Bangladesh Tiger Search

Silver Wave Tours they called it
Pride of Sunderban explorations
Cruise seeking the flora and fauna of this unique tropical place.

Strangers were we when we boarded
Soon to be such good friends
Travelers from all over the world with great and strange stories to tell.

For sure not your luxury tour boat
More like a small navy vessel
Sides and walls made of metal and bunks where we laid our heads.

Still this boat had all we needed
Places outside to sit in the sun and talk
A dining room filled with feasts of curries quite a tasty delight.

Soon we’d were far from civilization
Just a tiny village here and there on the shore
Travelling to unspoiled vistas in a land that had much to reveal.

We all were hoping to see a tiger
Which was the purpose of the trip
But along the way we saw so many things we’d never seen.

A crocodile basking in sunshine
Unmoving on the warm sandy beach
Ten feet long or maybe more with a huge head that astounded.

Mangrove trees of many  descriptions
Each one was unlike its kinfolk
Roots submerged in water growing up to suck needed air.

Spotted deer stood and stared from the shoreline
All ages, a family no doubt
Mothers, babies, and a stately sire with a six point rack.

An eagle airshow that was quite impressive
As they soared and floated and dipped
Their claws extended to capture a luckless prey to eat.

Our journey was beyond expectation
So many strange things did we see
We hated to let go, to disembark from our adventure.

Still the object of our journey
Eluded our most serious quest
To see a tiger in the wild never did happen this time.

Spying a huge muddy foot print on the forest floor
A tree that served as a tiger scratching post
The proofs they are there for this journey will have to suffice.

©Corinne Mustafa
  February, 2013