India Travel

This island has a beautiful beach at Butler Bay, a waterfall and plantation of oil palms. Apart from this there are several sandy beaches all along the coastline of the island. The break water at Hut Bay offers an excellent view to the tourists. Little Andaman is the vegetable bowl for the Nicobar group of islands. The Onge tribals live in this island, so do Nicobarese apart from settlers from erstwhile East Pakistan and other places. However entry to tribal areas is restricted. Journey 9 hrs. by sea from Port Blair towards south. Little Andaman island has been the Onge’s home from time immemorial. Earlier, their movements were confined to the island with occasional forays to other islands in their dug-out out-rigger canoes.

They have been in regular contact with outsiders for over a century. For long, they successfully evaded all attempts at contact with the outsiders. Despite their resistance, they were disturbed and were left in a state of destitution for a considerable period of time. In 1967, Little Andaman was opened up for settlement for people from outside. For the first time, the small and fragile population of 98 Onges have started living face to face with several thousand people. This had a far-reaching impact on their life and future.

Katchal is a tiny island in the Nicobar group. It was this island, which heralded the new millennium with the first sunrise on 1st January 2000. This island has beautiful beaches at East bay, Jhula and West bay. The island of Katchal is one of the 572 islands, islets and rocks that form the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Katchal, earlier known as Tihnyu, has been home to both indigenous and non-indigenous people. Katchal Island with an area of 174.4 sq km is situated about 1600 km away from the mainland of India. It is 300 km south of Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Car Nicobar and Katchal are almost flat while the others have hilly terrain. In Little Nicobar and Great Nicobar in the Nicobar group, the land surface is very irregular, cut up by steep hills and valleys. Due to their unique location and lack of touch with the rest of the world, outsiders exploited the innocent islanders for a long time. To stop their economic exploitation, the Government of India declared the Nicobar Islands an Aboriginal Tribal Reserve Area on April 2, 1957. This made the Nicobar Islands inaccessible to outsiders and even Indian people from the mainland need a special tribal pass to land on the islands.

Great Nicobar

Great Nicobar is the largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. Indoor Point, its southernmost tip, is also the southernmost point of India. The island covers 1045 km but is sparsely inhabited, largely being covered by rainforest and known for its diverse wildlife.

The majority of the island is a biosphere reserve, home to unique animals including the megapode bird, the edible-nest swiftlet, the Crab Eating Macaque, salt water crocodile, giant leather back turtle, Malayan box turtle, Nicobar tree shrew, reticulated python and the giant robber crab

The island was severely affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami with many deaths, and was cut off from all contact for more than a day.

Places in Great Nicobar
Pulobed (Lapapu), Katahu, Dairkurat, Alexander River, Ayouk, Pulobed, Pulokunj, Shompen Village(A), Renguang, Dogmar River, Kopenheat, Shompen Village(B), Kasintung, Koe, Denlet, Pulobhabi, Patatiya, Hin-Pou-Chi, Kokeon, Dekhiyon(FC), Pulopacca, In-hin-loi, Pulobaha, Indira Point, Chingan, , Galathia River(FC), Sastri Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Joginder Nagar, 7 KM-Farm, Shompen Hut, Govind Nagar, Campbell Bay, Trinket Bay.

Car Nicobar, in the northern part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is one of the only 12 inhabited islands in the Andamans archipelago. The two groups of islands, Andaman and Nicobar, are separated by a deep ten degree channel. The islands are pristine with palm-fringed beaches and deep blue waters. The Car Nicobar island has a number of beautiful many bays, like the Fresh Water Bay, the Gaske Bay and the North Bay to name a few. Car Nicobar is the headquarters of Nicobar District. It is a flat fertile island covered with cluster of coconut palms and enchanting beaches with a roaring sea all around. The Nicobari huts, built on stilts having entrance through floor with a wooden, ladder, are unique to this island. 16 hrs. journey by sea from Port Blair.