Sundarbans 1-5 October 2014


Sundarbans is a majestic place that I feel one must visit at least once in their life time. It is very different from all the jungles I have visited till now. Two major differences were that it was not accessible by jeep but rather by boat and that the tide level mattered more than the light. The tide in a six hour period varies by almost two meters.

We landed in Kolkata airport to find a queue of 50 people waiting for prepaid cabs in the airport , after a thirty minute wait we decided to try our luck outside. After three failed attempts to hail a cab we finally managed to get a cab. It took us an hour and a half to reach our hotel as we had to travel  through the jam packed roads of Kolkata. On our way to the hotel we saw many different sights.

 2 October 2014

A group of 14 including three guides set of from Kolkata airport in a Force Tempo  traveller at 9 o'clock and in three hours we reached the Godkhali Port. There we got onto a boat and spent the entire day cruising in the Sundarbans. The first bird we saw on the banks was the Pacific Golden Plover. From Godkhali we crossed Vidya river and then went into the Durgagwani canal. During this time we ate lunch on the boat which was  prepared on the boat .We then went to Sajnekhali watch tower cum Tiger Reserve to get a permit. While roaming the place we heard a splash and saw a glass bottle had been thrown into the pond by a few drunk people who were then arrested. At about six we made our way to Sunderban  jungle camp where we would be staying for the duration of our tour.

 3 October 2014

The next morning I woke up at about six o'clock as we had to be on the boat by seven and had to eat breakfast before leaving. We left on time and went to Sajnekhali so that we could get a new permit as we had switched boats due to the previous ones inability to reverse. We went to Dobanki Tiger Reserve were we went up to the canopy walk are but due to shortage of time we did not do. We were back at jungle camp by 5:30 and at seven we went to the dining area to watch a play about bonbibi and Dakkhin Rai. The play was done with a lot of enthusiasm by  the locals of the area, though the play was in Bengali one could  understand what they ment through their actions.  

4 October 2014

My day began at six o'clock again as we set of at seven to go to Dobanki camp  and reached by about ten . We were the first visitors to the area. We slowly made are way to the canopy area where we saw a few birds .  Soon we were back on to the boat and the path we followed was from Dobanki we went to Shoragazikali then Sundarkali then Bonabibi Bharani canal and finally Sugankhali river from which we went to our camp. It was a slightly cooler day and this gave me the ability to sit in the non shaded region of the boat. That evening our guide and tour manager Nikhil Bhopale told us about how to identify birds easily what characteristics to look for and what a bird  really is (feathered biped).

5 October 2014

The next morning there was a five o'clock walk through the village which I opted out of instead I went for a later walk which was quite interesting . We saw a few birds and a Rat snake. We are back to the camp by nine thirty as we had to freshen up and eat lunch and get on to our boat back to Godkhali port so that we would head back to Kolkata. Mid way back to Kolkata our Tempo traveller broke down. This was at about three and at about four we organised a car for seven of us as we had to reach the airport by six. We managed to reached the airport by 6:30 and soon we were on our way back to home sweet home.


My visit to Sundarbans was quite interesting, I certainly learnt a lot. Our guide told us a lot about the area, the fact we did not see  a tiger was not a surprise to him as the tigers in Sundarbans are quite elusive and  even though fifty people on average are killed by tigers they do not kill on purpose and only do this  because they are forced to for their survival.

A list of birds we saw on the trip along with what day we saw it .

Name Date
Pacific Golden Plover		 02-10-2014
Common Sandpiper 02-10-2014
Black Bittern 02-10-2014
Spotted Dove 02-10-2014
Collared Kingfisher 02-10-2014
Barn Swallow 02-10-2014
Green Bee-eater 02-10-2014
Crested Serpent Eagle 02-10-2014
Black-capped Kingfisher 02-10-2014
Little Egret 02-10-2014
Common Sandpiper 02-10-2014
Rose-ringed Parakeet 02-10-2014
White-throated Kingfisher 02-10-2014
Black-capped Kingfisher 02-10-2014
Peregrine Falcon 02-10-2014
Shikra 02-10-2014
Indian Pond Heron 02-10-2014
Whimbrel 02-10-2014
Pied Kingfisher 02-10-2014
Indian Jungle Crow 02-10-2014
Asian Palm Swift 02-10-2014
Indian Robin 02-10-2014
Striated Heron 02-10-2014
Common Iora 03-10-2014
Bronze-winged Jacana 03-10-2014
Spotted Owlet 03-10-2014
Brown Shrike 03-10-2014
Common Redshank 03-10-2014
Indian Pond Heron 03-10-2014
Little Cormorant 03-10-2014
Large Cuckooshrike 03-10-2014
Tree Pipit 03-10-2014
Small Minivet 03-10-2014
Asian Paradise-flycatcher 03-10-2014
Spangled Drongo 03-10-2014
Asian Koel 03-10-2014
Great Egret 03-10-2014
Black-headed Cuckooshrike 03-10-2014
Streak-throated Woodpecker 03-10-2014
Indian Cuckoo 03-10-2014
Brown-winged Kingfisher 04-10-2014
Greater Sand Plover 04-10-2014
Lesser Sand Plover 04-10-2014
Terek Sandpiper 04-10-2014
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 04-10-2014
Terek Sandpiper 04-10-2014
Common Redshank 04-10-2014
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker 04-10-2014
Ashy Woodswallow 04-10-2014
Ruddy Kingfisher 04-10-2014
Greater Coucal 04-10-2014
Lesser Adjutant 04-10-2014
Red Junglefowl 04-10-2014
Barn Swallow 04-10-2014
Asian Palm Swift 04-10-2014
Black Drongo 04-10-2014
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker 05-10-2014
Greenish Warbler 05-10-2014
Yellow-footed Green Pigeon 05-10-2014
Bronzed Drongo 05-10-2014
Black Drongo 05-10-2014
Tailorbird                                                        05-10-2014
Chestnut tailed starling                             05-10-2014
Common Iora                                           05-10-2014
Barn Owl                                           05-10-2014
Pied starling                                               05-10-2014
Black hooded oriole                                   05-10-2014
Yellow wagtail                                             05-10-2014


PHOTOGRAPHS



Collared Kingfisher


Fancy Cloud


Greater Egret


Pacific Golden Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Peregrine Falcon

Sign Board

Sunset

Water Monitor

Water Monitor
White Throated Kingfisher

Collared Kingfisher













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