22

You must have bought a camera for a tour, but have you ever toured for your camera? Going Wild, a wildlife photography-oriented organisation fulfills your passion to explore nature and capture it through the lens of your camera. The organisation is run by professional photographers.

Going Wild began when the lure of wildlife photography compelled Tamanud Mitra and Dibyendu Ash to give up their IT careers to pursue their true calling. In one of their birding sessions, they met Soumyajit Nandi, an architect, and there was no looking back for the trio.

“All three of us were extremely passionate about wildlife and photography. But our jobs seldom allowed us to pursue our passion. We thought about how to convert our passion into a full time engagement. We also had to generate revenue from it. That was the time when we decided to organize conducted tours for wildlife photography enthusiasts where we would  accompany them on tours to assist them. Our knowledge would help them to understand the terrain and help them in photographing it,” they informed BE.

The activities of this organisation are centred on spotting and photographing wildlife. The trio’s long term association with the wild has allowed them to forge strong bonds with local guides and trackers whose indigenous knowledge comes in handy for them.

The organisation plans these tours to remote locations to the last detail and ensures the comfort of the participants. Initially, they had faced lot of challenges including fund shortages and lack of marketing avenues. They started bootstrapping and initially used Facebook to promote themselves.

For some time now, their exclusive focus has been on exploring the untapped potential of the Sundarbans, famous for its mangroves and the Royal Bengal tiger. Since last year, the group has made many trips to capture rare moments of the majestic Royal Bengal tigers in their natural habitat.

The Sundarbans, as a tiger viewing site has remained under-appreciated. It has been ignored and is not even considered to be in the league of Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh or the Jim Corbett National Park. The Going Wild team has been promoting this forest to wildlife enthusiasts..

“We have conducted more than 50 tours to Sundarban till date and know the forest well. We are the pioneers to develop a tiger tracking mechanism in the mangroves where walking is strictly prohibited. The Sundarbans lacks global presence and we are trying to promote it globally. None of the foreign wildlife photography tour operators have any tours for this place. The Sundarbans is rich in wildlife and needs to be promoted as a wildlife tourism destination.”

Their package includes lodging and fooding, safaris, local surface transfers, and wildlife photography mentorship. Trip charges vary and depend upon factors like number of safaris, stay options and other variables. For a 3-night/4-day Sundarbans tour, they charge around `18,000 per person.