Traveling: The Sundarbans – See Largest Mangrove & Royal Bengal Tigers

Entry #2330, April 23, 2013

Planning on traveling to Bangladesh or India in the near future? The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. Spreading across Khulna in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India, it is the abode of the famous Royal Bengal tigers. Apart from that, it houses a variety of birds, reptiles, and wild animals. The total area of the Sundarbans is 10,500 sq km, of which nearly one-third is marshy or waterlogged areas.

Rare buffy fish owl in The Sundarbans

Image via: Conservation India

How to Get In

You can get in Khulna city by bus and airplane. However, Flights and direct bus route may not be available from all the districts of Bangladesh. The only airport in that region is ‘Jessore Airport’ that is 71 km north of Khulna city. Visitors can travel by air, road, or rocket steamer from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, to Khulna.

After arriving at Khulna city, you have to go to the Mongla Port to hire country boats, motor launch, speed boats, or merchandised vessels for travelling through the forest.

Hiring a traveling agency will be a better option than making an independent trip there because the tourist infrastructure is still not very developed. So, choosing a suitable package offered by any experienced travel agency will lessen your hassles and relieve you from taking extra burdens.

When to Get There and Where to Stay

The winter season or the period from November to March is the best time to visit the Sundarbans. If you want to watch the exciting honey collection process, you have to visit during April to May. Hunting is prohibited but with prior permission from Divisional Forest Office, you can hunt certain species of birds.

Hotels and restaurants are available in Mongla. You have to stay in the rest houses of Forest Department if you are willing to stay in Hiron Point and Katka. Prior booking has to be made for having rooms in those rest houses.

Spotted Deer are available to be spotted in the Sundarbans.

Image via: Bengal Tours

Wildlife

The Sundarbans is widely famous as the abode of Royal Bengal tigers – a ruthless and cunning animal but graceful and majestic at the same time. With its abundance of wildlife, it is a heaven for wildlife photographers and adventurous people. It has crocodile, river dolphins, wild boar, rhesus monkeys, spotted deer, lizards, pythons, jungle fowls, ducks, snipes, herons, coots, sandpipers, etc. Spotted deer are easy to see and you can take a lot of snaps of them. However, you have to be lucky to see the glimpse of the majestic tigers though tracks of tigers are not rate to spot.

The Sundarbans is also a favorite abode of the migratory birds. During winter season, you will come across flocks of Siberian migratory ducks flying over thousands of sailboats loaded with fuel wood, honey, timber, golpata (a kind of leaf used in making the roof of local rural houses), shell, and fish.

Major Attractions

The Sundarbans offer an excellent treat to its visitors with a package of wildlife view, boating inside the forest, riverine beauty, and wonderful greenery surrounding the forest. Hiron Point, Katka, Kachikhali (Tiger Point), and Tin Kona Island are all good spots for catching the views of wildlife and natural beauty. There are enormous stretches of green meadows running from Katka to Kachikhali, which give chances for wild tracking. There is also DubJar Island where flocks of spotted deer are often spotted to pasture. The biodiversity is the highest in the far southeast part of the Sundarbans. Some isolated beaches are there facing the Bay of Bengal. However, it will take almost a day to get there.

The majestic Royal Bengal tiger.

Image via: Imgfave

Permission is to be taken from the Khulna Divisional Forest Officer for visiting the forest. The visitors also have to give entrance fees at the relevant forest station or range office.

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