Diphlu Lodge

Sitting on the banks of the picturesque Diphlu River, which winds its way through the Kaziranga National Park, Diphlu Lodge enjoys a beautiful location surrounded by unspoilt wilderness. The lodge’s friendly staff include expert naturalists who will make sure you enjoy the best wildlife experience possible.

Accommodation at Diphlu Lodge is comfortable and luxurious, spread across 8 detached and 4 semi-detached cottages built from natural materials like bamboo and wood and topped with thatched roofs to blend in with the forest surroundings. Cottages sleep two, feature spacious seating areas and writing desks, and are decorated in a tasteful, warm style with a colour palette of dark reds and browns. Each of the freestanding cottages features large glass doors opening onto a private veranda. The cottages sit on stilts to keep them safe during the monsoon, which floods the park every year.

Delicious north Indian, Assamese and Continental cuisine is served up at Diphlu’s restaurant, which uses fresh, locally produced ingredients where possible and even grows its own rice, mustard and vegetables. The lodge also has a well-stocked bar, which is a welcoming place to relax with a drink at the end of the day and gaze out over Kaziranga.

The lodge’s Konyak Shop is a great place to pick up a souvenir, with an in-house team of weavers and craftsmen producing handicrafts, which are on sale alongside artefacts handpicked from local villages. There is a raised, communal seating area called the Machan, where you can sit, dine, and look for wildlife and birds on the banks of the Diphlu River beneath you. The Machan is decorated with one-off curios and artefacts from regional cultures and is a great place to sit and swap stories with your fellow travellers, as well as to dine al fresco.

Diphlu Lodge’s location overlooking Kaziranga National Park means that it offers unrivalled wildlife viewing opportunities, both on land and by boat. A river cruise down the Brahmaputra will give you the chance to see endangered Ganges River dolphins, while on game drives into the park you’ll meet members of the world’s largest population of Indian rhinoceros and Asian elephant. There are also Bengal tigers, capped langur monkeys, hoolock gibbons and sloth bears, among many others. As well as wildlife spotting there are numerous cultural activities on offer. You can meet local people from the Bodo, Mising and Karbi tribes on a trip to their villages, and also visit a nearby tea garden to see how famous Assam tea is grown, plucked and processed – and, of course, how it tastes.