Despite being born and brought up in Kolkata, it’s a wonder that it took me 3 decades to finally plan a trip to the mangrove kingdom of the Sunderbans.
For the uninitiated, the Sunderbans is the world’s largest delta and a vast stretch of small islands covered with mangrove trees and interspaced by estuarine creeks which drain into the Bay of Bengal. This deltaic forest has evolved into an ecosystem unlike any other in the country and provides sanctuary to a phenomenal amount of wildlife, including the fabled Royal Bengal Tiger
I had planned my trip with a travel agency called GoingWild (http://www.goingwild.in/contactus) managed by 3 enterprising young gentlemen. Their knowledge of Sunderbans would probably be the best amongst many experts who organize trips to these forests.
Our trip began at 5:30 AM on a Saturday when we were picked up from our respective homes and headed straight for Godkhali which serves as the starting point of the Sunderbans journey. After having a hot cup of tea we boarded our motorized launch which was set to become our vehicle and accommodation for the next few days.
We had a stopover at Sajnekhali Island to get our permits done and pick up our ace guide and naturalist Nityananda. Our next destination was Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower, where a tiger had been heard calling out the previous day. The Watch Tower is strategically located at the edge of the island overlooking two massive observation lines. Due to the extended weekend, there was a fair bit of crowd and the tiger was obviously nowhere to be seen! However we spent some good time photographing the skittish Loten’s Sun Bird on a nearby tree. Since nothing much was happening, we proceeded on our journey through the interlocking maze of creeks in order to search for some of the other denizens of the mangroves
Ever since we entered the Sunderbans we have been coming across Water Monitor Lizards of various proportions but we were yet to come across anything as the specimen that we suddenly spotted on one of the banks!…it was a Monitor Lizard of Gargantuan proportions feasting on a crab…
We spent some time clicking this monster and finally decided to leave and allow him to have his lunch peacefully. During the course of the day we managed to spot a number of bird species like the Collared Kingfisher, Ashy Wood Swallow, Intermediate Egrets, Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Brahminy Kite, White Bellied Sea Eagles, Changeable Hawk Eagle (dark morph) etc. some of them were lifers for me.A special mention of our cook who amidst all the wildlife frenzy around him was constantly dishing out mouthwatering food and copious amounts of hot beverages like tea, lemon tea and coffee. The afternoon was well spent with a trip to the confluence of seven rivers and a fleeting glimpse of a crocodile from a distance. Finally after a hectic day we decided to anchor our boat for the night. Our tour-guide Soumyajit and Nityananda shared some interesting stories from the Sunderbans. It’s overwhelming to learn about the harsh life of villagers in this region who live under a constant shadow of fear as any trip to collect honey / forest products leaves them vulnerable to attacks from the notorious man-eaters of Sunderbans.
Spending a night in a boat in the middle of a river was a thrilling experience to say the least and I found it pretty difficult to doze off as an imaginary tiger would repeatedly enterthe boat trying to pounce on me only to disappear the moment I would open my eyes!. Yes, your brain plays tricks, especially in a place with as evil a reputation as the Sunderbans!
The next morning we headed straight for Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower to check for any tiger movements but instead bumped into a Green Bamboo Pit Viper that was slithering across the metal fence. This was something I have never witnessed before and what a moment it was…The rest of the day was spent cruising through the rivers and enjoying the intermittent rains that lashed the mangroves. We got some close shots of a Brahminy Kite and a White Bellied Sea Eagle and also heard the Mangrove Whistler but the shy bird eluded us every time. The afternoon brought us to a place where a huge congregation of Whimbrels and Sand Pipers greeted us and on our way back we again spotted a crocodile but he only had his massive snout protruding out of the water’s surface. The night was again well spent on the river with some scotch whiskey and fried chicken!
On our last day we again tried our luck at the Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower for some time, only to be greeted by a few Wild Boars and Spotted Deer. Our guide, Nityananda suggested that we move a little ahead just to check the movements of the resident crocodile as it has a habit of basking in the sun in the early hours of the morning. As we followed his instructions his anticipation almost turned prophetic like Nostradamus! The massive reptile was slowly moving towards the bank as our boat was approaching and slithered onto the bank! It gave us a wide grin revealing an array of petrifying teeth as 3 of us furiously captured frames after frames. As the massive croc decided rest under a shady tree we also decided to move on…The rest of the afternoon we had a dry run of fortune and the only creatures that gave us something to cheer about was a Lesser Adjutant Stork and some Sand Pipers.
Finally we came back to Godkhali to board our car back home and bid adieu to our motor man, cook and guide for their wonderful support.
The Sunderbans is an enigma…a mystery of Mother Nature so deep and enthralling that it’s only fair that her secrets are revealed gradually to a visitor…Hopefully this marks the beginning of a lifelong association with the Mysterious Mangroves
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