Sundarban -kingfisher’s paradise

Sundarban gets its name from the tree sundari, which is one of the mangrove trees, that grows here. This place is a must visit for all nature lovers. The miles and miles of water and unending mangroves on either side are simply enchanting.

A view of the vast sundarban

I did the trip to this beautiful place through a small but efficient travel guide called the backpackers sundarban tour. The owner of this unit is very interesting. He was a small time movie actor and his documentary on the sundarban has found international acclaim. The 2-night trip costs Rs4500.

I started the trip from the office of the backpackers at Tottee lane my co travellers on this trip were 3 Germans. After tea and breakfast we started on stage 1 of the journey, which is a nerve wrecking, bone breaking, ear shattering (as most drivers in this part of the country are horny the amount of honking that they do is amazing,) rattle road trip to Gadkhali where the road ends and it takes around 4 hrs to reach.

Gadkhali has a small jetty from where you take a local boat to cross over to Gosaba an island which supplies all the requirements to the villages of Sundarbans.The trip to Gosaba from Gadkhali takes around 20 mts and believe it or not they charge one rupee per head for the boat ride. From here we take a cycle rickshaw to Pakhiraloy village. Which takes around 30mts. The ride takes you through small villages and lush green paddy fields.

One Rupee still buys you something worthwhile

We reached Pakhiraloy a village mostly dependent on fishing and honey collection. Pakhiraloy is also called the widows village as a lot of the women in this village have lost their husbands to the tigers of sundarbans .At the village we had lunch made and served by a local family and then went on a walk through the village. We saw the temple of Bonababi her brother and the tiger, in these villages the tiger is the most revered and feared animal. And the villagers believe that only Bonababi can control it. People of all religion worship this goddess before venturing out to fish or collect honey. The villagers believe that the tiger takes the human form and is known as Dhakin ray.

Eco ride to Gosaba

Lush green paddy fields

A village House

Bonababi her brother and the tiger

We went on a local boat to the eco village that is under construction and on the 2 hr. journey we spotted 6 different Types of kingfishers and that is when you realize why sundarban is called a kingfisher’s paradise. I feel Mr. Mallaya should shift base from Bangalore to the Sundarban’s. As it was low tide when we reached the eco village we had to walk across in the wet clay that in some places rose up to our knees.

6 of the 8 Kingfishers found here.L to R white breasted,Common,Pied,Collared,Black caped & Brown winged. The missing ones are the stork billed and Ruddy kingfishers

low tide mud walk

Walking to the shore after dropping anchor

We stayed for dinner at the village and then went to the bigger boat called Emar.This was our home for the next two nights. It was an experience sleeping on the boat. Sleep came easy as your mind was soothed by the brilliant star studded sky and the body relaxed by the cool breeze and the gentle rocking of the boat and in no time you were in dreamland.

Our home for 2 Nights

We started the next day to the forest office to get permission to go into the tiger reserve. After the requisite permissions were obtained and the official guide Nityanand joined us we were off for a days journey into the never-ending mangrove forests. We saw lots of birds, water monitor lizards and estuarine crocodiles but Dhakkin ray was elusive as usual.

Water Monitor

SALT WATER CROCODILEor ESTUARINE CROCODILE

Osprey

lesser adjutant stork

In the evening on the way back we caught the local fisherman casting their nets hoping to catch supper along the banks .it was a treat to see them throwing the net. Also one can find the women of the village dragging a special net in the water to catch tiger prawns. The crocodiles often attack these women. Like most of the tigers of the sundarbans these crocodiles are also man-eaters.

Fishing for supper

I too want Supper

Who is bothered about crocodiles i need my tiger prawn

Hopefully crocodiles don’t like old meat. me fishing for tiger prawn

We prefer the boat to look for supper

We spent the night on the boat after dinner at the eco village. This village is still recovering from the effects of the super cyclone aila that struck here in 2009. Even after 3 years one can find the scars left behind by it both on the landscape and the peoples mind.