Thursday, September 14, 2017

A brief note on Sundarban – The dangerously Beautiful Mangrove



Sundarban also spelled as Sunderbans is the largest mangrove in the world where the tigers are feared and worshipped. 

Sundarban tour package from Kolkata

There are some places that resist a definite definition. They don’t easily reveal their secrets. They rarely, if at all, turn on a charming photo or a pithy phrase. To say something about such places feels like an impudence, especially as a traveler. And Sundarban is one of such places. The dense mangrove forest is a huge and extended tract of forest and salty water spread across the lower delta of the river Ganges. For a tourist from Kolkata, the place is both near and far. Book a Sundarban tour package from Kolkata and enjoy your vacation. While it is hard to believe that the sight of the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger is just a 100 km away, it is the reality that it takes just a few hours to reach the river from Kolkata – either by road or by train and then by boat. And the jolt waits within 30 minutes from the beginning of your river journey. The stunning green delta landscape with the skyline touching the water is simply mesmerizing. The most interesting thing is that the sights alter so dramatically even before you realize. The human faces from the passing by boats are familiar, still they would seem to be from another world. Everything you’ll see there, as if, is touched up by a light of a different sun. 

Understanding the forest 

Sundarban is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. The mangrove is a combination of trees and shrubs growing in the salty coastal habitat. The forest encompasses about 4,000 sq. km. in India while the rest 6,000 sq. km. lies in Bangladesh. From the river, you can see knotty and clenched types of trees like sundari, garjan and hetal. There is a multitude of pneumatophore – trees with special type of roots that grow out of out of the water surface so the trees can breathe. 

An unbelievable amount of busyness starts from the very beginning of your waterway journey. Let’s start with Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary for real-time biology lesson. Here you will find a plethora of birds like whimbrels, sandpipers, plovers and even Fiddler crabs (might not be seen with naked eyes) that you can hardly see in your city. You can also see a special species of amphibian namely mudskippers to share waterfront with the birds. Tarkel, the water monitor is anther occupant that keeps looking for its prey. The next level of the dense mangrove is occupied by the alligators, wild boars and deer. Irrawady dolphins may also be seen if you are lucky enough. And finally it comes to the Royal Bengal Tigers. There are roughly 250 tigers in the core area though distributed over an extensive expanse of 1,500 sq.km. The tigers of Sundarban are a kind of resilient to survive in the hostile territory of Sundanban. 

Declared to be a Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, Sundarban is not all about its incredible treasure of flora and fauna. It’s also about the desperately underprivileged folks of the place who make their living of the forest mostly by hunting or collecting honey and wax. Nevertheless, Durga Puja is imminent- so plan the holiday in an out-of-the-box way in Sundarban. You can contact a travel agency that offers Sundarban Tour Package at an affordable rate. 
 

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