Well, I’m back in Kaziranga! It’s great to be back in India, one of my favorite countries on Earth.

The adventure began almost immediately. Our first rhino encounter had the animal charging at us. I must admit that it took a couple of days to get used to this again. Our new jeep has roll bars, but no bars on the “cage” in the back where I work from, so psychologically it was a bit uncomfortable at first.

Although the forest guards here are incredibly dedicated and work 24/7 (I have never seen them sleep!), soon after I arrived, poachers killed another adult rhino. This is a tough park to guard, sandwiched between the Brahmaputra River on one side and a major roadway on the other, giving lots of access. There are a lot of rhinos within view of the road, so it’s not much of a challenge for poachers to scramble away with their prize. Also, the grasses are at their tallest this time of year, just before they’re burned back to keep the forest from encroaching. The 10- to15-foot elephant grass makes it easy to hide.