Island Notes

MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2012

The Andaman Islands provide breathtaking sea-views, and are home to fascinating flora and
fauna.

Coconuts and palms abound. Along beaches where there are residual mangroves, enormous tree
trunks taper triangularly to great heights. The picture above is of one such tree which grows on
Mundapahad beach.There are several trees on Mundapahad and all along the drive to Chiditop
which have the outline of stretched out icsoceles triangles. This is some evolution skill that the
trees seem to have carried forward from their mangrove pasts. Even the triangulating trunks
communicate a sense of swirling woods.
The picture below is of giant tree long uprooted by a storm that lies on the Mundapahad beach.

There are fascinating creatures on sea and on land . We stayed at a resort called Megapode
Nest. "Megapode" apparently means large feet in greek and is a fowl sized bird that inhabits the
Nicobar islands. Allowing its egg to incubate in the heat of rotting vegetation and earth , the adult
megapode lets the young chick fend for itself from the moment of birth. The craftsmen at Chatam
Mill had fashioned wooden models of the megapode and its chick, which was the only three
dimensional view that was afforded at Port Blair.

Andaman's chosen animal is the Dugong , otherwise known as sea cow. This is a large aquatic
mammal that is apparently herbivorous. Its bulk and eating habits probably contribute to its popular
name.
We also saw a specimen of the coconut crab at the aquarium, the size of a large crouching cat.
Apparently,the coconut crab, the largest among crabs, lives on land and climbs coconut trees to
extricate the fruit, rip apart the fibrous shell, make a hole to drink coconut water and eat the flesh.
It is also called the robber crab and is among the lesser known of the crab species.

3 comments:
Susan Visvanathan December 31, 2012 at 4:31 AM
Great pictures, Ratna, glad the colours were so amazing, given the drabness of Delhi fog, when
sun gives us a sudden halo of surreal light
Reply
srivatsa December 31, 2012 at 5:14 AM
Beautiful!
Reply
Ritu January 1, 2013 at 3:53 AM
Reallylovely pictures and veryinteresting trivia. :