Silver Magic Ships

In the southwest corner of Bangladesh there is the biggest mangrove forest in the world. This weekend I took a boat trip down the Ganges River all the way through the forest to the ocean.I started from my house at 6 am and met up with a bunch of MCCers and a couple of teachers for the 7 hour bus ride to Khulna. There we got on a river boat and began cruising south.

The peaceful boat hours were filled with reading, eating, card games, hymn sings and catnaps in the sun. I learned essential Canadian things, like "The Lumberjack Waltz" from the plethora of Canadians along on the trip
We stopped that first evening to get special permission from the forestry department to enter the protected mangrove area and pick up the armed guards to protect us from the outlaws. The cabins on the sleeping deck were small and claustrophobic, so many of us chose to sleep on the top deck under the stars.








In the afternoon of the second day we stopped to go for an excursion in the forest. The thick muck was treacherous, always threatening to suck off our shoes or slip us on our bums. At one point I was so stuck it took 4 men to push/pull me out of mess I was in. It is hard to imagine such wretched stuff supporting any life, but the forest was thick with trees and vines, orchids, lung fish, crabs, deer, and birds of all sorts. We even saw the tracks of a Royal Bengal Tiger. The mangroves have adapted "breathing roots" that stick up from under the ground, covering the forest floor with spikes that provide stability if you are wearing shoes, and a hole in your foot if you are not.

The next morning we got up early to swim in the ocean, my favorite part of the whole trip, before cruising back up the river to Khulna. To those of you fond of me (or Annabel), there are more pics of the trip on my flickr site. Just click on the badge to the right.