Wednesday November 19, 2025
Before breakfast we went on an early
rowboat ride searching for wildlife. We were treated to another beautiful sunrise,
and we saw quite a few birds, some deer, and monkeys. At one point we could see
at least 3 critters in the water swimming from one shore to the other. We just
saw heads at a great distance and even with my binocs I couldn’t make out what
they were. Piku thought water monitors, but to me they seemed to be otters.
The seats were hard to sit on in the
rowboat and most of us sat on our life jackets. This morning, they took some
cushions from the bench out on the bow and that made it much easier. I noticed
Piku started sitting on his life jacket after he saw us doing it.
We came back for breakfast with omelets,
fruit and tortilla like bread. I made a chocolate spread “crepe”. I tried to
eat a lot, so I’d be up for the long hike this morning. We could see deer on
the shore from the boat and some Resus Monkeys.
After breakfast Greg and I went on the
6-mile hike through a grass hut village and grasslands in search of tigers and
whatever else came along. Piku led us along with “Jim Downstream” (never learned
everyone’s name of the boat) who carried tons of water for us, and the armed
forest ranger. The ranger also came on all rowboat rides. (and stayed on board
until our last day when we had a village tour.
Other armed forest rangers were on land,
and they greeted us before we got on the “trail”.
The grass was long (not cut yet this
time of year) and it was hot walking during that part with no shade. We saw a
water monitor going into the water and a couple of wild boars. One was a young boar
near a grass hut, and he stepped on a metal pan and scared himself. He went
running. That startled the man living there and he chased it away.
Eventually, we came to the beach on
the Bay of Bengal, and we had a nice walk with a lovely breeze. We took a break
and rested on tree trunks on the ground. There were a few tiny crabs and lots
of small mullets jumping in the surf. They were fun to watch but of course not
easy to photograph.
We came across a tiger paw print. (much
larger than the ones we saw in Chitwan) We had passed quite a few areas where
tigers have been spotted, but we weren’t that lucky.
When we reached the forest, we took
another water break and continued back through the forest until we came to the boat
that would take us back to the houseboat. Towards the end, we saw another water
monitor and more Resus Monkeys.
We had free time in the afternoon
after lunch. I was still full from breakfast but ate some rice and broiled
eggplant. We had a couple of hours to relax before we went on another boat ride
in search of wildlife. We could always tell when it was about time to go on the
evening rowboat as the cook brought out something as a treat to eat before we left.
Before sunset, we went out on another
boat ride searching for wildlife.
Our last dinner on board was my
favorite. Grilled Chicken, fried rice, veggies, more of the grilled eggplant,
and barramundi. They called it the BBQ night. I had brought 6 Cokes to drink on
the boat, and I knew I only had 2 left, but tonight he brought Cokes for everyone.
They must have stocked some for us as a treat tonight.
We slept better on the second night.
As I’m complaining about our accommodations, we saw the small spaces the crew
has and realized just how spoiled we are.
Tomorrow, we have our last day on the
boat until we go back to Mongla for the drive back to Khulna to spend the
night. It was like camping as we didn’t shower until we got back to the hotel
in Khulna.
Houseboat
Sundarbans Album https://photos.app.goo.gl/JV2hj31hQYVR7L5NA
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