Well we made it! And, it’s been kind of a tough trip. My assistant Jonathan Fleming and I flew into Delhi – got through customs with our 26 bags with no problems. Whew. After grabbing a couple of hours’ sleep, we headed to the domestic airport for our flight to Guwahati, in Assam, jumped off that plane and drove five hours to Kaziranga.

Working on stories in national parks abroad often require many special permits that take months to obtain. So I spent my first few days meeting with the Kaziranga National Park director and other officials getting final permissions and trying to learn whatever I could from them about the area and the wildlife. We also drove around the park, getting to know the lay of the land.

Here I go again. I haven’t been home much, went from India to Costa Rica to the office at National Geographic to edit and lay out my snow leopard story—and now, back to India.

This is the first time in my career that I get to stay in a lodge for the whole trip—a place with a bathroom, occasional electricity, and a bed! Even though I’m not packing camping gear, I still have 23 bags—and have five that I left there in July.