Educational excursions not only enhance the knowledge of the

students but also broaden their outlook towards the outside world. It
is for this reason schools conduct educational excursions to educate
the students about things that are beyond the text books. Our school
also organizes educational excursions in Bengal every year to
make us aware about the richness of our state in terms of
biodiversity, culture and tradition. This year an excursion was
organised to Sunderban, the home of the Royal Bengal Tigers.

I had always desired to visit the forest and experience its beauty and
serenity. So I was quite thrilled when I came to know about the
Sunderban excursion. This trip was for two days and was organized
by three of our geography teachers for students of class 8 to 10.

We began our excursion on 19th of December. We were thirty

students and our three teachers assisted us for this educational
excursion in Bengal. Our bus left from school at 7.30 am in the
morning and reached Gadkhali ghat (around 112 km from Kolkata) at
about at 3 pm. From Gadkhali ghat we took a launch to reach
Pakhirala, a village in the Gosaba Island. It was a two-hour ride and
the journey was captivating. The scenic beauty, the birds and the
greenery all around enthralled us. We reached Pakhirala in the
evening and checked into the hotel that we had reserved in advanced
for our educational excursion.

Next day we boarded a launch to begin our excursion to the forest.

We first reached Sajnekhali, which is situated on the other side of
Pakhirala. Here we had to obtain our entry permit to the forest. After
obtaining the necessary permit we visited the Sajnekhali Museum
and the Mangrove Interpretation Centre. We also went up the watch
tower for a bird's eye view of the forest. I managed to see some deer
and Brahmini Kites under a nearby bush with the help of my
binoculars.

After Sajnekhali we visited Dobanki and Sudhanyakhali. We had to

travel by motor-launch to reach these points. During our launch ride
we saw some marsh crocodiles basking in the sun on one side of the
bank. We saw the mangrove trees that we had only read about in the
books. The most amazing moment was when we spotted a Royal
Bengal Tiger, who was quietly basking in the sun amidst the
mangrove trees. We clicked photographs to capture the wonderful
moment. We were thrilled by this.

We stayed in the Sunderbans for one more day and then returned to
Kolkata. This excursion was really informative and taught me about
the beauty and importance of silence. It also taught me to love and
care for nature. I truly loved this educational excursion and am keenly
looking forward to the next educational excursion.