop-in visitors are not allowed.
