Sunderbans.
The original, the most beautiful, wild, rich with the culture and the home of the only habitual man-eater – Sunderban. Forget any sort of sighting in this place, think you to be very lucky on seeing a deer. You should come here mainly to experience the mangrove forests and enjoy the leisurely boat ride on lonely channels! Relax, let the mangroves pass by your, listen to the interesting and terrible stories of the people here. The threat to the life here, and the guts of the people amazes all minds. Still, the love of their jungle stops them from waging war against the real ruler of the jungle. Sighting the tiger here is very tough indeed! One tiger is seen at an average every month by tourists. However it is different for local fishermen, prawn collectors and honey gatherers. Last year there were 80 incidents of tiger attack!!
As we were passing by the mangroves, another group from Durgash Travels joined us in our cruise. Any sort of sighting seemed impossible. Other than the egrets, no animal could be seen. We turned to beauty of the forest instead.
Hurrah!! The other boat waves the flag a tiger is spotted. The first this month!. Steer the boat, fast! fast! fast! But where is the tiger. I was lying on the slanting deck of the boat. I had forgotten my camera. As I scan the area, the guy besides me says something to me in Bengali. I follow his finger, and there it is. The Royal Bengal tiger! Fully grown male, approx 9-feet long! I start my camera, as the tiger glares at my eyes! The white manes making the creature look wild and ferocious. I try to focus my camera onto its huge body, but alas, before I focused, I saw the huge mask suddenly stand up and get lost into the dense tiger palm (Hental) forest. There it walks in the forest, no picture can be taken, the lord returns to his throne in the jungle.
An amazing sighting I must say, I cannot express my joy. Probably Bono-Bibi, the tiger goddess made the creature come to us. This was the biggest tiger I had ever seen, alas, no pictures. I cannot write all the stories of the jungle in this place, but one of our guide is a must tell..... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
One of our guides, Mr Niranjan Raptan, was local person, in a family of honey collectors. He was 16 years old, when he went to the forest with his uncle. As he was collecting honey the sight of the tiger scared him. His uncle threw himself onto Mr. Niranjan as the tiger pounced on him. The uncle got deeply wounded, but he did not budge. Mr. Niranjan was under the four legs of the tiger! He put his finger into the tiger’s eyes. In a reaction, the tiger scratched his hand. Mr. Niranjan lived but the uncle succumbed to his wounds.
In night a tribal dance group from local villages entertained with song and dance.
Dobanki watchtower
Spotted doves
The islands during low tide
More than 60% of the land area gets submerged daily during high tides!
Stilt roots of Garjam tree, a variety of Mangrove trees
One more mangrove tree
Gliding along the water channels
Spotted owlets in front of our room
The star of the "Tribal Dance Show". The flute player
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