Sunday, November 21, 2021

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:





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