The Big Boat at sunset (or dawn? the country boat cruises left early early). The boat housed about 25 passengers and probably 8 crew members, including cooks. We ate all our meals aboard the boat, including one excellent b-b-q bass and chicken dinner. There were a few really good shade spots for reading, and I developed a system of eating really quickly to secure an awesome afternoon nap/reading locale.
The infamous logo, I don't know if the double meaning that I saw is clear in the picture, but essentially it is supposed to be a boat gliding on the green water, with the white bottom right corner representing a gentle wake. But, that white area also looks like a cliff, in my opinion, with a big green sun behind it as the tour guides of Guide Tours lead passengers down a waterfall... I was reminded that Bangladesh has almost zero slope, so waterfalls are impossible.
The infamous logo, I don't know if the double meaning that I saw is clear in the picture, but essentially it is supposed to be a boat gliding on the green water, with the white bottom right corner representing a gentle wake. But, that white area also looks like a cliff, in my opinion, with a big green sun behind it as the tour guides of Guide Tours lead passengers down a waterfall... I was reminded that Bangladesh has almost zero slope, so waterfalls are impossible.
A small village at the top of the Sundarbans, we paused her to receive entrance permission from the forestry service.
The trainee guide, Mushti, who had the second most English on the boat. A very engaging fellow, he is the same age as me, and it was fascinating to talk to him about his life. His parents are both done working so he supports his whole family while also attending a local university. His English is passable, but has some really odd quirks that are fairly common here. For instance, he called an umbrella a "parasol"... technically not incorrect, but probably not the right term in the twenty first century. He said he was a "child of Islam" but that he believed in "soul relations" and did not believe that blood runs thicker than water. A truly interesting man, he plans to go out and eat/see a movie with his friends on his upcoming November birthday. A non sequitor, he says he would steal chickens with his friends growing up for picnics, but he only did it "to create joy, not hurt anyone."
The trainee guide, Mushti, who had the second most English on the boat. A very engaging fellow, he is the same age as me, and it was fascinating to talk to him about his life. His parents are both done working so he supports his whole family while also attending a local university. His English is passable, but has some really odd quirks that are fairly common here. For instance, he called an umbrella a "parasol"... technically not incorrect, but probably not the right term in the twenty first century. He said he was a "child of Islam" but that he believed in "soul relations" and did not believe that blood runs thicker than water. A truly interesting man, he plans to go out and eat/see a movie with his friends on his upcoming November birthday. A non sequitor, he says he would steal chickens with his friends growing up for picnics, but he only did it "to create joy, not hurt anyone."
A lazy monitor lizard, we floated right under this guy in the tree. He is probably about 4-5 feet long.
Taking pictures of birds with my camera is really tough, but here is a decent look at the "most beautiful bird in the Sundarbans," the white bellied sea eagle. I have about 8 pictures I tried to take of king fishers, woodpeckers and brahminy kites that are pretty worthless.
View from the tip of the country boat, our armed forestry guide on the left. I always tried to sit right next to the guides, because they would whisper things they saw, and he dropped some great inside info. This is right before we heard the tiger roar, which comes after "she" (as he always referred to the tiger) makes a kill. He knew there was a tiger within a couple Km because the jungle was really talking to itself, warning of the beast on the other side of the river.
A menacing side stream.
This provides an idea of how much the salty water rises and falls every day
Aaah, the Indian Ocean. So warm, and not that salty because it's mixed with the fresh water from the Ganges. We spent an afternoon at the beach: swimming, walking around, a little soccer... only thing that could have made it better would be a little brew and b-b-q.
After swimming around in a mud pit. I jumped off the top of the boat and swam over, but the current took me a bit further than I had expected... I didn't get to the point of panicking, but I definitely got more of a work out than I had bargained for. There were a couple of little kids on the trip, and it was fun to jump and slide and play in the mud with them.
Sunset on a country boat, I love the reflection, the water was so still.
1 comment:
Hey, I love your photos..they are really nice...
Post a Comment