Team-BHP - In search of the Legendary Swamp Tiger

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Originally Posted by grand@rao (Post 3647228)

Fabulous way to start a journey to your dream destination, flying through clouds - cursing the roads and lastly sailing the destination on a boat. Awesome photos and detailed information.

This picture shows how in bad condition the Tigers are there, due to lack of prey.
Due to frequent tides in this region it might be getting difficult for them to get prey, so this might be the reason for attack on humans.

Thank you so much. Yes, Prey base is extremely low and the salt water keep the tigers irritated.

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Originally Posted by CountMe91 (Post 3649287)

I had been to Sunderbans for a 2 Days/3 Nights trip during this Dec of 2014. This was my first trip to Sunderbans and the experience has been truly exemplary! The narrow river beds coupled with thick mangrove plantation admidst nature is in one word - magnificent. What I have heard from the locals and the ones who frequent Sunderbans every year or two is that the recent government is making good efforts to preserve and to promote tourism in this sector. The recently opened Jharkhali WT is one such example.

Tip: For the first timers (like me), please don't expect to see a tiger. I know people who have visited Sunderbands for like 10-12 times but did not have the luck to see a tiger. :)

You are absolutely right about the tiger sightings. My friend who arranged for the trip is a regular visitor to STR but he also had very few tiger sightings there.

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Originally Posted by RomelK (Post 3650510)

Hi Subrat - Not sure if its the lull before the storm, or its just us who are so eager to know more about this unexplored patch of Tiger country.

Its like a suspense thriller but only a promo is out yet and you are stuck with it. Please continue your post, the wait is killing most of usplease:

Thank you so much. Sorry for the delay. Back to back trips to Bharatpur, Chambal, Velavadar and Little Rann of kutch, kept me busy. Need to process lots of picture. However, i will continue now.

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Originally Posted by MadAbtCars (Post 3651239)

What a Co-incidence, I was there in sunderbans as well from Oct'18 to Oct'20. But alas much to my disappointment I wasn't lucky enough to spot any Royal Bengal Tiger. All I could see were hordes of deer and a few crocodiles.

After much coaxing, the Guide and the other boat personnel admitted that it is very unlikely to spot any tigers in the areas open for tourists. Most of the tigers are present in the core area which is not accessible to tourists and also a good percentage of the tigers of sunderbans (read more than 60%) are in Bangladesh part of sunderbans.

The Boatman has so far in his lifespan and entire duration of taking so many tourists on numerous sunderban trips has been able to spot the Royal Bengal tiger hardly once or twice. This was as per our boatman's version.

However the overall experience of the boat journey, cooking and eating on the boat itself and spending the night on the water is an experience in itself.

PS : I never posted any travelogue of my trip as I didn't have even a single pic of any Tiger Spotting :Frustrati

Yes, tiger sightings are rare there. One need to be extremely lucky.

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Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn (Post 3654314)

Excellent start and beautiful photos.
Eagerly awaiting next parts and more breathe taking snaps.

BTW, doesn't the Tiger from the Interpretation Centre photo look starved?

Thank you so much. Tigers are not well fed there for low prey base.

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Originally Posted by Subrat Seet (Post 3658250)

Day 2: We started exactly by 6.00 a.m. Sunrise was extremely beautiful and.........
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Hello Subrat Seet,

That was one great thread - both the write-up and the photos have captured the experience in the best possible way. It is a real pity that the big cat did not show up, but it is indeed the rare visitor who catches a glimpse of His Highness!

We had made a trip there in Nov 2013 (a package tour! - I know, I know, the veterans must be already yawning!) But I had good reasons - our daughter, whose marriage we had recently attended in Florida, was coming down to India with her brand new husband and in-laws (mom&dad-in-law, younger brother-in-law as well as her 89 year old grand mother-in-law!) - all red-blooded Americans!

With all the ghosts of our ancestors breathing down our necks (and visions of Anupam Kher nodding sagely and saying "Ladkiwale hain, jhukna to padega hi!" in Hum Apke Hain Kaun!) we needed to put our best foot forward. And an 89 year old lady too - the worry list was long and since we had discussed a Sunderbans trip earlier, the die was cast - but, to play safe, we decided on a package tour (1 night and 2 days) on a house boat which would be meandering through the estuary, with a night at anchor thrown in for good measure!

To be honest, it wasn't a bad experience - our worries were all imaginary, the least of all being that gallant 89 year old lady! Grandma Rhode - my son-in-law's grandma, not mine! - proved to be a spry old bird, jumping from the jetty on to the boat and back, disdainfully refusing any help ! - In fact, she climbed all the steps of the observation tower as well as the Mangrove Centre without any help. Her enthusiasm throughout was infectious and made the whole trip worth it.

We had taken photos during the trip and and with the above prologue as an explanatory foot-note, I am encouraged to write a thread on the experience in the future.

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Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn (Post 3658251)

Come-on man.... More pics please. They are beautiful.

Thank you very much for liking my pics. I will update the same with few pictures.

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Originally Posted by shashanka (Post 3689446)

Thank you for your kind words. Please share your Sunderbans experience.