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Wildlife Safaris in Srimangal
The tea capital of Bangladesh in the northeastern Sylhet hills, ringed by terraced tea estates and semi-evergreen rainforest. Its centrepiece is Lawachara National Park, a biodiversity hotspot that shelters the rare western hoolock gibbon and more than 240 bird species, and the town is famous for its seven-layer tea.
Why here
Srimangal is Bangladesh at its greenest, a hill town wrapped in tea gardens where the wildlife draw is the forest above them. Lawachara National Park is a pocket of semi-evergreen rainforest holding one of the last viable populations of the critically endangered western hoolock gibbon, the country's only ape, whose whooping calls carry through the canopy at dawn. Walk the trails with a guide and you have a real chance of finding a gibbon family overhead, along with capped langurs, barking deer, giant squirrels and a bird list that runs past 240 species, from hornbills and trogons to the winter migrants. Beyond the park, the days fold in the wider Sylhet landscape: hillsides of clipped tea bushes, the Khasi and Monipuri communities who farm betel and weave, the migratory-bird wetlands of Baikka Beel, and Madhabpur Lake with its lotus and water lilies. For travellers who want nature and slow culture rather than a beach, this is the country's best land-based wildlife base.
Best months
The best months are the cool, dry winter from November to February, when migratory birds arrive at the wetlands and the forest trails are easiest; the monsoon brings leeches and heavy rain. Gibbons are wild and mobile, so early morning gives the best odds of hearing and finding them. A local guide is worth taking for the park, both to read the forest and because gibbon and bird activity peaks in the first hours after dawn.
Getting there & around
Srimangal sits on the Dhaka to Sylhet line and is most comfortably reached by train, about a six to seven hour ride from the capital, or by road. The town is the base, with Lawachara National Park, the tea estates, Baikka Beel and Madhabpur Lake all a short drive out; a car or CNG auto-rickshaw with a guide covers them easily in a day or two. Park entry fees are payable locally and a guide is recommended for wildlife.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Orient Eco-Tourism
OutfitterOrient Eco-Tourism is a Bangladeshi tour operator established in 2001 that specialises in guided trips for Western visitors, with English-speaking eco-guides trained through Bangladesh Tourism Board programmes. Its Srimangal itinerary treks Lawachara National Park for the western hoolock gibbon, barking deer and forest birds, walks the hillside tea gardens, and visits the Baikka Beel wetland for migratory waterbirds and Madhabpur Lake.
Photo Tour Bangla
GuidePhoto Tour Bangla is a photography-tour outfit led by documentary photographer and tour leader Istiyak Ahamed Srabon. Its two-day Srimangal trip is built for photographers and birders, working the tea estates, Lawachara National Park for the rare western hoolock gibbon, the Baikka Beel bird sanctuary and Madhabpur Lake at sunset, with groups capped around ten people and visits to Khasi tribal villages.