Tiger!

Scott and I decided to do what we mainly try to avoid when we travel – a packaged tour. But we really wanted to go to the Sunderbans and since we didn’t have much time to do research (the Lonely Planet said going to Sunderbans independently was both expensive and difficult) and our local Calcutta friends didn’t have any insight into how to do it on our own, we decided to go on a tour organized by the local Calcutta outfit, Backpackers. (While we had an overall fine time with Backpackers, Scott would probably reccomend to any traveler who wanted to go to Sunderbans independently to do just that.)

The reason for going to Sunderbans – it’s the largest mangrove system in the world and... there’s a chance to see a tiger. The chance is small, but still a chance nonetheless. Aside from big cats, there’s plenty of other wildlife to keep one entertained.

A village in Sunderbans. Of the over 100 islands that make up Sunderbans, about half of them are inhabited by people. 

We were lucky to see an array of wildlife, from crocodiles to kingfishers to monitors and lots more. But alas, below is the only tiger we were able to glimpse.