sundarban is the largest Mangrove forest spreading between two countries India(West Bengal) and Bangladesh . It is mainly constituted by the Deltas of the Ganga , Bhramputra and Meghna river . It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and comprished by the four protected area Sundarban south (Bangladesh) , Sundarban West (Bangladesh) , Sundarban East (Bangladesh) and Sundarban National Park (India ) . Your sundarban tour will comprise any of the protected area . Combining the indian and Bangladesh Mangrove forest of sundarban , it is almost 10000 sqkm in size .
In this forest , there are all together 453 species of fauna including 290 species of bird , 120 species of fish , 42 species of mammals , 35 species of reptiles and 8 species of amphibians . Royal Bengal Tiger is the most famous animal in the Sundarban forest .
This forest is mainly named by the tree Sundari tree , sometimes ago there was plenty of sundari trees in Sundarban but now a days very less due to cutting of the trees abruptly for wood , as the wood of sundari tree is very famous for furniture making . Gewa , goran , keora and gol pata tree are some major trees found in sundarban . In this mangrove forest , you can see breathing root coming out from the ground upward , used to sucking oxygen and supply it in the lower part of those trees .
How to reach Sundarban Mangrove forest ?
For visiting the indian side of sundarban mangrove forest , you must have to contact a tour operator either from kolkata or reaching at the exact destination like godkhali , namkhana and other place .
I choose the second option and reached to the godkhali ferry point . Canning railway station is the nearest to the godkhali ferry point . From sealdah railway junction there are ample trains toward canning junction . After you reached canning railway station , just walk 5 minutes in the train’s direction and then turn right . You can see the bus stand . You have to board the local buses toward Godkhali . It will take little more than 1 hour and reached the godkhali ferry point .
Fare of the local bus is between 20 – 30 INR for one way journey .
From here you have to negotiate with the boat drivers inside boating unions office for the fares of your sundarban trip . They said a normal boat carrying 20 passengers can be booked at a rate 5000 INR for a day . As I was alone , so I have to find a group . Luckily a local tour guide take me inside their group and I have to pay only 1200 INR for a whole day trip inside Sundarban , two watch towers sajnekhali and sudhanyakhali with all meals . Foods were really good . After a whole day trip , in the evening they will drop you in the same spot .
What you definitely see in a sundarban tour ?
When you visiting sundarban , then you must see a sundari tree (It is very useful for furniture making) , gewa tree and some other trees . You can also see that trees have something like breathing roots , growing from the ground toward upward . Inside the forest of sundarban you can see lots of different types of birds . As this places are situated in the estuary of the Ganga and Meghna , so you can see the widest rivers and sometimes it looks like a ocean .
What you may see in Sundarban ?
You may see Royal bengal tiger but the population of this big cat is limited and not increasing . So there is very less chance to see a tiger in a day trip but if you take multi day trip you have more chances . You can also see a crocodile , leopard , wild cat , gangatic dolphin , chital , wild boar and many more .
How my one day tour was in sundarban forest :
My boat leaves from the Godekhali port around 11 am . First they serve a breakfast in the boat and then the boat goes through the river toward the Sajnekhali Wildlife sanctuary . It takes almost 1-2 hour to reach to Sajnekhali wildlife santuary . This is the first place where you have to register yourself as a tourist and take a compulsory guide for the rest of the journey .
This is a protected area and there is a watch tower . From this watch tower you may spot animals . There are 2-3 cages where they keep some tortoise and other animals . They make some spot where they put food to attract animals . We stayed there 30 mins but can not see any animals . They are saying that in the summer it is very difficult to spot animals .
After that , once again we board the boat but this time with this guide . Now our boat leaves the major river and goes into some narrow river to spot animals . In this journey we see the trees of Mangrove forest closely and spot a big bird named Dhanesh (Bengali name ). It looks very small in the image but it is sized like a 8- 10 years boy . Some people have also spotted a crocodile but frankly speaking , I have not seen it .
In the mean time they provide the lunch and may be after 1-2 hour reached Sudhanya khali wildlife sanctuary . This is the last spot of today’s journey . I don’t find much difference between the previous wildlife santuary . Just after entering through the gate you can see the deity of Ban Bibi (This is the god of the sundarban people . They worship her before going inside the forest for wood or honey) .
There is also another watch tower but we don’t spot any animals . But in this part First time I see Sundari tree from a close .
After that We go back towrd Godkhali and it takes almost 3 hours to reach the port . I leave the boat around 5 pm and then take a bus toward canning and my home . My suggestion would be , you spent at least one night in the boat to feel the forest and see more animals .
Summary :
Sundarban is the largest Mangrove forest in the world and spread between India and Bangladesh . Royal Bengal Tiger is one of the major attraction in Sundarban Forest . In the trees of this forest there is breathing root . Most of the Mangrove forest of sundarban are in the Bangladesh . Ban Bibi is the deity of the sundarban people for their protection in the forest . You can see different animals and birds but spotting a royal Bengal tiger is very tough . All together it is a unique experience to travel inside the Mangrove forest of Sundarban .
