Sunderbans – Wild Water Adeventure

28/12/2018 0 Comments read Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Gothkali (West Bengal, India), 28.12.2018 (The Weekend, Khaleej Times): Three cubs frolicking around a tigress sprawled under the shade of a Sal (Shorea robusta) tree is one of the many enduring images I have of tigers in the wild. Encounters with big cats are not uncommon in India’s 50 tiger reserves, but in the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans, this shy predator remains elusive.

A common refrain from visitors to the 2,585 square kilometre Sunderban Tiger Reserve, comprising the world’s largest delta formed by the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna – flowing into the Bay of Bengal, is that sighting a Royal Bengal Tiger is near impossible.

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The pearls of Cygnet Bay

20/04/2018 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Indigenous, Travel

Australian South Sea Pearl. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Cygnet Bay (Western Australia), 20.04.2018 (liveMint): A four-seater Cessna lands on a pindan (red soil) airstrip near a narrow dirt road that leads to Cygnet Bay. It is tucked in at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula on Australia’s remote north-western Kimberley coast, where the Great Sandy Desert merges effortlessly with white beaches and the azure waters of the Indian Ocean.

It was here, in 1946, that wheat farmer Dean Brown entered the pearling industry, collecting the world’s largest pearl oysters, Pinctada maxima, for their mother-of-pearl shells. A decade later, his sons, Lyndon and then Bruce, joined him. They began experimenting with farming pearls and established the first all-Australian owned and operated cultured pearling company, Cygnet Bay Pearls.

The company is still leading the way in harvesting some of the largest and finest pearls under a third-generation Brown, James, and welcoming visitors to experience the making of the Australian South Sea Pearl.

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Echidna Encounters

18/04/2009 0 Comments read Travel

Eco-friendly Wilderness Retreats in Wilsons Promontory National Park in Victoria, Australia. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Wilson’s Promontory (Victoria, Australia) On a balmy summer morning, we snake our way through the wide Melbourne roads, yet to be inundated with rush hour traffic. The shutters in this city of urban flair are still down, apart from a few cafes where early risers are enjoying hot breakfast on cobbled pavements and joggers are making the most of the crisp morning breeze.

We are heading to the Wilsons Promontory National Park, the southernmost tip of mainland Australia. I am filled with a sense of excitement and adventure, similar to the one felt during those short getaways from Delhi to the national parks and sanctuaries of Rajasthan and Haryana.

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