The Hindu Business Line : O maajhi re…

Our country is blessed with many mighty rivers totalling several thousands of kilometres in length; yet, river cruising in the sense that it is understood in many other countries is conspicuous by its absence here. For many Indians cruising usually means ocean cruising in some foreign luxury liner.

This is beginning to change with the Kolkata-based Vivada, a river transport company traditionally engaged in moving cargo — mainly liquid bulk, diversifying into cruise services on the Hooghly river to travel to the Sunderbans.

The word Sunderbans immediately conjures up images of impenetrable mangrove forests, winding rivers, lush Sundari trees, somnambulant crocodiles and spotted deer. The Sunderbans is all that and much more. Nestled between the Ganga and the Brahmaputra rivers, the Sunderbans delta covers more than 4,000 sq km of forest area in the Indian territory alone. The larger part falls in neighbouring Bangladesh. It has one of the largest tiger reserves in the world and is home to the world famous Royal Bengal Tigers. In fact, this is the world’s only mangrove ecosystem which is inhabited by tigers.

Float away... The luxury boat that takes visitors into the heart of Sunderbans’ mangrove ecosystem.

The mangrove forests here have other attractions too such as the unique fauna with amazing diversities, a great variety of wildlife such as the estuarine crocodile, Olive Ridley turtle, dolphin, fishing cat, wild boar, white bellied sea eagle, egret, goliath heron, kingfisher, water monitor, python, king cobra, and many more varieties of birds and fish. Criss-crossed with hundreds of creeks and tributaries, the Sunderbans, cloaked in a stunning variety of colours from known and unknown vegetation, never fails to impress visitors. Vivada’s M.V. Paramhansa will take visitors on a tour of the Sunderbans. The vessel has 32 cabins — 20 deluxe cabins on the main deck and 12 luxury cabins on the first deck — which are a ir-conditioned and with attached baths. The rooms have tea and coffee makers, telephone, ample reading material and an emergency kit containing torches, caps and umbrellas needed in a jungle trail.

For gastronomic delights, there is a restaurant-cum-bar (The Mangrove) on the first deck, a coffee shop (Heron Point) on the first deck terrace and a kebab corner (Hooghly) on the sky deck. The other amenities on board include a gym, an art gallery, ayurvedic treatment, a library stocking books and wildlife films and, of course, cards and chess.

Vivada offers a package of two nights and three days covering meals, guided tours and entry fees. The trip starts from the Millennium Park jetty of Kolkata port at 8 a.m. and reaches Namkhana — the fishermen’s cove and the gateway to Sunderbans — after seven hours. The vessel then navigates through a small creek, providing guests with glimpses of the mangrove forests and several other creeks flowing into the main river. The vessel drops anchor for the night at Bhagabatpur inside the forest area; but the tourists are transferred to a small river craft for a visit to a crocodile project before returning to the vessel.

The second day is devoted to cruising in rivers and creeks and visits to various islands before the vessel anchors at Bali, a small village, for the night halt. On the third day, the cruiser heads back to Kolkata but only after the tourists have visited some more islands and exotic locations. The vessel reaches Kolkata around 9 p.m.

The tariff? Up to September 2007, there is an introductory offer — Rs 15,000 ($350) for a deluxe room and Rs 18,000 ($400) for a luxury cabin for two nights and three days per person on twin sharing basis. However, between October 2007 and March 2008, the rates will be higher at $245 per night for deluxe rooms and $290 per night for luxury rooms or the equivalent in Indian currency.