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2019 winter, after Andaman our next tour is Sundarbans National Park, this is our awaited outing, So we decided that this time not miss this chance. The Sundarbans is famous for world largest mangrove forest in the world, It is adjacent to the border of India’s Sundarbans World Heritage site inscribed in 1987. Although we visited Mangrove forest in baratang forest at our previous tour, we have waited for a visit mangrove forest in Sundarbans.
13-15th December we completed our journey with one of the tour groups. The essence of Bengal has in Sundarban, if we know about the lifestyle people in south Bengal then should be visited that place.
At Garia station we took a canning local, reached at canning station from the station we took an auto for Sonakhali, from that place took a Boat, the journey is started for Sundarban. The people are busy with their daily life. The small villages are the site of the river bank. People having a very simple lifestyle, when we were moving towards the core of Sundarbans the greenery are increased with increasing distance while villages are decreased. We can breathe the fresh oxygen between greenery. Different types of mouth-watering food had also came like Luchi, sweets, and coffee.

Before the lunch break, we went to Hamilton bungalow which is situated in Gosaba Island, 5minitues walking distance from the jetty. It’s a one off-site scene in Sundarban. We are given some information about that place.
Sir Daniel Mackinnon Hamilton (6 December 1860 – 6 December 1939) was a Scottish businessman who made Bengal his second home. He established a zamindari in Gosaba, where he experimented with programs of rural and social upliftment.

He was a visionary and builder of rural reconstruction programs at a time when the Indian national movement was gaining momentum, and gave importance to rural upliftment and self-help.

The helmsman is very amiable person. He told us a different type of adventure story like aayala cyclone, decoyed story and others story like collected honey from forest, tiger attack to village like this, he told us nonstop story one by one, he also introduced the Sundarbans by his storytelling method, like different type of birds, trees and species.
The board is showed that welcome to the area of Royal Bengal Tiger at river meander. Helmsman told us many types of the story about tiger the same as how did tiger attack to the village, the tiger’s ability of swimming, how tiger attack bit to the back etc. to prevent the tiger attack in the village, the jungle is bounded by net.

The boat is reached at Pakhira Island. This is the peak season so that the area is full of various shops. We spent 2 nights at this place. In the evening the delightful ambiance was created with the delicious smell of coffee and Chicken pakora. The tribal dance called “Tusu Dance” performed by the local tribal and Bonfire, are other attractions for the tourists to experience the tribal art forms and culture in the fire-lit evening.

The next day our main aim was covered the Sundarbans Islands like Sojnekhali, Sudhanyokhali, Dobaki etc with various famous estuary. while we were wandering that place The guide was told us different type of stories about the jungle-like tiger’s nature, stories of snakes, goddess of jungle, folklore, Pneumatophores, anchoring roots of mangrove how its adjust to the environment. The destructive ayala cyclone wiped off the sundari plant in this region.
We will mainly describe 3 places of Sundarbans for the readers. The whole tour is boat safari so that we describe 3 places of the Sundarbans that are Sajnekhali, Sudonokhaali and Dobaki..
Sajnekhali :
This sanctuary is located in the deep mangrove forest of Sundarban.Sajnekhali visit is a part of every 2 or 3 days tour there. It’s lush green, wellprotected, and tourists/bird watchers are safe. It has an informative museum with
photos and write-ups of the local wildlife. The boat ride from the hotel to this
island was very pleasant There is a temple of BanaBibi here.
(The goddess of the jungle ). Our tour guide told us details about the place and we learned the story of banabibi from a tour guide.

Our next destination was Sudonyokhali, it’s an island. There was a watchtower for watching animals and birds. There has also a Banabibi temple, after they complete the Puja we went for the next destination. This island has a part of the tiger reserve forest. The reason behind this is the sweet water pond artificially dug by the forest department workers which has been filled by rainwater. Since the forest is surrounded by saltwater, hence due to lack of sweet water mostly the animals come to drink here. This is why the tower’s strategic location is ideal for wildlife spotting. Their favorite time to drink water is Dawn and Dusk. Lodging arrangements are not available here.

Our next place was Dobaki, it is also a site place of suburban. It is located at a more inner core of the Sundarbans; from the watchtower where you can have a spectacular view of a deep forest. The main attraction of this place is half a kilometer-long Canopy walk, located 20 feet above dense mangrove forest.

A sweet water pond, similar to Sudhanyakhali Camp can be found here too. Chital Deers, Wild Boars, Crocodiles are most commonly sighted here apart from Tigers. Lodging arrangements are not available here.

This was our 2nd-day tour, after 3 hours we came to Pakhira Island. The local market of Pakhira is ideal for buying gift items. Our hotel was 500 meters from the Pakhira Jetty. Our tour was In December so we enjoy the pleasant weather.

Next day
The next day our destination was Dayapur which is located the site of Bangladesh, after visit that place we gradually moved towards Sonakhali.

At the end of the tour without mention the tour service it is unjustified, the whole tour was very manageable and quality of service were given by tour operator.

You can view our video also SUNDARBANS | West Bengal | Exploretours | My Family Travels

Tour Summary :
Date – 13/12/2019-15/12/2019
Tour Members : 2
Kolkata to Sundarban Tour plan :
Some more info :
Things to Do and Don’ts :-
1. Spot the Roaring Bengal Tigers: The Obvious Choice
2. Show-off your Photography Skills
3. Bird Watching at Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary
4. Take a Tour of Local Villages
5. Explore Wildlife

Do not mess the forest with plastic bags.

You can also visit our full album : Click here.

Now its Your turn, what is your travel experiences on this place?

Thanks

Team Exploretours

My name is Supriya Kumar Mitra. It is the diary of travel experiences of some passionate travelers. We are sharing our tour experience in this site. As the name Exploretours is a blog on everything that leads to travel. To us, tour is not memory or images its connect to nature.. This website is dedicated for those who love to travel..

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