Sundarbans Reserve Forest: Day 2 at the largest continuous mangrove forest in the world

 

                                                 Sundarbans Reserve Forest

Continued from my last post Sundarbans Reserve Forest: the largest continuous mangrove forest in the world

Day 2: We checked out of our hotel at 8 in the morning and got into our launch for our 2^nd and last day at Sundarbans (yes, a very short trip:) Breakfast was prepared and served in the launch. Hot luchis (fried refined flour bread), aloo sabji (potato curry with gravy), and tea was the menu, and exactly what we needed to start the day with :)

Our first stop was Sajnekhali and this is the place where a permit is obtained to get into the reserve forest area. Sajnekhali has watch towers which provides  a good view of the mangrove forest a. We saw monkeys and river terrapins during our stop here. With the permit done, our launch ride continued through the waterways and it was evident that we were in the reserve forest area now. Our next halt was Dobanki where we walked through an enclosure and got an amazing view of the beautiful mangrove forest. From Dobanki, our launch took us even more into the interiors of the reserve forest, and into some of the narrowest channels and waterways in Peerkhali. Much to the delight of my nephew, this was his first visit to Sundarbans and his first experience of sighting a crocodile outside of a zoo, we finally saw a crocodile, deer, and pug marks! Yes, pug marks ( this time I was not that lucky:( could not sight a tiger and had to be content with pug marks this time)

Bird activity was remarkably low because of the high tide; we could not see any birds, other than a few sandpipers and egrets. Rest of the trip was generally a leisurely ride. We were happy to just be, and enjoy the natural and peaceful surroundings over another fresh and tasty lunch:)

Our trip ended with another brilliant sunset. There is nothing like a sunset amidst mangroves and water bodies, and of course a hot cup of tea. Life is good:)

Overall, it was a short and enjoyable trip with the family amidst natural surroundings.

A few recommendations from my experience of Sundarbans:

1. It is best to do Sundarbans by reserving a launch if you are a big group of 10-15. The experience is much better this way. You can customise everything and get the best out of your Sundarbans trip.

2. The best time to visit Sundarbans is from Jan-March. It is really nice then.

3. One caution though, if you have elderly people travelling with you, please let the travel agency know in advance so that they can provide necessary support to help the elderly in and out of the launch. It is a bit uncomfortable for people who have knee or joint problems to navigate their way into and out of the launch.

Here are some pictures from our Day 2.

                                                                                         These are know as tiger palms since these provide a great camouflage for tigers because of the colour

    Crocodile basking under the Sun, and ready to grab anything! Thankfully the deer was far away:)

      The picture above and on the right of River Terrapin is courtesy Soma Jha.

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    Well, yes, these are pug marks...not so clear but that is all we could get!

    An old building near the resort we stayed in                      This old, non-functional church caught our                                                                                                                             eyes 

                                       

Sundarbans Reserve Forest: The largest continuous mangrove forest in the world

                                   Sundarbans Reserve Forest West Bengal, India

Finally went out for a short trip with the family after almost two years! What a relief to be able to start travelling again:)

We chose Sundarbans because of the short time it takes to reach Sundarbans from Kolkata. It was not my first visit but i like visiting Sundarbans anyway:). If you are in Kolkata, Sundarbans must be in your list of places to visit, especially if you like nature. It will take you approx. three hours by road from Kolkata to reach the closest point from where the launch journey to Sundarbans begins.

Day 1: We started around 9.30 am, and by the time we got  dropped off at Godkhali, it was almost 12.30 pm. 

Godkhali is one of the points from where you can get into a launch that will take you into the reserve forest. You can also reach Sundarbans from Canning. For us, Godkhali was the better option. Unlike any other safari, this one is entirely through waterways and on the boat, and that is one big difference which makes it such a unique experience. During the safari, there are points where you can get off the launch to view the jungles from the watch towers, and who knows if you are lucky spot a tiger as well:).

Within about 30 min of boarding we were provided with lunch. The meal was prepared in the boat itself. It was a simple and tasty meal of rice, dal (lentils), sabji (mixed veg gravy), sweet chutney, sweets, and fish /chicken for non-vegetarians. It was so nice to have freshly prepared meal while on board and enjoying the surroundings.

Our resort was a good three hours away (in an area by the name of  Pakhiralaya). The entire ride to the resort was so therapeutic. Water bodies are great stress busters, and there is something so beautiful about the mangrove forest. We saw an amazing sunset, experienced the beautiful evening and night fall at Sundarbans from the boat. We did not see any animals or birds since it was a bit late, but overall, it was such a beautiful experience. 

It was late in the evening by the time we got off the boat and to our resort. After refreshing ourselves we went to watch a dance show that the resort had organised, performed by the tribal women. It was a good way to get familiar with the culture of Sundarbans. To add to the niceness of the evening, the resort served us hot coffee/tea and snacks as well, all the while during the performance :)

We ended the day with another tasty dinner and feeling excited about experiencing more of Sundarbans the next day:)

 Sharing pictures from the day 1 here. I will continue with the day two at Sundarbans in my next post.

Our journey through the mangroves and the amazing sun set. 

Below is a short video of the general ambience of the evening/nightfall from the boat. We could hear the sounds of Kirtan from nearby villages.This video unfortunately has sounds of people talking as well, and I could not edit those sounds. This video is just to give you an idea of the ambience and serene surroundings.

The picture above is of  the resort we stayed in, and the right picture is of the tribal dance performance.

In the meanwhile, you may want to check out my other posts on Sundarbans below:

Legend of Bon Bibi 

Birds in Sundarbans 

Sundarbans once again:) 

Sundarbans West Bengal

Sundarbans in West Bengal,India