Sundarbans Diary - The Enormous Estuarine Crocodile

Cruising through the backwaters of the Sundarbans in India, Jennifer Nandi marvels at the estuarine crocodile, even as her thoughts turn to the conflict between these fascinating reptiles and the ecosystem's human inhabitants

Estuarine crocodile sunbathing in the squelchy ooze

The plan for today begins with breakfast on board. Once again, to ensure a fairly decent meal, I do what it takes. It is rather surprising that the guide, the camp crew and boat crew have little idea of what standard quality of a meal implies. Nevertheless, all are co-operative and aim to please, which is a wonderful attitude to work with, and so my suggestions of difficult alterations to the breakfast menu are charmingly accepted.

Entering the Indian Sundarbans

With the Sundarbans of Bangladesh behind her, Jennifer Nandi explores the Sundarbans of West Bengal, India. Political boundaries, she finds, are not the only dividing line between the two nations. Beginning her journey at Kolkata, she despairs at the atmosphere of abject neglect and callousness...

It is hard to believe that Calcutta (now Kolkata) was once part of the Sundarbans – that mangrove-jigsaw spanning across two countries; land which had conquered the accidents of geography, the frailty of human beings, and distressingly, left only the cyclonic weather beyond control. 

A three-hour drive from the Oberoi Grand to the jetty at Gadkhali takes us through countryside more peopled than what we witnessed in Bangladesh. A mayhem of cows jostles with pedestrian life while village life spills onto the main road. Crowded around the street frontage of tented tea stalls and shops selling Bengali sweetmeats, are gangs of unemployed youth. The younger boys play cricket on a patch of wasteland and tyre-repair shops do brisk business.