I was visiting Jahaji after almost a decade, accompanying my colleagues from the Andaman and Nicobar Island’s Environmental Team (ANET), who were collecting data on plants from permanent plots set up by the National Centre for Biological Science (NCBS).My last visit, too, was with fellow researchers, who like me, wanted to experience the island. I had dawdled through my early 20s and as a city boy, I’d only heard of pristine beaches and rainforests, but had never seen them. Perhaps that’s why my memory of this island remained so fresh. It was love at the first sight of white sandy beaches against the backdrop of the rainforest. And now here I was again.

Camping On Jahaji Beach

by Vardhan Patankar

I was visiting Jahaji after almost a decade, accompanying my colleagues from the Andaman and Nicobar Island’s Environmental Team (ANET), who were collecting data on plants from permanent plots set up by the National Centre for Biological Science (NCBS).

My last visit, too, was with fellow researchers, who like me, wanted to experience the island. I had dawdled through my early 20s and as a city boy, I’d only heard of pristine beaches and rainforests, but had never seen them. Perhaps that’s why my memory of this island remained so fresh. It was love at the first sight of white sandy beaches against the backdrop of the rainforest. And now here I was again.