Mangrove Forest
A while back I visited Sundarbans for a few days. It's one of the largest mangrove forest reserves, but most of it is closed to public. Despite the dangers for both humans and animals, there are local villages that thrive on tourism and forest resources.
Since it was an unplanned trip I didn't bring my digital SLR camera and had to make do with the phone camera. The first thing I learned was that travelling in a car is awful sometimes. Especially when you're on the sunny side. We started from Kolkata and reached the port in a few hours, it was enough time to be well roasted. But as every good story starts, this one too starts with a well roasted person getting on a boat.
The boatmen consider the bow of a boat sacred. They tie a red cloth on it, and each time before they embark on a journey they have a ritual of praying to a goddess for safe travels. Since it's considered the seat of a goddess it's improper to put your feet on it, so every time we climbed on or got off we took care to mind our step.
The tourist boat was well equipped with all the comforts one could want afloat, along with a guide. Tourist guide by day and a private teacher by evening. Many of the people there had several occupations in order to help them earn enough money. Keeping animals wasn't a better deal since with all the salt water they didn't have lush grass for fodder.
He told us tales about how a few times tigers or deer would swim across the islands and end up at the villages. After these incidents there were fences put up on the island across the village, so that animals wouldn't end up swimming to the other side. When an animal would end up at a village, the villagers would inform the forest officers who would then set up a perimeter, and they capture the animal after shooting it with a tranquillizer. They would then take it back and release it into its island.
First sighting : monkeys.
If you visit Sundarbans you should plan to stay a long while if you want to actually see animals. Since the boat travels through the rivers you only see the shores. So you have to be very patient or very lucky to get a good sighting.
Conveniently some boats also camp overnight, so you can leave early in the morning to look for animals. Visitor time only lasts till 4 pm though. What you do see, is an abundance of monkeys and birds. If you have a good eye you'll be able to spot different types of birds, mostly kingfishers. The boatmen and tourist guides have developed a keen eye over the years. They even spotted a monitor lizard which was camouflaged on a tree.
There are watch towers, which are open to tourists, and have fresh water lakes built nearby for animals and parts of forest cleared out. When an animal crosses to drink water one can see it.
We happened to witness a small deer coming to drink water, but then some of the tourists got so excited that they screamed out to their companions. When that happened the deer fled from the noise.
Tip: Noise chases away animals.
Meet Shycake. It's wary in it's approach but will love you unconditionally once it gets to smell you. Afterwards every time it sees you it will howl at you and wag its thick tail. Might run and tackle you too.
After a full day over water we spent the night at a resort in the village.
If you wish to have a trip where you can make better bonds with people, this would be the place. There is bad phone network in the village which makes up a good excuse to take long walks along the river side. It's best to keep a light handy in the dark though. If you take a fall you'll go straight to the mangrove roots, and those are pretty sharp. For me the best part was meeting tons of dogs. They were right outside our room and ever so happy to cuddle.
While I was trying not to trample flowers while taking pictures of the same, I met two village ladies who were looking at me and talking in Bangla. I didn't really know what to do so I started showing them photos of flowers. They talked in Bangla and I responded in Hindi. We didn't understand each other but a smile happens to be a universal language.
It really was a treat to be surrounded with nature and loving animals. Friendship can be found at every turn.
On the second day we sighted birds and deer and even a boar! A neighbour tourist boat had glimpsed a tiger, but by the time we got there it had escaped deep into the forest. Just ahead, on the island where the tiger was, we saw a boar dive straight into the cold waters and swim to the other side. We assumed it was trying to escape any chance of being hunted by the predator.
By the way, swimming boars are the cutest thing on earth. Sundarbans is more a hub for a variety of birds than spotting animals, though it is most famous for tigers. At every curve of the river you could count a new species of bird. Some are migratory but most are of the local habitat.
I saw many photographers desperate to get a shot of these birds.
In the evening I had the fortunate chance to interact with the people from the other tourist boat. It was a couple who were there for the weekend travelling with their in-laws. The couple had come for their second visit to Sundarbans. The lady I met told me that they felt really connected with all the peace of nature, and she was also looking forward to visiting Sundarbans again. They had loved the hospitality and the people they met, and I would say the same.
The village may be lacking in technology but that's also a charm that's hard to be found these days. It's good for the soul to take long unplanned walks, and hear birds whistling the sweetest song you have ever heard.
Come, take a walk.
For more pictures please check these links: