It was October of 2015. I had flown into Calcutta. Calcutta was abuzz with festivities. Puja pandals and the crowds. The famed yellow cabs. An atmosphere that reeked of festivity. I joined my friend at the hotel where she was staying and then, the next day morning, we travelled to the Sundarbans. I do have vague fond memory of having stopped at a wayside tea stall - early morning - and ordering a cup of tea and having the chai at the roadside. After a cab, and a boat ride later, we disembarked onto a mud bank and entered our destination camp - the Sundarbans Tiger Camp at the Dayapur Island. The place itself had a rustic but fun feel. set amidst raw nature, it seemed to me a perfect setting for the trip to the Sundarbans. It was a fun stay with some folk dance and stuff thrown in for making tea and dinner time fun for its guests.
Sundarbans is a UNESCO protected National Park. A mangrove. It is the biggest natural mangrove in the world. Unfortunately for us, we hadn't checked about the tides - they were high and hence, we couldn't spot many - rather any animal, let alone the famed Bengal tiger. But then, we did experience Sundarbans at high tide. :-) Our boat did not travel into the creeks - the ones you see in the National Geographic Although while on our boat rides into the marshy land, we were warned of tigers that could swim. Our jetty took us along to see the Bay of Bengal.
The walk along the fence to the Dobanki tower surrounded by green expanse was a memorable experience.
However, due to the high tide, we could only get a glimpse of a few monitor lizards along the swamps of the mangrove forest but the ride upto the congruence of the Brahmaputra and the Bay of Bangal was also a sight to behold.
With a promise to return during low tide, we returned back to our homes.
Sundarbans, my tryst with isnt over yet. :-)