‘Tiger Camp’ at the Sunderbans

http://picasaweb.google.com/mproud3/Sunderbans# (for pictures)

Teg- As our time in Kolkata became more and more prolonged, our anticipation to get to the worlds largest mangrove grew considerably. Luckily, we were able to squeeze a 2night/3day tour in before our booked (waitlisted) train to take us to Darjeeling. We booked the tour from this little hole in the wall right next to the West Bengal Tourism Centre. We went budget, opted for the tent instead of cottage, and thus were prepared to be roughing it in the Sunderbans.

With all this in mind, we really did assume that we would be roughing it; perfect for what we were there to catch a glimpse of – the man-eating tiger! We assumed wrong. The package we bought into was actually way more posh than we could have imagined! A luxury bus picked us up, along with a young family of 5, and I think 4 couples over fifty, and they drove us over to the water’s edge where we all got onto a huge ferry-like boat that would take us to our ‘camp’.

The ‘Tiger Camp’ was this huge walled enclosure filled with buildings of all sorts. Our so called ‘tent’ had windows, a bathroom, and tiled floors. It was all really nice I must admit, but at this point we knew what the next couple of days would consist of: a nice, relaxing, extremely safe time in the Sunderbans.

Our days spent on the huge boat were relaxing, that’s a given, but our chances at seeing even birds were limited because the huge engine scared everything away. We were lucky when we got to see anything. For most of the time on the boat, I was staring off into the thick bush hoping to spot le tigre.

A huge plus about the ‘camp site’ was that in the evenings they threw dances or plays for us to watch before dinner was served. These performances, I found, were the highlight of the trip!

Mike – It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I understood going in that the likelihood of spotting a famous man-eating tiger was slim, but the rich, eco-system of the mangroves, supposedly plentiful with birds, lizards, crocodiles, etc., was said to make up for it. Even this consolation seemed to fade as soon as we stepped onto the boat.The crowd was not the “roughing it” crowd, and the boat was not the backwater jetty we had been expecting.

A common theme amongst all animals is that they are threatened by human contact; they flee at the sound of people talking, loud noises, or motors. Well, here we are, in this monster of a river boat driving down the QE2 highway of the Sunderbans backwaters - kids laughing, old people chatting, Indian tourists being Indian tourists… We weren’t going to be seeing much.

It wasn’t all bad, but I definitely left wanting more. I’d say we paid for a nice, long boat ride around the vicinity of the Sunderbans national park (to go into the wildlife reserve, apparently, you need a special permit and a boat small enough to navigate the narrow canals with their changing tides and all). This is very hard to arrange, and I gather you must have a special reason for going – nature documentary, scientific research, etc.

We did see some fresh tiger tracks though…

The guides were very knowledgeable (and local celebrities as we soon found out). Our main guide had interviews in various National Geographic documentaries, and the current version of Lonely Planet. At night, they’d show these documentaries in the conference room (yes, our “camp” had a conference room), and in the morning he’d ask all of us one-by-one if we’d seen him in the movie. Quite the character.

Our camp was near the small villages, so it was a great opportunity to explore the local community. Their industry revolved around agriculture, fishing, and gathering honey. The last part is very dangerous, as it requires that they circumnavigate the fence surrounding the reserve, and enter at their own peril to gather honey. This is where the majority of the tiger attacks occurred.

The village children were a hit. They’d follow you asking to have you take their picture. It was madness, very cute though.

Sunderbans tigers are the only tigers in the whole classified as “Man Eaters”; they crave and hunt humans. The villagers had many stories to attest to this. They are known to swim across the canals, during the night, and prey upon the children of the village. The fact is that you’re dealing with an animal whose hearing is six times better than humans, hunts from behind, and is perfectly camouflaged amongst the dense mangrove forest. Humans don’t really stand a chance; hence, I guess, is why it’s so difficult to get into the reserve. (I just realized that I went from talking about the cute children to how they are in danger of being tiger food – sorry for that…)

Overall, I’d say it was worth doing, as long as your expectations are realistic (mine weren’t). You get an idea of how complex an ecosystem the Sunderbans is, as well as, the sheer danger of life in the Sunderbans (our camp, although it was surrounded by a ten foot barb wire fence, and a central watch tower and armed guards patrolling the perimeter during the night). There were definitely opportunities to spot a tiger from some of the many watchtowers surrounding the park, but you’d need complete silence, a good pair of binoculars, and a shit-ton of patience. The odd group does get lucky, I’ve heard.

It’s a very beautiful region, and I guess, it’s good to have the restrictions in place so as to protect it. It would’ve been nice to see a tiger, but now we can say we’ve been to the Sunderbans. That’s pretty good too, I’d say.