[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

What are your suggestions regarding manual lenses. Only ray of hope is Hyderabad Photography Club. Lets see what comes out of it.

Get hold of Kirkiri

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

@ Saurabh.
A couple of years back, one of my old friends from Assam, who is now settled in Delhi, wanted to show his daughter a glimpse of the life he used to lead. Assam being Assam had to have a series of bandhs just then, so he had to cancel his Assam plans. I set him up with one such tour operator for Sunderbans. He came back livid. Not because of problems with the comforts of life, which were pretty OK. But because of what he said was intellectual dishonesty. However, the rest of the group, mostly city people, first visit to the forest, were quite satisfied.
So can you recommend a tour operator who can understand what you want and deliver accordingly.

Regards
Sutripta

+ 10 to that. I would rather do things my way but being closeted as a herd with fixed timing itinerary. Till now I have never had a package holiday and I don't think its going to happen anytime in the near future.

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

Get hold of Kirkiri

Spoke to Kirkiri and he is holed up in Tirupati waiting for his 7.30 Darshanam. Also spoke to Chimalgi and I have been given a choice between used Canon 55-250 non IS or a new 70-300 Sigma with Macro.

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Spoke to Kirkiri and he is holed up in Tirupati waiting for his 7.30 Darshanam. Also spoke to Chimalgi and I have been given a choice between used Canon 55-250 non IS or a new 70-300 Sigma with Macro.

Go for the former, the extra 50mm can be sacrificed for the quality of snaps you're guaranteed IMO. I say this because If your going to tour via a boat , 250mm reach should be enough to capture anything on the banks and if you have to shoot deep in through the bushes, then the CA in the Canon brand will be less compared to the latter.

The Macro is not to be included in the decision making since your primarily looking for a tele. If your camera has in body stabilization, then i guess the non IS is also not a concern.

[Sutripta]

Hi,
Sorry could not make any enquiries today as was too tied up in work (including taking a test drive!).

How long are you going to be in Cal. I'll be out of Cal 10th - 17th. Would like to meet up.

Regards
Sutripta

PS. I had a Armada Grand 4x4, and now a Bolero 4x4!

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Sorry could not make any enquiries today as was too tied up in work (including taking a test drive!).

How long are you going to be in Cal. I'll be out of Cal 10th - 17th. Would like to meet up.

Regards
Sutripta

PS. I had a Armada Grand 4x4, and now a Bolero 4x4!

Love to meet up as well.

I'm arriving in Kolkata on 12th Night, leaving for Sunderbans on 15th morning and back on 17th evening. And I leave back for Hyderabad on 18th morning.

PM'ed you my number.

Cheers

[Ushuaia]

Anirudh,

Good Choice, I think Sealdah to Canning by train would be a better deal!
Though I am considered Odeshi by my cousins in Kol, spoke with one of them for some contacts, they went there some time back. The river cruise is a known hit, with some delectable maach!

Also could you share the price for used 300mm tele! I plan to buy for some time now but the $ on them puts me off!

Once you are back we should setup a big Meet to hear the story!

[Saurabh M]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

@ Saurabh.

So can you recommend a tour operator who can understand what you want and deliver accordingly.

Thats the biggest challenge. Most tour operators dont understand the needs of the traveller.

I have heard that Help Tourism and Sunderban Tiger Camp are renowned for their Sundarban trips. Personally, I have not used their services in that area.

[MileCruncher]

Arrived today at 12.05 PM at Sajnekhali through a myriad of transport and checked into the WBTDC Tourist Lodge after starting at 6 AM from Babu Ghat Kolkata.

Then went for a boat ride through monsoon to the Sudhanyakhali Island and watch tower. All I can say from my prelim 4hour boat ride: The place is awesome!

[MileCruncher]

We just reached Kolkata and headed towards Hyderabad tomorrow. Some pictures to give an idea of what we saw










Cheers

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by Ushuaia

Also could you share the price for used 300mm tele! I plan to buy for some time now but the $ on them puts me off!!

Ani bhai, I have the same query. Can you share the cost of renting the lenses, and can the whole camera be rented too??

[joe1980]

Did you have luck spotting the Tiger in the Sunderbans?

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Ushuaia

Also could you share the price for used 300mm tele! I plan to buy for some time now but the $ on them puts me off!

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Ani bhai, I have the same query. Can you share the cost of renting the lenses, and can the whole camera be rented too??

After searching at multiple places, couldn't get hold of used 300 mm lens for a decent price so finally gave up. All the pictures are shot thru the non-IS 18-55 mm LENS and afew with Olympus P&S. If I was in Bangalore,it was a different story altogether.

@ Manish: Yes camera with lens are available on rent. check out Toehold | Travel & Photography

Originally Posted by joe1980

Did you have luck spotting the Tiger in the Sunderbans?

Nope. I wasn't expecting it and if I had seen it,would have been very surprised. But saw a lot of other wildlife. But the best experience was seeing the river 10-15 Kms wide at two places. a) 5 tributaries meeting b) 7 tributaries meeting. Almost felt like that we had reached the high seas. This coupled with winds and rain did have us scared for a few moments.

[joe1980]

I remember seeing a documentary on the Tiger Attacks in the Sunderbans delta. It is a documentary on how the local people enter the forest for collectinh honey, bamboo etc., and may be for a true Tiger spotting, one should go along with the Honey collectors who venture deep into the forest. But remember it is dangerous as there are real man eating Tigers on the prowl in Sunderbans.

[Joy]

@MileCruncher: Would like to know more about your adventure? Please continue asap.

Originally Posted by joe1980

....
as there are real man eating Tigers on the prowl in Sunderbans.

AFAIK, there are no man eating Tigers anywhere except when a Tiger is injured/old and cannot hunt normally. But Tigers don't like anybody intruding their space and let any easy prey go away and human beings are the easiest of all the prey.

[hvkumar]

I was lucky to be tracking MileCruncher on Google Latitude as he wend his way through the myriad rivulets and waterways of the Sunderbans - on Sep 15th - and also talk to him during the cruise! Isn't it wonderful that he had excellent mobile and GPRS connectivity throughout his cruise in the wilderness. I took some screen shots when he was on the boat and I am uploading them here to show you the region where he spent 3 days: