Prakruthi: Andaman - The wild side

"Heavy rains lash Chennai, airport closed" screamed the headlines in the news. My mind went back a a few days, when I had been in Chennai on my way to Port Blair. A silent prayer was on my lips, thanking God that I had made it.

My journey began on a late night flight from Bengaluru. After spending a few hours in Chennai airport, amidst the pitter patter of rain, I caught an early morning flight to Andaman. As though reluctant to reveal their secrets, the clouds parted slowly to give brief, glorious, glimpses of the emerald islands as I neared my destination. At last, the air-hostess announced that we were landing in Veer Savarkar airport, Port Blair and, after sometime, I set my foot on the Andaman islands.

Made infamous as kala paani (black water) during the freedom struggle, Andaman is the eastern most part of India. Port Blair is the capital and is located in South Andaman island. There are daily flights from Kolkata and Chennai to here.

In the evening we headed to Chidiya Tapu. Famous for its view of the sunset, Chidiya Tapu has a biological park and a beach. The road from port Blair winds its way next to the sea and through rain forests. On reaching Chidiya Tapu,we were greeted by white headed starlings and long tailed parakeets.

On entering the biological park, the trees start to tower majestically overhead. Used to the shorter trees of south Indian jungles, it was a pleasant surprise for me to be surrounded by giants in excess of a hundred feet. Andaman Padauk, state tree of Andaman, has buttress roots which are about two to three feet high. It seems Jarawas, an indigenous tribe, drum on these roots to communicate with one another. A little way into the biological park, Andaman shama and Andaman drongo came out of their hiding and sat on low hanging branches. Even a crake started calling from nearby. But, after a long wait, we had to leave without seeing it.

Andaman Shama

Andaman drongo

It was around 5:30pm and the sun had long since set — sunset happens around 5pm in Andaman. It was time to look for the owls. And, what sightings we had! Within an hour we had seen and photographed Oriental Scops owl, Humes hawk owl and Andaman hawk owl.

Humes Hawk Owl

Andaman Hawk Owl

Oriental Scops Owl

Finally, it was time to call an end to the eventful first day.

The next morning we started for Little Andaman. The ship which we took was a refurbished Chinese vessel and our bunks were in a dormitory. We couldn't get a cabin as the residents are given preference over tourists. There was no air conditioning and it was unbearably hot, with small portholes providing inadequate ventilation. So, I took a cue from the others and spent most of the time on the deck.

View from Port Blair harbour

So, here I am on the deck, with the sun beating down my shoulders, when I spot something like a wagtail take off from the prow of the ship. I am surprised on seeing a small bird, usually found around inland water bodies, this far into the sea. But, on closer observation, I see that it is not a bird, but a fish! A flying fish! Our ship's passage had disturbed a school of them and they were doing what they do best — fly. With their pectoral fins acting as a glider's wings, they could easily glide for a hundred feet. Sometimes, as they are landing, they beat on a wave's crest with their tail and take off again, nearly doubling their flight path. Every few minutes a group of flying fish would take off and keep me entertained.

Flying fish

After around 6 hours, the ship covered the distance of 120 kilometres and reached Little Andaman. Ship schedules are notoriously bad in Andaman and it is better to keep some buffer time. It is not unheard of for ships to be cancelled or rescheduled by a day. Tickets are sold only 3 days in advance.

Indoor mushroom

As soon as we stepped on Little Andaman it started pouring cats and dogs. We loaded our luggage into our vehicle, had a quick bite to eat and checked into our hotel.

Little Andaman is a small island to the south of South Andaman. Rarely visited by tourists, it has a lush cover of tropical rainforest. Almost all of the island is marked as a reserve for the Onge tribe, with no access to anyone. Tourists are allowed to visit a thin strip of the island towards the south, known as Hut Bay. The facilities for tourists are quite basic. Food was simple but tasty and had to be ordered in advance. The room was air conditioned, with some photo opportunities within it — there was a mushroom growing out of the bathroom door.

By night, the rains had subsided and we went looking for owls. Because of the rains, the snakes had come out in force and we saw two keelbacks. Sadly, this count was overtaken by the number of road kills which we saw. We also spotted another owl endemic to Andaman — the Andaman Scops owl.

Keelback

Andaman Scops owl

Masked palm civet
(P.l.tytleri)

The other places which we visited in Little Andaman were a light house and a water falls.

The light house is near the southern tip of the island and the way to it passes through coconut plantations, beaches and rainforest. A tree had fallen across the road and the last few kilometres had to be covered on foot. I once tried to make this journey with a long lens mounted on a tripod and it is a mistake that I am not likely to make again. The road was slushy due to the recent rains and it was a miracle that I made it without slipping. A lift from a friendly tractor driver saved me some of the agony.

A tidal pool on the way to light house

Path to the light house

I found the new canon 100-400 lens ideal for the rain forest. Having a minimal focus distance of around 3 ft, I was able to use it for shooting macro images and it has reasonable reach on a crop body.

Sunset is the best time to be at the light house. The sun illuminates the forest in golden light and the red clouds are reflected in the sea, making it ideal for landscape photos. After sunset, we had a surprise in store for us. As the sun dipped over the horizon, dozens of Nicobar pigeons flew over the light house and into the sea. We couldn't fathom where they were going as there was no other island in sight.

Andaman bronzeback

Nicobar pigeon

View from light house at sunset

While returning from the light house, it was dark with the moonlight faintly illuminating the path and owls hooting from nearby trees. The roots and trunks of trees formed ghostly shapes on either side of the path. I was walking with my torch and trying to avoid slipping in the slush, gratefully thinking that I am in Andaman, not in mainland India where there would have been a very real threat of being chased by elephants at this time. Suddenly, Shreeram, my travel companion, turns to me and asks me to scream loudly if a wild boar charges! So went my illusion of safety! Thankfully we met no pigs on that night, though one did squeal loudly and run away on the next day.

The waterfall, which we visited, was known as White Surf falls. It is around 25 feet high and can be accessed by vehicle. I was sitting in front of the falls and composing my shot when Shreeram asked me to turn around. A snake, maybe a keelback, had swum to within 4 feet of me! I was staring, surprised, at the snake for a few seconds when it occurred to me that it would make a good wide angle image. But, by the time I turned the camera around, the snake had swum away.

Now it was time to bid adieu to Little Andaman. This time we managed to get an air conditioned cabin in an overnight ship and sailed back to Port Blair.

Havelock was the next island in our agenda. Unlike Little Andaman, Havelock is in every tourist's list and can be reached by ship in around 2 hours.

With azure seas, white beaches and overhanging mangroves and palm trees, Havelock is the poster boy for Andaman Islands. Havelock's Radhanagar beach is rated as one of the best beaches in Asia. Scuba divers, beach lovers and nearly every tourist throng to this island.

Radhanagar beach

Burrow of sand bubbler crab

There is another, wilder, side to this island. Look closely at the white sand and you will see small sand globules arranged in neat circles with a deep hole in the centre. This the handiwork of sand bubbler crabs, which come out of their burrows during low tide and filter out organic matter from the sand. The little globules are what is left after all the organic matter is filtered out.

Near the mangroves, one can see brightly colored crabs with a disproportionately large right claw, which they keep waving about. You take a quick step towards them, and they vanish into their burrows in the blink of an eye. These are male fiddler crabs and they use their large claw to warn off other males. The larger the claw the more attractive it is to a female.

Fiddler crab

Mudskipper

Next to the fiddler crabs, on half submerged rocks, you can find tiny fish, clinging on to the exposed surfaces. Disturb them and they skip on the water and move to a more secluded rock. Hence they get their name — mudskippers.

Don't forget to observe the palm trees. You could be lucky enough to spot the Andaman day gecko. Unlike the drab geckos which we see at our homes, this lizard is colored bright green, with red spots on its back and head.

Andaman Day Gecko

Back at Port Blair we visited Mt Harriet and Sippy Ghat.

Mt Harriet can be reached either by ferry, in around half an hour, or by road, in around one and half hours. We took the ferry. It is a large boat capable of transporting 4 to 5 cars. In the morning, it was relatively empty with only a few fisher women who were transporting their catch. The ferry dropped us at a place called Bamboo Flat and we drove from there to Mt Harriet.

View of houses at Bamboo Flat

View of the light house en route to Mt Harriet.
A similar image of the same light house is
printed on the 20 rupees note.

At around 400 meters, Mt Harriet is the third tallest peak in the Andamans and one can drive all the way to the top to get a panoramic view of the island. When we visited, the road was closed for repairs and we walked a short way up. Though the bird sightings were a bit less, it was a haven for butterflies. Clippers, sailors, commanders, leopards and yam flies flitted about in the under growth.

yam fly

Clipper

sailor

Unfortunately, Mt Harriet has one thing in common with the mainland — leeches. When I went off the road to photograph some fungi, I was rewarded with around 10 leech bites on each leg.

Sippy Ghat has several water bodies, some formed during the tsunami. One can still see half constructed houses, now overrun by weeds.

A house overrun by weeds. We spotted two
bitterns next to this house.

Mangrove saplings

Fishermen near Sippy Ghat

Sippy Ghat is one of the best places to see the Andaman teal, the only duck endemic to Andaman. Previously found only in remote forest pools, these ducks can be now found out in the open, in water bodies next to the road. Maybe they were displaced from their previous habitat due to the tsunami. This place is also a good spot to photograph other birds which are elusive in the mainland like bitterns and snipes.

Andaman Teal

Cinnamon Bittern

Yellow Bittern

After a visit to the cellular jail and paying our respects to the freedom fighters incarcerated there, our visit to Andaman came to an end.

Swatantrya Jyoti (Flame of independence) at Cellular jail

~~ o ~~

Bird list:

Thanks to Shreeram for compiling this.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Shreeram, from darter, our local birding guide Vikram Shil (9434262681) for organizing the trip, and other participants in the tour - Kamakshi, Rohini and Anne - for their companionship.

Some more images: