More that 14 years ago while in India I took a boat ride on the Cauvery River.

The boat ride was taken at the Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary which is within the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and believe me, we did see some wildlife.

Here we have a couple of Asian openbill storks (Anastomus oscitans). There were a lot of these storks at the sanctuary as it is one of their breeding areas.  We were able to get up close to the birds while out on the water.

Here is a common spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). I have always liked this picture. I like the way that I caught it standing on one leg. It looks as though it is facing into the wind and just having a bit of fun.

Here is a view of the area where we went on the boat ride. The water looked so peaceful and it was a beautiful day.

The Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary is in the state of Karnataka about 10 miles from the city of Mysore. We were on a weekend trip during a course I was teaching in Bangalore.

Here is a picture of one of the boats that are used to give the tours on the river.

Just a simple wooden boat with the only propulsion being a set of oars. It is also interesting that there are no life preservers. You would definitely not see this in the US.

What made the boat ride even more interesting, is that we came really close to a lot of mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris). They are also known as marsh crocodiles or Indus crocodiles.

It was a bit creepy getting so close to them. You could almost reach out and touch them at some points during the tour.

The muggers are a bit smaller than alligators, but still they look really scary.

This makes me think of another post about Big Teeth.

Finally, just to prove that I was indeed out on the water in a wooden boat. Here is a picture of me with some of my students as we were leaving the dock and heading out among the muggers.

It would be cool to do this again some day.

Would you take a ride in a boat like this in crocodile infested waters?

Steven