Special feature on A&N Islands

 With the first rays of the morning light of March 26, we caught the first glimpse of Barren, the twin-domed volcano protruding 300 metres from the sea. We had sailed on Shompen, our ship, the previous night, 135 km northeast of Port Blair to reach Barren Island, the only active volcano in India.

We anchored in the azure blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, lowering our zodiac boat, climbing down from it by a ladder on the side of the ship, as it bobbed up and down fervently and gunned the engine to life. In a few minutes, we reached the landing point where the lava flow merged into the sea and alternated between fine volcanic ash, sand and blocks of solidified lava. The water was so hot that we gingerly hopped on to land. We had finally landed on Barren!

This was a moment of satisfaction for me as I had longed to get to this island since my first visit in 1978. I had spent hours reading accounts of early explorers who had sailed around the Andamans in 1901, making an ascent of Barren. The sunny sky dramatically turned to grey, while thunder and rain lashed down hitting the ocean in a monsoon fury. Equally dramatically, the grey skies pulled back into a bright blue one. A smaller outboard boat dropped us to the shores of Barren where we stepped off on to warm, almost hot water and a shore of volcanic ash! There was nothing but solitude here.

After two-and-a-half-hours of walking up the volcano, we felt the intense heat and fatigue. As we went further towards the top of the crater, the air was filled with sulphurous fumes and the earth grew warmer beneath our feet. All around the rim, vegetation lay dead. We finally reached the rim and climbed to its high point. Nothing else in the world could have been more impressive than being on an active volcano. A hundred feet below lay a mystery, probably a silent fire where waves of glowing lava bubbled furiously, awaiting their next eruption, filling us with fascination, terrifying yet alluring. Located 135 km northeast of Port Blair, Barren Island is one of the 372 islands of the Andaman group where the volcano had last erupted in 1994.

The first thing that struck us about Andaman Islands was their natural beauty and splendid isolation -forests lead down steep hillsides to rocks, hard-packed beach, or, in sheltered areas, small mangrove forests. Out from the shores are fringing reefs that drop rather quickly to very deep water. The 572 islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago sprawl from the Coco Channel of Myanmar to the maritime boundary with Sumatra.

Our next destination was the captivating erstwhile capital during the British regime, Ross Island, a haunting Ozymandian ghost town of the empire. Shaken by an earthquake in 1941 and then abandoned, its barracks, messes, offices, church have since been spectacularly colonised by tropical trees and chital (introduced by the British) which skitter through the ruins in perpetual surprise. The ballroom, Chief Commissioner's house, Church, Cemetery, Hospital, Bakery, a swimming pool, tennis court are silent testimony to the lifestyle of the ruling class. Now their damaged structures boat trip. We made our way to the ubiquitous Radhanagar beach, are lined with creepers and deep roots of trees of a bygone era.

On nearby Viper Island, the main attraction is the gallows, picturesquely situated on a hillock with a view of the open sea. The climax of the tour is of course a visit to Port Blair's Cellular jail. Inside the portals is one of the most imposing sites of imperial authority: A cen- tral watchtower radiating power and punishment down three long galleries of cells. Built by the British in 1906, it was a three storeyed building with 696 solitary cells and today, it stands as a mute witness to the tortures meted to freedom fighters, who were incarcerated here. It is entirely made up of individual cells for confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven-pronged, puce coloured building with the central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and at present three of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place for pilgrimage for all patriots, has been declared a national memorial. In the evening, we saw the soul stirring sound and light saga of these heroic freedom fighters.

The next morning we travelled by speed boat through the green waters of the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park. On either side was an impenetrable wall of tropical rainforests with mangrove skirting. We rounded a corner into a broad, blue lagoon and a dazzling beach glared dead ahead. We were on the sands of Jolly Buoy. Scores of purple-uniformed kids, jolly boys and girls, shrieked and clung to the shore in the gently-tinted tide while a giant picnic was waiting for them. We then sailed 45 km into the deep blue sea towards the pristine Cinque Island, a wildlife preserve, chaste. littered with cuttlefish fins. nautilus shells and coral. The waters here abound with skipjack, giant kingfish, great trevally, garoupa, red snapper, great barracuda, king mackerel, vivaneau job. sailfish. marlin and tuna. We battled with line and bait to experience the fight and ultimately caught a spectacular 20-pound crevalee jack. We then crossed the turbulent 10-degree channel aboard a large vessel, arriving at the isle of Car Nicobar, a flat island, 45 km in circumference. Comprising 28 islands, with an area of 1,841-sq-km, the Nicobar group of islands is a . declared aboriginal tribal reserve area, thus inaccessible to foreign tourists. Even Indians from the mainland need a special tribal pass.

We were there for only a day but could have spent several weeks -the hospitality of the Nicobarese was overwhelming! We were greeted in their traditional style with headgear made of dried reeds and garlands of banana leaves. Each Nicobari village within the island had a tribal head called a captain and most of them were Christians.

In contrast, Havelock Island, the largest in Ritchie's archipelago. is the place most tourists head for once they arrive at Port Blair, a 45-km boat trip. We made our way to the ubiquitous Radhanagar beach, beginning to feel the remoteness that the Andamans offers. This beach is claimed by several as one of the most outstanding beaches left untouched. From here, we moved North to Diglipur, with the main objective of not just snorkelling, which can convert the uninitiated to an addict of the deep, but also to ascend Saddle Peak, the highest peak of the Andamans at 720 metres. The birds were aplenty and we observed the scarlet minivets to the racquet-tailed drongo who were great mimics, trying to confuse us with the sound of the koel.

We went snorkelling into the sea close to Ross and Smith Islands with sand bars in between. Each reef row seemed to have its own kind of fish to look at. The various shapes and the incredible colouration of tropical fish will never cease to amaze. Moving from Diglipur south to Mayabunder; in middle Andamans, a springboard for the remote northern Andaman Islands, was our next stop. Part of the village is home to a large minority of the Burmese Karen tribes, who were originally brought here as cheap logging labour by the British. Some of us visited the swiftlet caves at Point Chalis Ek in the company of Dr Ravi San karan, who was doing his research on ways and means of saving swiftlet nests, which are a delicacy for the Chinese market. Poachers are now saving these nests under an eco-tourism project until the eggs hatch and birds flyaway. Only 36 of these islands are inhabited. According to the island's environmental team, most are bio-diversity hot spots, with more than a quarter of the flora and fauna endemic (only found in Andamans). Four of the world's seven species of sea turtles nest on the beaches, sea grass supports rare dugongs and giant monitor lizards and salt water crocodiles inhabit the extensive mangrove swamps.

The 11th island on our expedition route was the magical sounding Little Andaman that houses Nicobarese and Onges. We stopped at Harminder Bay where we saw blue coral washed ashore for the first time. Twisted trees hung low hugging the sand beneath. The light inheritance of Little Andaman natural, magical in the purest form of green and aquamarine, as far as the eye could see. Snapshot: Thickly forested trees, slanted due to the wind direction with a vibrant interplay of red earth and clear waters.

The Olive Ridley sea turtle nests along the Butler Bay and is a highly endangered species. It is well-known for its mass nesting when several thousand turtles migrate to the breeding ground to mate and nest simultaneously. Little Andaman still boasts of mangrove swamps amid evergreen forests. We decided to do the creek cruise in an old fashioned wooden boat. The creek was more like a sheet of transparent glass that did the job of a looking glass as well. It reflected the surrounding, dense rain forest without a ripple to distort it and the stillness allowed you to peer down its shallow depths. Its shores were full of water-logged stumps.

Boating through the creek allowed us to closely view the natural vegetation, including the Nicobari pigeon. A green fortress of trees stood vigil either side of the river and not before long, it became dusk and soon dark and the thud of the diesel got reduced to a whimper. Baratang is another island destination with varied attractions. Mud volcanoes (found only in Andamans in the country), limestone caves, beaches and mangrove frilled creeks give a distinct identity to Baratang. When travelling to these islands, one has to be a responsible traveller, being sensitive to issues related to the physical environ- ment of wonderful beaches, fascinating rain forests and marine life. May the gentle winds of change blow into the sails of the Andaman Islands to develop it into a unique destination for the discerning and green traveller.