Amazing SUNDARBANS

"India has 4263 sq.km of mangrove forests out of which 2585 km is under   Project Tiger. On the year 1878 Sundarban was declared as protected forest area. Sundarban was declared as Reserve forest in the year 1928. One of the nine Tiger reserves declared under the project Tiger Scheme in the year 1973. A part of the Tiger Reserve was notified as the Sajnekhali Wildlife Santuary having an area of 362.33 sq. km. in the year 1976. The core area of the Tiger Reserve was declared as the Sundarban National Park is 1330.10 sq. km. The National Park area was inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site in the year 1987. The Tiger Reserve along with adjoining forest areas and human habitations were declared as Sundarban Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve was recognized as a Global Biosphere Reserve in 2001. 1699.62 sq. km. of the Tiger Reserve was declared as Critical Tiger Habitat in the year 2007. The Sunderbans   not only harbor the   world's largest single population of wild tigers , but are also the only   mangrove tiger land .   Sunderban tigers   are good swimmers, eat fish and crab and have earned the dubious sobriquet of "man-eater". The high tropical heat and humidity, saline environment, soft mud floor covered with thick vegetation makes for an inhospitable environment for tigers resulting in low natality and high infant mortality rates. However, they have shown remarkable adaptability and it has been said that if and when tigers become extinct, the Sunderbans would be their last bastion. Sunderbans is one of the most dynamic and productive ecosystems of nature. The water in the creeks changes the direction of flow four times in 24 hours resulting in average tidal height variation of between 5 to 8 meters.  Such activity garners huge recycling of food material resulting in rich marine, insect and avifauna. Rock bees ( Apis doosata )travel all the way from the Himalayas to produce top quality honey from the nectar of mangrove flowers. The yield of edible fish, crabs and tiger prawn is also very high and contributes to the local economy."

Sundarbans: His highness

Its one of my most prayed place I wished to visit. This time I am taking this opportunity to express few of my experience as well as some more information for those willing to visit,worlds only place where you find the giant cats swim for hunting. Just manage four to five days leave and head for the worlds largest mangrove jungle. If you are lucky you might be one of the few people who managed to have a glimpse of the lord of the jungle in Sundarbans. For others there are lot many things nature has to offer. Its a experience to sail inside the core area of the dense forest of shorter size mangroves with full of wild life and various beautiful birds of numerous colors.

Sundarbans: Map of Indian Sundarbans

We planned for three night four days. There are very few choices in terms of hotels to stay. Only one lodge is present at the border of Sundarbans, in fact inside one of the islands marked as jungle area and devoid of any human occupancy. Its Sajnekhali tourist lodge, named after the island its situated and operated by Govt of WB.
Best time to visit would be around the year except rainy season.

We started our journey from Durgapur early in the morning and reached Dharmatala bus stop (Kolkata) by 9 am. From Dharmatala, the nearest place to Sundarbans where you can reach by road is Gosaba, commonly known as Godkhali. Cheapest mode of travelling is by train from Sealdah to Canning (south most station of WB). From there, share auto runs upto Godkhali. If you are travelling by this way it will take nearly 2n half to 3hrs. Most convenient way of travelling is by car, but for that, you might caught up in a big spent if you try to book it from any travel agent at Kolkata. We managed to book a Bolero from Godkhali. It took nearly 3hrs to take us from Dharmatala to Godkhali at an expence of 1800 only. I booked the car by phone and by mistake owner of the car send it one day prior. To my utter surprise I could able to solve the matter without any extra penny and driver with the car stayed one day at Kolkata. By the way we left Dharmatala around 9:15 am and reached a small halt at a roadside village for some "pet puja". Driver of our car was a boy of 18 years old and was driving like a fighter pilot who has been ordered to reach immediately from US to Japan at any cost. Thanks to him we managed our way through dusty villages of Bengal  and able to reach Godkhali by 1pm.

 Sundarbans: On the way to Gosaba. Locals use normal and mostly self modified auto rickshaw for transportation.

Sundarbans: These kind of home made auto rickshaws are made using old motorbike engine and cycle van. All the cases driver dont have licenses and are ran like a aircraft.

Sundarbans: Our boat waiting for us at the Godkhali Ghat. 

Sundarbans: At last we are going to sail inside river channels of the great Sundarban delta.

Accidentally our first day and CM Mamta Banerjee's last day stay at the lodge,coincides. We were excited to see her and simultaneously praying to god if she had extend her stay we will not be allowed to enter and our plan might fail. On the way we saw some of the state ministers with their convoy. For their convenience the muddy road were soaked by water to handle dust problem. By the way we never got a glimpse of CM and later on find ourselves lucky for that as nobody was there to check our movement.

Sundarbans: Tractor and all were brought in the parts of islands visited by PM. People never saw such a machine working on their fields. You can imagine our leaders make mockery of us by bringing tractors on fields, which was recently flooded by sea water by a cyclone named "Aila" and are not fertile any more.


Sundarbans: Eager to reach on land of Majestic animals


Sundarbans: Front gate of Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge


Sundarbans: Approaching towards the lodge.

Sundarbans: Front view of Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge (our place to stay)

Sundarbans: In front of the stairs in Bengali it is written that "Sundarban is not only beautiful (in Bengali "Sundar") but full of mystry".


Sundarbans: Corridor situated at one side of staying area

Sundarbans: waiting for food at dining hall of our lodge.

Manager of Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge helped us to book a motor boat which took us from Godkhali and stayed with us for rest of our stay. It is like a car in the river delta as there are no roadways and people used to have their personal boats for marketing and evening drive. If you are not rich enough you will find ferry boats sailing from ghats to ghats, just like bus running between bus stops carrying people to their destinations. Apart from that there were lots of large motor barges used to carry necessary goods to the markets, just like truck or lorry. In short we were moving between  different kind and sizes of boats used for various purposes. We board our boat at about 1:30 pm and headed towards our lodge  which was nearly 2 hrs sailing distance. As we were moving through zigzag river channels the atmosphere seems to be mystifying and increasingly thrilling. On the way we find many home made dry docks on the bank of the river where boats were seen as if they are flying like in some of the English movies. When I was little busy with my camera to caught some of the river side livlihood, suddenly a full size Tracktor emerges from horison and slowly sailing towards us. It was brought from nearby village for welcoming recently visited CM and was on its way back. Its an amazing as well as horrifying reality of most of our remote villages that such kind of machine was brought just to beautifying our leaders and can not be provided to the needful farmers.

One of the most lovely scene I could never forget was along the river bank little children were heading towards their school and those who had already reached, busy doing some nuisance with the river water. Its really a picture with caption "school chale hum".

We had already arranged our lunch at the lodge and as obvious at about 3pm getting impatience to reach there. I was the planner and organizer of the trip and was very much worried about the quality of the lodge, people over there and food to be served. Our lodge was situated at jungle side of the huge river named Matla, on the other side was one island having few well populated villages. Royal Bengal  used to swim across these river channels (some times 2-3 km wide) and attack house hold animals and even humans specially children. It has been observed that big cats used to drag their kills through knife sharp pneumataphores so that it get prepared before eating. Heading towards Sajnekhali at one turn we saw a big hoarding welcoming us to the land of Royals. After few more minuets sailing, we saw another board, again with a Royals photo alongside a caption, "you are being watched". On either side of the board two entry gates were there. One of our lodge and another one belongs to a museum situated alongside. Its a dream came true as we touch Sundarbans soil. We were so exited and happy that everyboady started jumping like a child. The lodge seems to be pretty beautiful and well maintained. Surrounding area was full of small sizes monkeys, always ready to beg and even snatch whatever edible. Reaching there we came to meet with very gentle lodge manager. From the word go he was eager to help us with the trip plan and what not. Getting the rooms keys triggers our hunger at a critical stage and drive us to quickly left the luggage to our rooms and gather at the dining. First lunch served was excellent in taste and quantity. We were so tired that even Sundarban was not able to stop us from an afternoon siesta.

Sundarbans: Sajnekhali Ghat viewed from inside the lodge premises.

 Sundarbans: staying area side view from the watch tower

Sundarbans: Solar panel used for electricity generation.

 Sundarbans: Watch tower at our Lodge. This watch tower kept open for tourists (not staying  here) in the day time. In the night time because of risk involved in coming out of staying area, it is upon you to talk to manager and went up the tower like a dare devil.

Sundarbans: Youngest member of our group, more interested in monkeys than anything else

At the falling sunlight we decided to explore our lodge. Its ground floor was build of cement, holding a wooden first floor on top of it. All the rooms for guests were situated at first floor. One side of the first floor was managers quarter. Our lodge was surrounded by outside net made up of bamboo pillar with thick nilon net and an inside net seems to be very recently built with iron pillars and thick iron nets. It was very frightened to visualized the past days in the lodge when the inside pillars were not there. First floor was surrounded by a 4-5 feet wooden baranda, one end of it merges to a wooden staircase near to managers quarter. This part of the first floor was separated from the guests by a wooden gate made on the baranda. At the opposite end corner of the baranda situated managers office and reception. In between managers quarter and office there were series of non ac double bedded rooms. Managers quarter was facing the deep jungle. First room from that side was booked for govt employed photographers who looks for wield life and photograph them. Next two room were given to us. There were nobody without us in the lodge as people try to avoid booking near to PMs visiting days. Nearest room to managers office was a big dining room capable to accommodate 25 to 30 person at a time. Opposite  to the dining room there was kitchen which was separate small building build on top of concrete pillars and connected by a small bridge with the baranda. All the doors and windows of kitchen and dining room were covered with iron nets to control the ever active monkeys. Turning left at managers office there was main entrance of the lodge which. A 10-15 wooden stairs consists of main entrances staircase. Inside the fencing surrounding the premises was a cemented footpath which extends upto the museum. At the far corner of the area beside managers quarter, there was a watch tower of nearly a 3story building height. For the rest of our stay which was going to be the place for our early evening stay in waiting for something out heard the jungle noise.

Sundarbans: Sajnekhali Tourist lodge ghat.

Sundarbans: Every where you could find pictures of the royal bengal. This hording is made just outside the lodge ghat.

Sundarbans: Monkeys sneaking through the kitchen window for any chance of stealing food

Sundarbans: Stairs of our lodge

Sundarbans: At the evening we went up to the watch tower and was ecstatic to see a small group of dears grazing and drinking water at a pond made just outside the lodge premises. It was a thrilling experience to get welcomed by the inhabitants of Sundarbans. When night falls the herd lost inside the jungle.

Sundarbans: At the very first day just outside the lodge premises a heard of dears came to drink water from a big pond made nearby. They were accompanied by a group of monkeys.

Sundarbans: It is a very unusual scene to see a monkey running after a dear and Bellevue me that little fellow was creating very peculiarly loud noise.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

Sundarbans: Some few snaps of the dears.

We took a break and come down to have some tea. After taking permission to went outside of our room and move up the watch tower took a while. 10 feet high fencing appears a joke to a 200 kg tiger. For obvious reasons we were cautioned and told to stay alert specially when outside after sun set. It was a unutterable experience to be inside the jungle with sounds of different insects mix with calling of different birds and at some intervals sounds of some unknown creature seems to be of deer. Till abut 8 O clock in the evening we could able to sit and then forced to move by a generator, creating such huge sound that anything outside was hardly audible. In the morning of the same day PM left the lodge and till last night all the electrical appliances were running at their full swing giving full load to the solar charged batteries which was the main source of electricity. We came to know that for that very reason battery powered electric supply trips and the sound machine came into picture.

By the way our main goal was to find royal Bengal Tiger in the jungle so we took early dinner and went to bed early. Next day at 7 am we board our boat. While planning to cover the whole delta in our small duration of three days, it was came to our notice that tourists are allowed to roam around a portion of the jungle outside "core area". More over the boats sailing over the rivers follow a strict instructions of not to go inside relatively small river channels for safety reasons. Also except some defined spots, no tourists are allowed to off-board. Forests guard barges could be found anchored at various places for any mishap or violation of any instructions. Only 1/3 rd of the whole Sundarban falls under Indian territory. It is subdivided into three parts one is Core area (needs special permission to enter, generally experts from Nat Geo or Discovery etc. were allowed) and the outside core area is subdivided into two parts east and west. These three zones are known by the watch towers they have.

1st day sailing inside Sundarbans: On the very first day we went for the far south watch tower "Netidhopani",   situated at the border of the core area. It was approx 2hrs of sailing distance from our lodge. The plan was such that we reach Netidhopani by 1:00 pm, have our lunch there and come back. The extra time we have as a result of early morning start will be used to reach the destination through smaller streams where big noisy launches never enters. This could give us a good chance to see nature and animals, generally runs away from human activity. Second day we planned for the farthest watch tower, "Burir Dapri" situated at India-Bangladesh border. As it was 3n half hour of normal sailing distance we need to start early morning. We started 6:00 am sharp from lodge and naturally had to skip our complementary break fast. We took BF on the boat and went on towards our destination. In contrary to the other days sailing through the jungle this journey was mostly through locality or more precisely through rivers passing through islands inhabited by humans. It  was a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of livelihoods solely dependent on rivers. This seems to be watching real life drama with puffed rice (commonly khown as "MURI") and pakora supplementating the pop corn. On our last day at Sundarmans we decided to went to the nearest watch tower "Dobanki" through   a longer way. To save time, in the morning we board our boat with luggage so that we can sail back to Godkhali ghat and ultimately to the car which took us to Kolkata.

Sundarbans: Indian monitor lizard, commonly known as "Gosap".

Sundarbans: Lets count the colors of birds seen in Sundarbans. This is "Little Egret" whose scientific name is  "Egretta garzetta".

Sundarbans: Sundarban common turtle inside water. Have you been able to see clearly, it if not...


Sundarbans: This is the one.

Sundarbans: Now again a common bird of very very common color.

Sundarbans: This was a close encounter with the royal bengal tiger. This are called pug marks. You can see the marks comes outside the river and went inside the jungle. This is the only place where a creature of cat family swims across huge rivers for hunting. 

you can expect many more beautiful pictures in this post.....