ENGLISH ESSAY CLASS 9

Educational excursions not only enhance the knowledge of the students but also broaden their outlook towards the outside world. It is for this reason schools conduct educational excursions to educate the students about things that are beyond the text books. Our school also organizes educational excursions in Bengal every year to make us aware about the richness of our state in terms of biodiversity, culture and tradition. This year an excursion was organised to Sunderban, the home of the Royal Bengal Tigers.

I had always desired to visit the forest and experience its beauty and serenity. So I was quite thrilled when I came to know about the Sunderban excursion. This trip was for two days and was organized by three of our geography teachers for students of class 8 to 10.

We began our excursion on 19th of December. We were thirty students and our three teachers assisted us for this educational excursion in Bengal. Our bus left from school at 7.30 am in the morning and reached Gadkhali ghat (around 112 km from Kolkata) at about at 3 pm. From Gadkhali ghat we took a launch to reach Pakhirala, a village in the Gosaba Island. It was a two-hour ride and the journey was captivating. The scenic beauty, the birds and the greenery all around enthralled us. We reached Pakhirala in the evening and checked into the hotel that we had reserved in advanced for our educational excursion.

Next day we boarded a launch to begin our excursion to the forest. We first reached Sajnekhali, which is situated on the other side of Pakhirala. Here we had to obtain our entry permit to the forest. After obtaining the necessary permit we visited the Sajnekhali Museum and the Mangrove Interpretation Centre. We also went up the watch tower for a bird's eye view of the forest. I managed to see some deer and Brahmini Kites under a nearby bush with the help of my binoculars.

After Sajnekhali we visited Dobanki and Sudhanyakhali. We had to travel by motor-launch to reach these points. During our launch ride we saw some marsh crocodiles basking in the sun on one side of the bank. We saw the mangrove trees that we had only read about in the books. The most amazing moment was when we spotted a Royal Bengal Tiger, who was quietly basking in the sun amidst the mangrove trees. We clicked photographs to capture the wonderful moment. We were thrilled by this.

We stayed in the Sunderbans for one more day and then returned to Kolkata. This excursion was really informative and taught me about the beauty and importance of silence. It also taught me to love and care for nature. I truly loved this educational excursion and am keenly looking forward to the next educational excursion.