Blogs from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India, Asia - page 4

PORT BLAIR, SOUTH ANDAMAN ISLAND, ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. Monday 12 March, 2012. Today we woke up and thought we had died and gone to hell. What a DUMP! Our 'hell' was the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups far out in the Bay of Bengal. They are part of India but this archipelago of 300 ish coral islands is very remote, lying closer to Myanmar, Thailand and Sumatra than to India. The peoples of the Andamans and Nicobars are quite distinct from those on the Indian mainland. Until the 17th century they were populated almost exclusively by several distinct tribes having different characteristics, traditions and languages. Since the 17th century they have been colonized by newcomers from both sides of the Bay of Bengal and by the British. As a result, the aboriginal tribes, some of ... read more

We arrived in Chennai at the tail end of a cyclone and the previous week people were trapped on the Andaman Islands where we were heading! The boat trip from Port Blair to Havelock Island was a little rough but nothing we couldn't handle by staring at the horizon. We stayed at a beautiful resort on a tropical beach at Havelock Island. The only noise was the loud crash of coconuts falling on the roof or a dull thud if they hit the sand. We spent a relaxing NYE here, with a few drinks (hard to come by). Our daily breakfasts included lassis and pancakes. We had a busy schedule of swimming, reading and drinking scotch and cokes in the afternoons.... read more

Durch den Zivilisationscut im Paradies und im Anschluß einer Hochgeschwindigkeitstour von Chennai über Puri, Konark, Calcutta und jetzt Bodhgaya bin ich etwas im Verzug was die aktuellen Bilder angeht. Doch ich möchte Euch die Paradiesfotos nicht vorenthalten und sende nun wie versprochen nach den Fotos der Tierwelt von Pandora weitere Eindrücke der Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tja und nach dem es bei satten 2175 abgelichteten Lebewesen und Natureindrücken seeehr seeehr schwierig ist eine Auswahl zu treffen fang ich jetzt erst mal mit ein paar Bildern vom ersten Aufenthaltsort dort an nämlich Havelock Island. Mal kucken wie lange das Hochladen dauert und ob heute noch weitere folgen oder ob ich das dann vertage:-)...... read more

Bruised, Burned, Blistered and Bleeding – and I’m not talking about my ego, here. My back is scraped thoroughly from all the pivoting in my seat trying to keep my kayak right-side-up in five-feet swells just south-east of John Lawrence Island…ohhhhh and the wall of rocks they end on – not a pleasant sight. Still rolling and pitching from the rough seas while kayaking this past week, I haven’t felt this alive in a lonnnnng time. But all in all it was a bloody good week at sea. I actually enjoyed the fight. A mini-storm (something you get a lot of at this time of the year in the andamans) hit me just as I was through playboating the swells a couple or so days ago, and turned to start my 4 km ride back. The ... read more

Hier noch die ausstehenden Tauchfotos von den Andamanen. Leider ist die Qualitaet dieser Fotos nicht ansatzweise mit meinen Fotos vergangener Tauchgaenge zu vergleichen, aber trotzem geben sie einen Eindruck der unterbeschreiblichen Unterwasswerwelt. Durch die verangenenen Stuerme und vielen Regenfaelle war die Unterwassersicht nur maessig und die Stroemungen sehr heftig.... read more