interesting ad by yahoo on flight ticket
rickshaws on way to sonakhali, where we would catch the boat to bal island at sunderbans
on way
we were on one such boat, at sonakhali
started for bali, arun with guide for first day tuhin
arun and tuhin
me
such boats dotted the hogol river constantly
mangroves
more mangroves
Indian flag adorned all boats
tried to get a better angle, failed
boat, final day took a ride in one such boat
temple at gosaba island, on way to bali
cargo boat
arun tries his hand at driving the boat
on the boat's edge
still at the edge
no roads.... water was the only road
waves
huts on the coast
mangroves, I'll bore you photos of mangroves :)
at bali island. we were actually living in a village...
our boat
these are the cottages that we stayed in
found this boat stranded in the island
roaming around in the island
captured this from bali
left one is our cottage...
close up of the cottage
there were ponds everywhere for fishing... this bridge joined the dining to our cottage
palm trees at the aforementioned pond's edge
a horizontal tree
yogesh and me in the boat
mangroves again
was capturing a bird, it flew off :(
common kingfisher, look closely at top of the log in the water
an unclear kingfisher
egret, saw many of these
monkey - saw them only on the first day, the other days when we were deeper in jungle monkeys never made any appearance
cheetal
monkeys
yet another monkey
the reflections of the sunset
sunset and its reflection
another one
yogesh
sunset
seunset
the sun is lower now
this one came out the best
sailing away in the night....
cheetal, very far.. max zoom
the boat against the dusk
and the trees
arun with the lantern... since there was no electricity there, we relied on solar cells; when those lights were gone - all that was left were lanterns...
yogesh kept his cam busy
tried to capture the whole tree... did not come out, check next photo
this one came out better...
went for a walk... this was the pathway to water
in the morning there was a field where you can see water ... tried to take same photo with different resolutions ...
same
fishing was going on at the coast in candle light... zoom in the bag, and you can see fish..
had a long walk around the island
found many such boats
this pup followed us till we reached the guest house... the pups there were our pets for three days
arun and yogesh
next day early morning
stool outside our room
ducks
a single duck
ready and raring to go
we saw many such shrines.. hindu and muslim pray here together before venturing into the sunderbans
pied kingfisher at left top corner
pied kingfisher... this one was very very rare ...
lesser adjutant on top of the tree.. center of photo
black capped kingfisher
trees in middle of water
another view
and another
white bellied sea eagle. we saw a pair.. the other one flew off just as we reached there
a close up
another pic
a lone dry tree amidst greenery
and another boat
a better view
on the edge again
I am an edgy person :)
took this thru the binoculars
egret on tree top
the same egret
water and mangroves....
.... as far as the eye can see
blissfully asleep
and the video to prove that the boat is indeed running
more water, more mangroves
now I know what walking the plank means :)
this time it is reverse walk..
mangroves in the shade... it was a lazy afternoon
mud flats, where the crocs bask in the sun
egret
my shadow on the water, I am sitting on the edge and clicked this
whimbrel
flying egret
this creek was where we got the crocodiles finally
cormorants flying awya
and finally the crocodile
the best view..
if I get to see a huge crocodile after so much of hard work, I am entitled to click away like crazy
curlew
the flying cormorant were in focus but I was a bit late in clicking
no idea which birds
I have no clue what is there in this photo.. if u find out, leave a comment
the evenings descended very fast there
caught the reflection very well
after this shot the battery drained out, and then we got stuck in the mud as tide ebbed out... had to wait for 4-5 hours in pitch dark in the boat to wait for the tide to come and rescue us... one of the most adventurous and most frightening experience ...
next day morning we went for a ride in the smaller boat (not the blue one)
yogesh tries his hand at rowing
so do I
arun busy spotting the birds
we spot an oriolle.. that bird is pretty elusive (oriolle is the yellow bird with the black head... try to spot it... never mind, move on to next better photo ... even I have a hard time trying to find the bird in that picture)
a close up of oriolle
spotted dove - again through the binoculars
max optical zoom in camera, focus through the binocular and click.. the same spotted dove
yogesh got bored of bird watching
there was some bird there when I focused, till the click the bird had flown
see the kid in the left edge of the boat.. he too was stuck with us in the mud a night back ..
a creek near the bali island
collared dove
collared kingfisher
the guy roving the smaller boat
cormorant
what better way to end the trip then a game of cricket in the village... :D
our cottage...
and finally even I try my hand at driving the boat
