May General Meeting

The guest speaker for the May General Meeting at Sonargaon Hotel was Mr. Enam Ul Haq, an avid bird watcher and environmentalist (see the April issue of WOMUN for his article on bird watching). He spends most of his holidays and a lot of his weekends outdoors in the nature. Seems like a difficult thing to do in Dhaka? Mr. Haq gave us the names of several day trips and short duration (less than one-week) tours which one could take from Dhaka into nature, with wildlife and birds, and a minimum of tourists.

For those who have already done the Sundarbans and the tea plantations and for those who would like to take a special trip in Bangladesh, read on. Mr. Haq has written down the name of these places. As most trips are best done in winter, there is still a lot of time to prepare for any of them. Mr. Haq has also kindly agreed to help UNWA organize a day trip to one of his recommended sites in November, so we’ll give you the details in our October or November WOMUN.

On behalf of UNWA and particularly those who attended, we’d like to thank Mr. Haq. His talk and his slides made us forget for a moment the crowds, the pollution and the traffic jams of Dhaka and took us to some very beautiful sites in Bangladesh.

List of Recommended Tours

If you live in Dhaka and don’t want to be indoors on holidays, here’s a list of tours you can take:

Boat Ride in the river Padma starting from and ending at Dighir-Paar in Tongibari PS of Munshiganj District. Best time is Nov-Mar. You can see migratory ducks and shore-birds, enjoy the great river and walk on the sandy banks of large islands in it. You can reach Dighir-Paar in 2 hours if you leave home at 5 AM (on way to Munshiganj town, take ferry at Mukhtarpur, go to Shipahipara Bazar and take left turn and drive 8 KM). Country-boats with engine are available at Dighir-Paar (Taka 500 for entire day), can comfortably take 15 passengers. Carry water and packed food, binoculars and telescope.

Boat Ride in the river Yamuna starting from and ending at Paglar-Ghat near Sirajganj Town. Best time is Nov-Mar. You can see migratory ducks, enjoy the great river and walk on large islands in it. You can reach Paglar-Ghat in 3 hours if you leave home at 5 AM (on way to Tangail, take first right turn after crossing the bridge on Yamuna). Country-boats with engine are available at Paglar-Ghat (Taka 500 for entire day), can comfortably take 15 passengers. Carry water and packed food, binoculars and telescope.

Nature-walk in Sal Forest of Bhawal National Park. Any time of the year is good (avoid picnic season). You can see White-eyed Buzzard, Crested Serpent Eagle, Indian Pitta (in monsoon). You can reach the Park Gate in an hour if you leave home by 7 AM (take Dhaka-MymensingH Road, pass Joydevpur, drive for 15 min, the Park Gate is on the right). . Entry fee Taka 50 per head. Carry water and packed food and binoculars

Nature-walk in Modhupur Forest. Any time of the year is good. You can enjoy walking on the trails, meet ethnic Garo people (Chunia is a Garo village by the forest), see Rhesus Monkey, Capped Languor, Brown Fish Owl, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Spangled Drongo, Shama, Indian Pitta (in monsoon). You can reach the Forest Gate in 3 hours if you leave home by 5 AM (take Dhaka-Mymensing Road, pass Mymensing Town, take Mymensing-Tangail Road, drive for 45 min, the Forest Gate is on the right). Entry fee Taka 15 per head. Carry water and packed food and binoculars. Carry water and packed food, and binoculars.

Nature-walk in Mangrove Forest of Patenga. Best time is Nov-Mar. You can see migratory ducks and shore-birds, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel. Take 11 PM train to Chittagong (Taka 500), take auto-rickshaw from Chittagong Railway Station to Steel Mill (Taka 80), take by-lane to the right and walk to the seaside embankment, turn right and walk on the embankment till behind EPZ, mangrove is to your left. Carry water and packed food, binoculars and telescope. Return from Chittagong to Dhaka by evening deluxe-bus (available every half hour till 4 PM) or by night train (tickets must be bought in advance).