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.
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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.
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