Tag: sundarban forest

Sundarban Tour

A Trip to Sundarban

sundarban tour

Sundarban is the largest mangrove forest in the world is a river-riddled swamp region of shifting tides, man-eating tigers and the adventure tourism spot in West BengalSundarban Tour is very popular among adventure lovers tourist like me. This tourist spot shares with two densely populated countries (India and Bangladesh), yet it is mostly inhospitable and uninhabited by people. The wild terrain, ferocious yet beautiful animals drive tourists all over the world around the year and I being one of them.

To get to the heart of the swamps you would have to take a three-day Sundarban tour to dive into the majestic marshy land. The land gets its name from the abundance of “Sundaritrees or Mangrove trees. So, to get an overwhelming feeling of this aesthetic forest I took a three-day leave from my hectic schedule.

sundarban tour from kolkata

Day 1

I booked Sundarban tour through Mercury Tour Operator (www.mercurytouroperator.com) under “Sundarban tour package” for “Sundarban Tour for 2 nights and 3 days”, and they organized it from the EM Bypass and Maa flyover connector, Kolkata. On February 16, so as per the journey starting time I reached there around 08:15 am. I was very pleased with their welcoming style with packed breakfast. Around 11 noon we reached Godhkhali and the motorized boat pulled the anchor up and started to sail from Godhkhali ferry ghat. It sailed via Gomor river, Hogol river, Matla river. After an hour passed it was announced to gather for the lunch. I had rice, murighanta dal, beguni, vegetable, prawn, bhetki fish, chatni, papad, curd. Now when I had finished, I went back to deck to have a view of mangrove forest and river. We have visited the Sajnekhali watchtower and the mangrove interpretation center. The boat reached Sundarban Pakhiralay at 5 pm. We disembarked the motorized boat and check in to the Sundarban hotel, after two hours we had a beautiful evening with the cultural entertainment program in Sundarban hotel followed by chicken pakora with mesmerizing tea, entertainment program was set up which is called Bonobibi Yatra Pala. We all enjoyed the dance performance of the locals with some tribal outfits and cool breeze added flavor to it.  Around 9:30 pm it was requested to gather for the buffet dinner. Being a Bengali I could not resist myself from having the tasteful mutton kosha, it was finger-licking, after dinner I went back to my room for 7-hour sleep.

Day 2

It was February 17, I woke up at 6 am and found that there was a tiger attack last night at a village and everybody was giving their opinions about the matter. I fresh up myself and went to the dining hall for breakfast. The breakfast was well served with nanpuri, chana masala, sweet and a cup of tea. After breakfast was over everyone was requested to board to our motorized boat for going through the creeks and thick mangrove forest. There were two boats accounting forty people for Sundarban Tour. As we went deeper into the forest, I saw footprints of tiger whose mark was not yet dry which means the tiger came there a few minutes ago and we saw crocodiles having a sunbath and small sea fishes being caught by the seagulls.

Dobanki Tour

After this adventurous ride, we came back to the Sundarban boat for lunch. I had rice, dal, fry, veggies, rui fish, crabs, chatni, papad, and ice cream. After we all had finished our lunch boats arrived to take us to the Dobanki Watchtower via Saptamukhi River. It was again a mystic and lots of adventure packed boat ride. While we were going through the creeks in a distance we saw the yellow-black striped tiger. It was huge and a middle-aged as the guide said. After we finished our photography there, we were headed to Jharkhali Eco Park which is famous for Tiger rescue center, Butterfly park. Jharkhali Eco Park is a nice place to see during the Sundarban tour package.  while returning to the hotel we visited Sudhanyakhali watchtower and the mangrove nursery.

Back to Sundarban Hotel

On the way, we saw a small crocodile playing in the water. unfortunately, I could not take any picture of the aesthetic crocodiles. From there the boats headed towards the Pakhiralay as it was going to evening. After we reached the Sundarbans hotel. we went to our respective rooms to get refreshed from the day’s boat ride. A local musical band was setting up their instruments on the deck for the evening performance. Around 6:30 pm the program started, it was a beautiful performance of the local songs and folks with some mesmerizing dance as well. With great performance, I had tea with some veg pakoras. At 9 pm it was announced to gather for dinner. I was pretty excited about the food because anything you ate in that environment it would give an extra flavor to the food. There were lots of items on display to eat but I chose fried rice and chili chicken and a fresh green salad. After the great meal, I headed to my room for sleep while others were still sitting on the Sundarbans hotels garden and gossiping. I was feeling sad because slowly but surely the journey was coming to an end because tomorrow was the third and the last day of the Sundarban tour.

Day 3

On the third day i.e. February 18, I woke up a bit early to capture the beautiful sunrise through my camera lenses. As it was the last day of the Sundarban Tour,  I decided to spend some time with the local village people. After having aloo paratha, veggies, sweet and tea for breakfast I started walking around the Sundarban Village. I saw the culture and the lifestyle of local village people.  Today the lunch was a bit early like around 12 noon because we have returned to Kolkata by evening. On this last day lunch, I had rice, dal, fry, vegetable, doi katla, chatni, papad. It was finger-licking doi katla. After having lunch we started towards Kolkata. On the way, we visited Hamilton Saheb’s bungalow at Gosaba,  and it was the only 2 pm in the afternoon and I went back to the bus to see the photos that I have clicked during this journey. At around 5:30 pm we reached the EM By-Pass, Kolkata. At last this memorable journey to the swampy marshy land came to an end it was a true piece of wonder nature has to offer us.

To Know more

Please Call +91-8902495917, 8910339424, 9163424988

Mercury Tour Operator

207/171, B.T Road,Baranagar, Kolkata 700036

Sundarban Tour Package

 

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Sundarban Tour from Kolkata

How to reach Sundarban from Kolkata

sundarban tour operators in kolkata

To reach the “beautiful forest”, i.e. the Sundarban tour from Kolkata one can travel by train, bus or car/cab. But to enjoy the Sundarban tour to the fullest, it is suggested to take a road trip via the famous Howrah Bridge to the Sundarban.  Sundarban has Canning railway station nearby. Sundarban Tour from Canning is easily accessible. There are a few ways to reach Sundarban:

  1. One can take a bus or book a car and reach Godkhali by road. The distance from Kolkata to Godkhali Sundarban ferry ghat is approximately 105 km and takes about 4 hours to reach. They can then either hire a private or a shared boat to begin their sightseeing.
  2. One living outside Kolkata simply needs to get to the Howrah station by train and then they can take a bus or book a car and reach Godkhali by road. In case the train is not preferred one can also choose to reach Kolkata via a flight to the Dumdum airport and then continue the rest of the journey for the Sundarban tour by bus or car.
  3. Another way to reach Sundarban National Park from Kolkata is by taking a bus or booking a car from Science city, Kolkata and reaching Jharkhali  Sundarban or Gosaba from where the UNESCO recognized World Heritage Sundarban National park started.
  4. One can also choose to take a train from Sealdah station to Canning. From there they can reach Sonakhali by an auto-rickshaw where they can hire a boat offered by the Mercury Tour Operator for the rest of the journey to the Sundarban National Park.

sundarban tour guide

Places to visit in Sundarban tour from Kolkata

  • Sundarban National Park and Sajnakhali Wildlife Sanctuary:
  • One of the main attractions of Sundarban Tourism is the Sundarban National park which is a coastal mangrove forest, home for not only the Sundarban Royal Bengal tiger but also various endangered species like the estuarine crocodile and the Ganges river dolphin. If one turns up for a Sundarban tour with the sole purpose of getting the glimpse of the Sundarban Royal Bengal tiger then one might be disappointed because the sightings depend on various factors including time, weather and even luck. Other than that the National park is full of various types of local birds, fishing cats, leopard cats, flying fox, deer, wild boar, etc. There are watchtowers from where the birds and other animals are all visible for the visitors of Sundarban Package.

sundarban tour

  • Netidhopani Watch Tower:

  • Netidhopani is the home to an ancient Shiva temple and the Netidhopani Watch Tower allows the visitors to see the ruins of this ancient temple. Besides the temple, Netidhopani also allows its visitors am opportunity to get a glimpse of the royal Bengal tigers. There’s a belief among the locals that there was a road built by King Pratapaditya to guard the coastal areas. Also because of the ancient Hindu mythology of Behula-Lakhindar it is fun to spot the doorway or the stairs to heaven used by the famous Netidhopani to lead Behula to Heaven.

 

  • Hiron Point:

  • Hiron Point, also known as Nilkamal is a splendid area for spotting not only “hiron”, i.e. deer but other animals like crocodiles, tigers, monkeys and different species of birds. It is a major tourist attraction because of its natural scenic beauty and it is a beautiful place to take some break from the sightseeing and resting for a bit. There a lounges and guest houses availed by the Sundarban tourism for such purposes.

sundarban tourist spot

Burirdabri Watch Tower:

  • Why only see the Indian side of Sundarban when you are welcome to see Bangladesh from afar? Burir Dabri or the Burirdabri Watch tower allows visitors to watch the Bangladeshi Sundarban from the Indian side. River Raimongal flowing between India and Bangladesh marks the International boundary. One is free to walk over the wooden bridges through the mud cage to reach the wooden watch tower from where the Bangladeshi Sundarban can easily be seen. The beautiful scenery of the watch tower is also a reason for being a tourist attraction.

 

  • Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower:

  • Most of the tigers in Sundarban can be spotted from the Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower as there is a water reservoir located right beside the tower where wild animals come to have water. This tower has a beautiful panoramic view of the Sundarban and well known for its natural beauty. Other than the royal Bengal tiger, one can expect sightings of other wildlife like the axis deer and crocodiles from this tower. This watch tower is located inside the forest area of Sundarban. Therefore, ferry is the only option to reach this place. A special permission from the forest department of the Sundarban tourism is required in order to enter this place. There is a Mangrove Interpretation Center where the visitors are welcome to come and identify various types of mangrove trees. Other than this, there is also a temple of the local Goddess Banbibi which the tourists are welcome to visit.

sundarban day tour cost

  • Dobanki Watch Tower:

  • Have you ever wanted to go on a walk and just get a glimpse of a tiger as if you are neighbors? The Dobanki Watch Tower allows tourist such an experience. This watch tower is a half-kilometer canopy walk about 20ft from the ground covered in grill and strong nets to prevent any attacks from wild animals and therefore, is really safe. There is a sweet water pond right beside the watch tower which attracts a lot of tigers, deer and other wildlife. Visitors should always keep an eye for the beautiful and rare yet often spotted Brahminy kites. A Sundarban tour package is incomplete without a visit to the Dobanki Watch Tower.

Wish all visitors have a very enjoyable tour in the beautiful Sundarban tour from Kolkata by Mercury Tour Operator.

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Sundarban Tourism

Sundarban Tourism

The Sundarban is the true wonder of nature. Sundarban Tourism attracts worldwide tourist. It is the most important continuous block of Rhizophora mangrove Forest within the World. Sundarban  Delta is that the home to several lovely and a few species like Royal Bengal tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar, Olive Ridley Turtle, and Gangetic Dolphin, etc. Indian Sundarban consists of 102 deltaic islands that may be a half Gangetic Delta, the world’s largest delta. Sundarban Delta is spread over 9630 sq KM. in southern a part of state and hosts extraordinarily made diversity of aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna.

Sunderban appears to be a floating forest once it gets partly submerged by extremely saline water throughout the high water. Within a couple of hours, the low tide makes the water to recede back to the Bay of Bengal exposing the clay beds of mudflat to the air. Tidal amplitude and fluctuations of Sundarbans are around seven-meter. These distinctive options create Sundarban parkland, the most effective parkland in India.

Life and Culture in Sundarban

Sundarbans charms the tourists in many ways. Sundarban Tourism is not only amazed the tourists because of its flora and fauna but the wild fascinates the most. It’s diversified flora and fauna attracts tourists round the year. This unique tourist spot is situated in the delta region of Bay of Bengal where Ganges, Hooghly, Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers meet. It is the world’s largest delta known as the Ganga – Brahmaputra Delta.

 

Attractive Tourist Spots

The Sundarbans’ tourist spots include a number of places like the Sundarban National Park, and a number of sanctuaries like, Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, Lothian Wildlife Sanctuary, Haliday Wildlife Sanctuary.

The entry point to Sunderban Tiger Reserve is either Sonakhali via Canning, or Bagna via Dhamakhali. For visiting South twenty-four Parganas Forest Division, on the western a part of watercourse Malta, Sundarban entry points are Namkhana, Raidighi or Jharkhali via Canning/Basanti. Sundarban Entry Permits are available at Canning, Sonakhali, and Bagna for STR and at Canning, Namkhana, and Raidighi for the Western part of Sunderban Forest.

The Sundarban National Park is located in the eastern part of West Bengal, Sundarban delta is the largest delta in the world, consisting of 10,200 sq km of Mangrove Forest that is touch India (4200 sq kilometer of Reserved Forest) and East Pakistan (6000 sq kilometer approx of Reserved Forest). Sundarban conjointly happens to be the most important Rhizophora mangrove Forest within the world. It has one of the richest reserves of flora and fauna all over the world. The Rhizophora mangle trees, from that the place derives its name includes a total of sixty-four sorts obtainable here together with varied different plants here. Also apart from the renowned tigers there area unit varied different animals just like the swine, spotted deer, wild cat, rhesus macaque, flying fox and several other animals and reptiles that are visible here. Sundarbans is additionally a heaven for ornithologists or fiery bird watchers.

The assets are clearly the Sundarban Royal Bengal tiger, It is as infamous for its violence and man-eating habit because it is appraised for its royalty and beauty. Sundarban had earned the standing of a Tiger Reserve within the year 1973, once the Project Tiger Program was formed in India. A few years later, in 1977 it was declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary, in 1984 it was declared as a National Park. Recognition from UNESCO as a world heritage web site came within the year 1987. The Sundarban parkland has been divided into wildlife sanctuaries for a lot of economical administration. The total space of Sundarbans is 4262 sq kilometre. Of the 54 islands that join together to form the Sundarbans, not all are inhabited only by wild animals. A calculable three.2 million people are also found to be living here. Of the entire space around 2585 sq kilometer area unit reserved for the wild animals.

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Sundarban National Park

Natural Beauty of Sundarban

Sundarbans National Park charms the tourists in many ways. This marshy land is the home to many ferocious and beautiful animals and to some of the unique floras. The Sundarban is the true wonder of nature. It is the biggest continuous block of Rhizophora mangrove Forest within the World. Sundarban is the home to many beautiful and some endangered species like Sundarban Royal Bengal Tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Spotted Deer, and Wild Boar. Sunderban looks to be a floating forest once it gets part submerged by extremely saline water throughout the highwater. Within a couple of hours, the low water makes the water to recede back to the Bay of geographic area exposing the clay beds of mudflat to the air. Tidal amplitude and fluctuations of Sundarbans are around seven-meter. These distinctive options build Sundarban park, the simplest park in the Asian nation. The Sundarban National Park is a great tourist spot.

Eco-tourism in Sundarban

The development of the Sundarban eco-tourism is one of the top priorities of the Forest Department for Sundarban National Park. It forms part of the existing Government national objectives concerning existing and proposed tourism policies in Bangladesh and India. It will contribute to the event of a healthy, accountable and property variety of eco-tourism for the advantage of all. Sundarban Eco-tourism Centres are located at Sajnekhali, Dobanki, Netidhopani and Burir Dabri in STR, and at Bonie camp (Sundarikati), Bhagabatpore Crocodile Project, Lothian Island sanctuary and Kalash beach. There square measure 2 Nature Interpretation Centres situated at Sajnekhali and Bhagabatpore, and one Eco museum at Sudarikati.

The Fauna

The Sundarbans forest is home to over four hundred tigers. The Royal Bengal Tigers have developed a unique characteristic of swimming in the saline waters, and are famous for their man-eating tendencies, it also comprises of other animals like Estuarine Crocodile, Spotted Deer, and Wild Boar.

Royal Bengal Tiger

The crown jewel is obviously the Sundarban Royal Bengal Tiger, is as notorious for its ferocity and man-eating habit as it is appraised for its royalty and beauty. It is terribly illustrious and robust animal best-known for its grace, power, and agility. It is an Asiatic carnivorous animal zoologically named as Panthera tigris. There square measure numerous species and taxonomic category of the tigers square measure found everywhere the planet. Tiger is an endangered species of the animal however few are left all over the world which we have to conserve in any way in order to save their life on the earth. It is mainly seen in the Sundarban National Park and counts about 2500 plus.

Estuarine Crocodile

The estuarial crocodilian, also known as the Saltwater Crocodile. The size of an adult Crocodile ranges from 880 – 1200 pounds with lengths of 14 – 17 feet for males and for females 180 – 220 pounds with lengths of 7.5 to 11 feet. The seawater crocodilian could be a predator and has many various varieties of prey. When young, Saltwater Crocodile is restricted to smaller prey like insects, amphibians, crustaceans, and small fish and other small reptiles. When they become an adult, they feed on larger prey such as mud crabs, turtles, snakes, birds, buffalo, wild boar, and even monkeys. When the Saltwater Crocodile hunts for food, it usually hides in the water with only the nostrils, eyes, and part of the back is exposed. In Sundarban Bhagabatpur crocodile project which is famous for estuarine crocodiles.

Spotted Deer

Sundarban National Park is the natural habitat of the spotted Deer. Spotted Deer is very common in the Sundarbans forest. It is one in every of the foremost stunning expensive within the world. They like to live in the flock. In a flock there square measure 10-25 ruminant live along. Mostly they live in the grassy forest. The main enemy of them is Royal Bangle tiger, which is only found in the Sundarban. A dark stripe runs down the back from the nape to the tip of the tail. The abdomen, rump, throat and the insides of the legs, tail, and ears are white. A black band circles the muzzle. The adult weighs about 85 kg. They are typically inhabitants of forest edges, due to indiscriminate hunting for meat and fur, their population has declined alarmingly since the 1950s. They are mainly found in the Sundarban National Park.

Wild Boar

Wild boars have stocky, powerful bodies with grey-brown fur. Mature males have tusks that protrude from the mouth. Piglets square measure a lighter ginger-brown in color, with stripes on their coat for camouflage. Large animals like wild boar can get up to 80 cm at the shoulder and typically weigh between 60-100 kg, although males in excess of 200 kg. Boars are not fussy eaters and will consume a wide variety of food. Much of their diet is made up of seeds and fruit, and even small mammals, birds’ eggs and chicks. Most boars live in groups, known as sounders that are comprised of females and their young. Adult males tend to live alone, only coming together with females to mate. Typically, four to six piglets will be born in spring. A boar’s maximum natural life in the wild is thought to be around 14 years. Boars have poor eyesight but an extremely strong sense of smell, relying on their nose to find food and detect danger.

The Flora

A total number of  245 genera and 334 plants species were recorded by David Prain in the year 1903. The Sundarbans flora is characterized by the abundance of Sundari, Gewa, Goran, and Keora all of which occur prominently throughout the area. The Sundari tree yields a hardwood, used for building houses and making boats, furniture, and other things. New forest accretions are often conspicuously dominated by Keora and tidal forests. It is associate indicator species for newly accreted mudbanks and is a very important species for life, especially spotted deer. Among palms, Poresia coarctate, Myriostachya wightiana and Golpata are well distributed. The Sundarbans has been classified as a wet tropical forest demonstrating an entire mosaic of seers, comprising primary formation on new accretions to a lot of mature beach forests.

Natural disasters, such as cyclones, always threaten the values ​​of property and there are potential threats in the properties as well as salinity water intrusion and throwing. Due to the exploitation of both wood resources and livestock, illegal hunting and traps, and agricultural ineffective, there is a serious threat to the value of the property. As tourists, we should also help in conserving this beautiful swampland to increase the popularity of Sundarban Tourism.

 

 

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