Shyam A. Gaonkar
Sometimes, the location shown in a great film can turn into a must-see destination in one’s personal life. A long time ago, I had a chance to watch a Bengali movie called ‘Sabuj Dwiper Raja’, based on the famous sleuth ‘Kakababu’ penned by Sunil Gangopadhyay. Throughout that movie, I admired the natural beauty of the Andaman Islands and its surroundings. A treasure trove of pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and lush jungles full of adventure. I decided to explore the islands in the near future.
Our trip began at 2.30 a.m. Baratang has been on our bucket list for a while! The island’s mud volcano and limestone caves were a unique combo. The caves offer a spectacular view of stalactite-stalagmite formations. In addition to that, we would get to pass through the dense jungle where the Jarawa community lived.
The journey from Port Blair to Baratang Jetty, was about 100 kilometres. We had hired a Scorpio car along with Biswajeet, who was less of a driver and more of a guide/friend to us. We had to reach the Jirkatang entry point to do the form filling formalities to enter Baratang. Andaman has four main tribal communities. A major one is the Jarawa. I heard from reliable sources that, long back, a group of tourists shot a video of the Jarawas and uploaded it on social media. According to the United States, this act was not justified and it was classified as hindrance to the tribal life of the Jarawas. The issue was raised and was finally brought up to the Indian Government. After various discussions, the Government decided to offer protection to the community. The jungle was then handed over to the police and CCTV cameras were also installed amidst the wild. A convoy system was setup wherein a convoy of vehicles at specific times will be accompanied by the police officials to cross the jungle from Jirkatang to Baratang and vice versa. The government also banned the use of mobiles and cameras during the journey from Jarawa locality.
As per the time schedule, the first convoy had to depart at 6 a.m. We had to reach the spot a little early as each vehicle needs to register with the police officials.
Since we started on time, we reached the spot on time, and lined up in the convoy consisting of cars and buses. All it had was a police camp, and a few road side eateries. Our driver carried out all necessary formalities and the convoy then proceeded. At the very start and the end of convoy, we were accompanied by police officers on bikes. Vehicles were to maintain a certain speed with no overtaking. We drove across the dense jungle and guess what! We saw the Jarawas on a turn, standing on little hilly watching the convoy.
At Baratang, we had to cross a river in order to go to the main area which houses the tourist spots. Biswajeet was kind enough to accompany and arrange a speed boat for me and my family. The speed boat was to show us the mud volcanos. Each speed boat carried eight to 10 people. Before starting the journey, lifejackets were provided to us. We all have to give importance to safety or be prepared to surrender to the salt water crocodiles! In fact, we spotted these crocodiles at the riverside while travelling to the limestone caves.
After boarding the speed boat, we had to cover a distance of 12 nautical miles, which took about 30 minutes. The landscape was interesting to look at and the trees at the side of the waterway graced the same. Now this was surely the best part! The view was as beautiful as we entered inside. Our motor boat crawled through the trees and finally it berthed at the side of the pier.
We then had to walk through the jungle for around one and a half kilometres. After a hectic walk we finally reached the limestone caves. Our guide showed us around the caves and what followed next was interesting. He showed us around various objects in the caves. For instance, an embossed deposit with two engraving was presented as Lord Ganesha by him. This continued for half an hour and everyone got busy pointing torches to the walls in order to spot more.
We spent a good amount of time in the caves and finally headed back to the pier, and soon resumed our journey to Jirkatang. Though this time, none of the Jarawas were spotted! If you’re ever sketching out a trip, Andaman’s got that perfect mix of turquoise waters and offbeat jungle thrills. And Baratang’s mud volcano and limestone caves are the ultimate “wow” moments.
