Trailhead 5 Days Andaman Trekking Package | Forested

The pre-dawn ferry to Bamboo Flat from Port Blair and the drive to the Mount Harriet National Park trail entry begins the central day of this andaman trekking package. The trail enters the forest at the forest department check post where permits are collected — the full trail is a substantial forest walk climbing through rainforest from near sea level to the highest point on South Andaman island at approximately 365 metres. The forest on the Mount Harriet trail is among the more intact old-growth sections accessible from Port Blair — the canopy closes over the path in the upper sections, the light changes quality as the elevation rises and the birding in the forest at this hour is active before the heat builds.

The summit viewpoint looks back over Port Blair harbour and the surrounding islands of the South Andaman channel — a perspective on the geography of the south Andaman coast that no boat trip produces. The British used Mount Harriet as a hill station during the colonial period and some structural remnants from that era exist on the upper sections of the trail. Return by early afternoon. Overnight in Port Blair.

Munda Pahar is a beach near Wandoor on the south coast of South Andaman accessible by a forest path from the road — a walk through coastal forest that descends to the beach rather than a road that ends at a car park. The character of arriving at Munda Pahar on foot through forest is specific to the approach — the sound of the sea coming through the trees before the beach appears, the forest opening onto the sand. The beach itself is largely undeveloped and the forest path means it carries fewer visitors than the beaches accessible by road.

The Wandoor coastline in the afternoon is a coastal forest walk along the edge of the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park — the forest fringing the marine park boundary carries the same coastal tree species that define the south Andaman forest edge throughout this andaman trekking package. The drive back to Port Blair in the late afternoon. Overnight in Port Blair.

The pre-dawn drive to Chiriya Tapu — approximately 30 kilometres south of Port Blair — arrives at the forest edge before first light for the best walking hour of the day in tropical forest. Chiriya Tapu is the southernmost accessible point of the main South Andaman island and the forest here runs to the water's edge at the land's end. The trail follows the coastal forest — the tree line on the ocean side, the mangrove belt in the tidal zone, the path moving through coastal forest with the sea appearing through the vegetation at the turns and the open water visible ahead when the trail reaches the southern tip.

The birding in the Chiriya Tapu forest is good at this hour — the physical engagement with the forest path and the coastal landform is the specific dimension of this andaman trekking package rather than the species count. The afternoon is the mangrove edge walk and the Chiriya Tapu sunset at the forest-sea boundary. Overnight in Port Blair.

The final morning of the andaman trekking package covers Ross Island — now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island — reached by boat from Aberdeen Jetty. Ross Island is the one site in this package where the walking is through ruins rather than forest — the cleared paths between the colonial structures, the church walls open to the sky, the ballroom floor overtaken by tree roots and the deer moving through the spaces between buildings. The forest reclamation of the colonial settlement is its own kind of trail — a walking tour through a place where the forest is winning.

North Bay is available by glass bottom boat from the same jetty for those who want the reef after four days in the forest. The Sagarika government emporium near the clock tower is the practical last stop before the airport. The Bon Voyagers vehicle drops at Port Blair Airport. The five days have covered the highest trail on South Andaman, a forest path to a beach, a coastal forest trek to the land's end and colonial ruins walking back into forest.