There are many places on earth that are considered dangerous and off limit's to most people. Getting to them is perilous and once there your life will be in danger definitely cross these off your bucket list if you plan to travel around the world. This list of places are unadvisable to visit simply because they are just to dangerous to be stood in. Some are accessible to the public where as some others are not. You take your chance and this guide will educate you as to whether or not you should go there.
Ilha da Queimada Grande or better known Snake Island is an island off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 33 kilometers or 21 miles off the coast of the state of Sao Paulo Brazil. It is a small island consisting of bare rock and rainforest. The height of the island ranges from sea level to 676 ft and the temperature is on average 18.38 C (65.08 F) in August to 27.28 C (81.10 F) in March. What is amazing about this small island is it is home to the critically endangered and venomous Golden Lancehead Pit Viper snake. Incredibly there are so many snakes here it averages out at about one snake for every square meter of terrain. The snakes became trapped on the island when rising sea levels cut the island off from the mainland and the snakes adapted and bred rapidly. There diet consists mainly of perching birds and invertebrates. Estimates put the snake population on the island at between 2000 to 4000 specimens.
Bothrops Insularis or Golden Lancehead Pit Viper.
A scientist studying the Golden Lancehead Viper on Ilha da Queimada Grande.
A warning sign on the island prohibits anyone from embarking on to the site.
Karl Heinrich Slotta
Visitors to the island are forbidden by the Brazilian government to step foot on the island as the risk of snake bite is very high. As these snakes are extremely venomous it would be foolish to go on to the island without proper preparation and study. This species of snake can only be found on Ilha da Queimada Grande unless the specimem had been caught and taken away like a black market theft.The snakes have evolved an incredibly powerful venom that is five times stronger than other snakes to kill there prey. Scientists are allowed to go to the island after checking with brazilian authorities but unfortunately the island is an attraction for poachers who go illegally to catch these snakes to sell on to the black market where they can sell for $30.000 a specimen.
The snakes on the island grow to well over half a meter long and there venom melts flesh. Locals have some stories to tell about the island. One story tells the tale of a fisherman who accidentally wanders onto the island to pick bananas, Naturally he is biten and staggers back to his boat where he dies. When eventually found he is lying in a pool of blood as the venom eats you alive. Another story relates to the lighthouse that is situated on top of the island amongst the rainforest area. This story is about the final lighthouse keeper and his family, One night a handful of snakes enter through a window and attack the man his wife and there 3 children, In a desperate bid to escape they run for the boat moored close to shore only to be bit by snakes hiding in the trees and branches overhead, Biologist Marcelo Duarte has visited the island over 20 times and and disputes the locals claim that there are 5 snakes per meter of terrain, He puts it at 1 snake per meter which means your never more than 3 feet away from possible injury or death. To legally enter on to the island rquires authorisation from the Brazilian Navy, The Navy keeps an eye out for the island incase of poachers and unauthorised people and groups who might destroy terrain steal property or worse take snakes which have a very high price on the black market. It would'nt be too difficult to access the island if you could convince a local boat keeper to take you maybe from Peruibe or Itanhaem but is risky and very dangerous. Golden Lancehead snakes are on display at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo legally and this would be your best option if you wanted to see one.
Instituto Butantan is a Brazilian Biologic research center in Sao Paulo and is considered one of the major scientific centers in the world. It is world renowned for it's collection of venomous snakes including venomous lizards spiders insects and scorpions.The institute specialises in extracting the specimens venom which allows them to develop vaccines for tuberculosis Rabies Tetanus Hepatitus Botulism Pertussis and Diphtheria, The institute also produces anti venom antidotes for the bites of poisonous animals. Founded in 1901 by Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist Vita Brazil. It's foundation was a reaction to the outbreak of bubonic plague in the city of Santos. It was visted by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, Between 1935 and 1948 Biochemists Karl Slotta and his brother in law Heinz Fraenkel -Conrat distinguished scientists at the institute pioneered studies into progesterone estriol and medical use of venom.
Karl Heinrich Slotta Born May 12 in Breslau Germany 1895, Died July 17th 1987 in Coral Gables Florida. His discovery of progesterone and it's relationship to ovulation led to the development of birth control pills.Appointed professor of chemistry in 1935 but was dismissed due to the rise in the National Socialist regime.Being part of German scholar's that were progressively being displaced by the Nazis. As persecution escalated in 1935 he left Germany to take safe refuge in Brazil.He intially worked on the chemistry of coffee from which bean oil he extracted a substance he called cafestol that he reported had estrogenic properties. He was later engaged to study and produce anti venom at the Butantan institute for local famers. In 1938 he and his brother in Law Heinz Fraenkal-Conrat succesfully isolated crotoxin from venom the first snake toxin to be isolated in a crystalline form. There research suggested that the toxicty of crotoxin was due to effects on nerve lipids.
The institute has been funded by the local Brazilian government for over 100 years and had a huge collection of animals one of the largest collections in the world. They stored the animals in a formaldehyde organic compound and a solution of 70% ethanol. They had 450.000 to 500.000 scorpion and spider specimens and 85.000 snake specimens also stored in ethanol. On may 15 2010 a fire broke out at the Buntantan institute at 7.08 am. This resulted in the loss of the entire snake and scorpion specimens and the damaged nearly destroyed the entire laboratory. Over 90 years of research was lost and it took a total of 50 fire crew 90 minutes to extinguish the fire. Unfortunately the facility was not prepared for a fire there was no sprinkler system in operation or even a fire alarm such a waste and could of easily been installed. Luckily no live animals or people were harmed because of the fire, and a short circuit is being probed as the cause of the destruction. Professor Francisco Luis Franco the curator at the institute commented the ordeal as a loss of humanity.
Professor Francisco Luis Franco Butantan Institute.
We have lost everything and this is a loss for humanity. The snakes... were used as the basis for studies and to increase our knowledge of the biodiversity of snakes. All of the snakes were lost. Today there is nothing left.
The lighthouse on the island has been automated since the 1920's and is maintained by the Brazilian Navy. Inspections are made once per year.
The golden Lancehead viper can grow to lengths of 46 inches, but averages for the snake are around 28 inches, They can be identified by there pale yellowish brown ground colour overlaid with a series of dorsal blotches that may be triangular or quadrangular broad or narrow and alternating or opposite along the dorsal median, There has never been a report of any one being bitten by this species of snake because of it's isolation to the island. But other lancehead species are responsible for more human mortality than any other type in either North or South America. The mortality rate for a bite is 0.5 to 3% if the patient receives treatment and 7% if the patient does not.Effects of the venom can include swelling local pain, nausea and vomiting blood blisters, bruising blood in the vomit and urine, Intestinal bleeding kidney failure hemorrhage in the brain and severe necrosis of muscular tissue. This species found on the island has the fastest acting venom of all Bothrop specimens and is 5 times stronger than Bothrop Jararaca species. Bothrop Insularis has been classified as critically endangered because the range of the snake is less than 100km and only exist in a single location being Ilha da Queimada Grande island.The island will only be able to support a limited amount of snakes if the snakes were to die be wiped from the island they would become extinct, This is why it is important from a conservationist view point to protect the island and the snakes which the Brazilian Navy are doing. Poaching is only going to harm the snake community on the island and tourists will also disturb this fragile environment best left alone. Another aspect that could harm this snake species is intersexes, Snakes with both male and female reproductive parts, Intersex snakes cannot reproduce as most are sterile. In the past people have deliberately started fires on the island to try and make way for banana production and kill off the snakes. The navy has also been blamed for habitat destruction by removing vegetation in order to maintain the lighthouse on the island, And overharvesting by overzealous scientists has also affected the snake population so it is not a invulnerable snake by any means says duarte et al. The average size of a litter of newborns is 6.5 and weigh on average about 10 grams and about 9.3/4 inches long.
Ilha da Queimada Grande lies 21 miles of the coast of Sao Paulo Brazil, 110 acres in area and is protected since 1985 by the Ilhas Queimada Pequena e Queimada Grande Area of Relevant Ecological Interest.
Theodore Roosevelt born Oct 27th 1858 Died January 6th 1919, was the 26th president of the United States having served his country from September 14th 1901 to March 4th 1909. This photo from 1914 shows Roosevelt leaving the Butantan institute first from left after a visit.
North Sentinel Island
North Sentinel Island is a small island located in the Indian ocean that forms part of the Andaman islands, The archipelago of the island has it's location in the Bay of Bengal, The island is also in the northeastern part of the Indian ocean bounded on the north and west by India and Bangladesh and also on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Being the largest water region that is described as a bay in the world, South Sentinel island is also in this group of islands it is much smaller than North sentinel and is 1600 meters or 5200 ft long northeast to southwest and 1000 meters 3300 ft wide, It's circumference is only 1.61 km or 0.62 sq ml.
North Sentinel Island
North Sentinel island lies 36 km or 22 miles west of the town of Wandoor in south Andaman island 50 km or 31 miles west of Port Blair and 59,6 km or 37 miles north of its little sister South Sentinel island. It has a land mass of 59.67 km 0r 23.04 square miles and the shape of the island is almost like a quare in formation. The island is also surrounded by beautiful coral reefs and has no natural harbours for boats or people. The terrain of the island is mainly forest but there is a thin and narrow beach that encircles the island. From the beach the island gradually rises up to 66 feet and gradually up to 150 feet and then 400 feet will be reached near the centre of the island. The reefs extend outwards to 1290 metres from the shoreline.
Map showing where North Sentinel Island is Located.
A closer image of North Sentinel Island.
South Sentinel Island
2000 feet of the southeast coast a forested islet called Constance island can be located at the edge of the reef. In 2004 the almighty Indian ocean earthquake that caused the gigantic tsunami tilted the tectonic plates located underneath the island this caused the island to lift up by 2 meters or 7ft. Because of this geological change large tracts of the surrounding coral reef became exposed and this has caused those parts of the reef to become permanently dry or shallow lagoons, Now the island has an increased landmass and has extended the entire islands boundaries by as much as 3300 feet on the west and south sides.This has also united Constance island with North Sentinel Island,
Tectonic plates cover the entire earth and are situated in the outer shell of the earth, the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle is called the lithosphere which consists of the 7 major plates that cover 97% of the earths surface, The seven major plates are the African plate, Antarctic plate, Eurasian plate, Indo-Australian plate, North American plate, Pacific plate and South American plate. Plate tectonics on Earth, at present, consists of 12 large semi rigid plates of irregular shapes and sizes that move over the surface, separated by boundaries that meet at triple junctions. If any of these plates move it causes earthquakes tsunamis and can create mountains and trenches. Tectonic processes began on Earth between 3 and 3.5 billion years ago.
Around 6100 BC during the Mesolithic period which was the period between Paleolithic and Neolithic and middle stone age period respectively large landslides in Norway called the Storegga Slides triggered one of the biggest tsunamis ever recorded on Earth when a landlocked sea in the Norwegian trench burst its banks. Before this the Irish sea the North sea and the Channel were all dry land but slowly submerged as the weather became warmer and the ice caps slowly melted. The gigantic torrent of water struck the north East of Britain with such force the water travelled inland for 25 miles turning low lying plains into what we know today as the North sea, Marshlands in the South became the channel and this massive natural change turned Great Britain into an island nation.
Reconstruction of Doggerland before submersion in the Storegga Slide c. -6200, Doggerland was the area now beneath the Southern North Sea that connected Great Britain to continental Europe, during and after the last glacial period, It was flooded by rising sea levels around 6,500–6,200 BC
So the Earth can and does change daily sometimes you wont notice and other times you will like the Indian tsunami and earthquake in 2004 the Earth is continously in change. North Sentinel island was relatively unaffected by the 2004 events and did not submerge in water. South Sentinel island can be visited by the public but there is little there as it is uninhabited, There is an unmanned lighthouse on the island which may be of interest, Bringing a guide with you is recommended as you may decide to do some Snorkelling Boating fishing diving and also walking. Make sure you bring adaquate water and food as there are no shops or any places to buy supplies, There may be fresh water on the island and if you are skilled and knowledgable you may find food sources to eat. You can get there by boat from Little Andaman island and please dont litter as the island is a beautifully natural sanctuary. There is also an abundance of giant coconut crabs on the island so watch your toes.
Neil Island is one of the tiniest islands in the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands and it is positioned about 30 Km south of Andaman Islands.
Coconut Crabs are plentiful on South Sentinel Island.
The Coconut crab is the largest land living arthropod in the world, They can weigh up to 4.1kg or 9 lbs and grow up to 1 meter or 3ft 3 inches in length from leg to leg, This species can be found in Indonesia islands in the Indian ocean parts of the pacific ocean as far east as the Gambler islands, The crab has lived in other places such as mainland Australia and Madagascar but has been extirpated from these areas because of a natural sub population. Even though it is associated with coconuts they are not a significant part of the crabs diet. They primarily feed on fruits nuts seeds and the tissue in the stems of fallen trees called "Pith". Anything left on the ground could potentially be a food source which they will investigate and may carry away. This natural characteristic gives them the alternate name of Robber Crab.
Some Coconut Crabs display beautiful and bright colors and markings, This crab is from Ofu Island American Samoa
Mating occurs on dry land but the females return to the edge of the sea to release their fertilised eggs and then retreat back up. Because the larvae that hatch is planktonic for 3 to 4 weeks they are unable to swim against a current and are a crucial food source for other larger sealife like fish and whales. After this time if they have not been eaten they fall to the sea bed where they will look for find and enter into a gastropod shell that has been abandoned for protection. These shells came from sea snails and slugs and it was an external skeleton that protected the animal. There are many types of sea shell but most are spirally coiled.
Juvenile Coconut Crab using empty coconut shell for protection instead of gastropod shell
They can live for 60 years or more and sexual maturity is reached after 5 years. Finding a floating life support system such as a piece of wood or floating vegetation will increase there chances of finding a suitable dry location. Adult Coconut crabs do not have a shell that is one of the reasons why they grow so large, Adults will harden there abdominal dorsal by depositing Chitin which is a derelative of glucose and chalk, If vulnerable this crab will dig a burrow up to 1 metre long in which to hide. It can remain in the burrow for 3 to 16 weeks depending on the size of the crab, This species does malt and stays hidden while its soft exoskeleton hardens again, After the crab has left its larval stage it can not stay underwater for longer than one hour and can not swim,
Diagram of a Coconut Crab - (Birgus latro)
The species has an organ called a Branchiostegal lung to breath. This remarkable organ contains a tissue similar to that found in fish gills but its mechanics is best suited to the absorption of oxygen taken from air rather than from water, They use there hindmost smallest pair of legs to clean this breathing organ and to moisten it with water as they wont function properly otherwise, These crabs have an excellent sense of smell and have traits similar to insects even though they are a completely different species. They have antenna the same as insects do which they developed over the many thousands of years and there antenna are able to detect odours over large distances and with a flick they can enhance their reception just as insects do, Crabs in the juvenile stage that can not find a suitable shell often use broken coconut shells instead, Adult coconut crabs have no known predators but are hunted by people for food, The meat is considered a delicacy and Aphrodisiac and is eaten by Southeast Asians and pacific islanders, Because of this your be hard pressed to find coconut crabs in places with a high population of people,
A Coconut Crab from the Seychelles.
Coconut crab and seafood platter
North Sentinel Island Tribesmen - Sentinelese.
So while it is safe to go to South Sentinel island it would be unwise and very dangerous to land and explore North Sentinel island because a tribe of Sentinelese people live on the island, They have lived there for over 60000 years and they are the last untouched indiginous tribe to exist today that is untouched by modern society and its people, Anyone who tries to land on the island is attacked by this tribe with bows and arrows and other primitive weapons, They consider the island there own and there land and for anyone to try and take it away or to interfere with there lives in any way will be met with violence. As such only limited information is known about the island because no one can go there to study it without hostility or even death,
North Sentinel Island, The Sentinelese can be seen guarding the beach.
Some people have tried to become friends with the Sentinelese and an expedition led by Maurice Vidal Portman who was a government administrator hoped to research the tribe people and their customs, After a successful landing onto North sentinel island in January 1880 the exploring group found a network of pathways and several small abandoned villages. After several more days in the dense foliage they came across six Sentinelese these consisted of two elderly and four young children who were possibly in some form of distress, They were captured and taken to Port Blair. Port Blair is the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar islands that is situated in the Bay of Bengal, It is also connected with mainland India by both air and sea, The colonial officer who was in charge of the operation wrote that the entire group of Sentinelese became sick quite rapidly. This is due to the fact the indigenous people of the island have been kept away from modern society and its people so will have not been vaccinated for any viruses and infectious diseases that modern society has been, They are at a very high risk of dying if people from outside of the island come on to it as they could contract a disease and quickly die as there immune system is unable to deal with it. The two elderly Sentinelese died but the four children did not and were sent back to the island with quantities of presents,
Maurice Vidal Portman stands with the Setinelese tribe, North Sentinel Island 1880.
This image shows Maurice Vidal Portman, In 1880 Portman returned back to India by moving to the Andaman islands
A second landing was also successful on 27th August 1883, The volcano Krakatoa had erupted but was mistakenly interpreted as gunfire from a ship that was in distress, The famous explotion in 1883 of Krakatoa was so powerful it could be heard nearly 3000 miles away in Mauritius and the island of Rodrigues. On 27th August four huge explosions with incredible force nearly wiped the island away, It was calculated that the sound of the explosion was so loud if you were within 10 miles of the volcano you would of gone deaf and your eardrums would of burst. The pressure from the explosion sent waves that were measured on a barograph that showed it had travelled around the entire globe three and a half times. A giant plume of ash was sent thundering into the sky to a height of 50 miles and immense devastation was everywhere. The people that lived on the islands had to deal with Tsunamis pyroclastic lava flows and volcanic gases and ashes including fire to everything and the intense heat would of been terrifying to the people of Krakatoa Island. It has been estimated by the Dutch authorities that a total of 36417 perished but other sources put the estimate much higher at more than 120000 people. There were reports of human skeletons floating across the Indian ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice and skeletons washing up on the east coast of Africa even a year later.Weather patterns became chaotic for many years after the eruption and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.
Artists impression of the 1883 Krakatoa Eruption.
The Krakatoa Island archipelago as it is today,
The eruption was so great it created another volcano called Anak Krakatau and is growing bigger at an average rate of 6.8 meters per year, The islands are still active and are very dangerous to visit, Scientists who study and monitor the islands have warned tourists to stay at least 3 km away from the volcanoes for obvious reasons. Krakatoa had been dormant for 200 years but erupted on May 20th 1883, A German warship reported a cloud of ash 7 miles high above the island, Each time Krakatoa erupted it created huge tsunamis that were 120 feet tall and so powerful the force ripped pieces of coral weighing some 600 tonnes onto shore, it also carried a steamship into shore killing all 28 crew and wiped out 165 villages in nearby Java and Sumatra, 90% of all fatalities were caused by the tsunamis.
Indonesia, Eruption of Krakatoa child
Anak Krakatau spectacularly erupts at night.
One story of survival is about a German quarry manager who was being swept along by the huge waves and was close to drowning when to his right he suddenly spotted an enormous crocodile, He decided the only way to survive would be to ride the crocodiles back, Somehow he managed to mount the back of the beast and surfed it for 3 km until the wave broke on a distant hill.
There was very little of Krakatoa island left after the eruptions only another volcanoe which is the (child of Krakatau) called Anak Krakatau. The aftermath of the eruptions caused fiery red sunsets to appear all around the world for three years after. The famous painting by Munch created in 1893 has a blood red sky which is supposed to reflect the fiery red sunsets that were caused by Krakatoa, In 2003 researchers have claimed to have located the exact spot where the painting was created in Oslo Norway, From a study of the picture it can be seen that Munch was looking to the south west which is exactly where the Krakatoa twilights appearaed in 1883 to 1884.
The earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis of 2004 became known as the third largest eathquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The incredibly powerful natural occurence killed an estimated 280000 people in 14 countries and waves were up to 100 feet high. Indonesia was the worst affected followed by Sri-lanka India and Thailand, This megathrust earthquake had a moment magnitude of 9.1 to 9.3 and is recorded as one of the deadliest natural disaster in all of history, A sudden vertical rise of the seabed by several meters during the earthquake displaced massivge volumes of water which resulted in a Tsunami, The eathquake was caused when the Indian tectonic plate was subducted by the Burma tectonic plate and the hypocentre was located (100 mi) off the western coast of northern Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue island at a depth of 19 miles below mean sea level, The tsunami arrived at the Andaman and nicobar island archalopogy minutes after the earthquake, Eyewitness accounts report that the tsunami came in three times but the third time was the worst one,
The Scream by Edvard Munch - 1893.
Extensive damage was caused to the fragile environment and the Andaman Islands were moderately affected while the island of Little Andaman and the Nicobar Islands were severely affected by the tsunami. Little Andaman received the water force 25 minutes after the earthquake and was a four wave cycle, the fourth wave was the most devastating with a wave height of 33 feet, The worst affected island in the Andaman & Nicobar chain is Katchall Island with 303 people confirmed dead and 4,354 missing out of a total population of 5,312, The waves were 3 m (9.8 ft) high at Port Blair (in South Andaman Island). There are many volcanoes on earth and a lot of them are active and could potentially erupt at any time without warning, Anak Krakatau has a 100 meter wide lava dome growing in its crater and it has two active vents that eject electromagnetic gases. The volcano did erupt in April 2008 when hot gases rocks and lava were released.
Boxing Day 2004 Indian Tsunami entrenches on Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Krakatoa's explosive power has been measured and compared to 200 megatons of TNT which is about 13000 times the nuclear yield of the little boy bomb, The little boy bomb was the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima Japan in the second world war, Around 80000 people were killed by the blast and resulting fire storm which is 30% of the population of Hiroshima and another 70000 were injured, 69% of the buildings had been destroyed and to make matters worse over 90% of doctors and 93% of nurses in Hiroshima had been killed or injured this is because most were in the downtown area and that received the greatest damage. After the bombing President Truman warned Japan to accept there terms or they could expect a rain of ruin from the air like nothing which has ever been seen on Earth before.
Image of The Little Boy Bomb which was dropped onto Hiroshima City on August 6th, 1945, leveled a two-mile radius of the city killing over 80000 people.
A Japanese mother and her child sit amongst the ruins of Hiroshima after American airmen dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on the city on 6 August 1945.
President Harry S Truman Born May 8th 1884 Died December 26th 1972, He was the 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953.
In 1867 the Nineveh an Indian merchant ship became wrecked on a reef near North sentinel island, There was 106 passengers and crewmen who landed on the beach mooring there ship close by. They were unfortunately attacked by the Sentinelese tribe and had to fend them off, They were eventually spotted and rescued by a Royal navy rescue party.
The Nineveh ship wreck from 1867 is still visible today
Leopold III of Belgium born November 1901 Died 25th September 1983 was the fourth King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951. He was on a tour of the Andamans and was brought by local dignitaries for an overnight cruise to the waters off North sentinel island, Cargo ships have also ran aground on the reefs of the island, MV Rusley ran aground in mid 1977 and MV Primrose did so in August of 1981, The sentinelese took advantage of this by scavenging the ships for raw material of which they took some iron. The Primrose grounded on 2nd August 1981. Crewmen several days later observed that small dark skinned men carrying spears and arrows were constructing boats on the beach, The captain radioed for an urgent drop of firearms so that they could defend themselves from any attack, A large storm reared its head and stopped other ships from reaching them thus they never received any weapons, However the heavy seas also prevented the sentinelese from reaching them and eventually a week later they were rescued by helicopter by (ONGC) which is the Indian Oil And Natural Gas Corporation.
MV Primrose run aground off the shores of North Sentinel Island in August 2nd 1981.
Leopold III of Belgium, Born 3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983, He was the fourth king of the Belgians from 1934 to 1951.
There was a peaceful encounter with the tribe on 4th January 1991, Triloknath Pandit is a Indian anthropologist someone who studies humans from past and present societies, Pandit who is a director of the Anthropological Survey of India and his colleagues made successful contact with the Sentinelese people, Indian visits to the island ceased in 1997,
In 1991, T.N. Pandit, far left, presented gifts of coconuts to the Sentinelese people.
But on 26th January 2006 two fishermwen what not so lucky, Sunder Raj aged 48 and Pandit Tiwari aged 52 were out in there boat fishing for mud crabs when for unknown reasons their boat became uncontrollable and had drifted in too close to shore, they were subsequently killed by the Sentinelese tribe. During the night their anchor which was a rock tied to a rope failed to hold position and they driffted inland. As day came other fishermen from other boats shouted to the pair that they were in danger but they did not respond and tragedy struck. The Indian coastguard made an attempt to retrieve the two dead men but were met by a volley of arrows, The downdraft of the helicopters rotor blades had exposed the two dead men who had been buried in a shallow grave but had not been roasted alive as local rumour suggested, Andaman islands police chief Dharmendra Kumar said an operation might be mounted later to try and retrieve the corpses. At the moment the tribesmen are out in large numbers and there would be casualties on both sides if we go in now, It is better to let things cool down and let the tribesmen move to the other end of the island allowing us to sneak in and grab the deceased. But environmental groups have urged the authorities to leave the bodies where they are and to respect the no laws 3 mile radius exclusion zone policy.
North Sentinelese Tribemen swarm the dead fishermens boat.on 26th January 2006.
In the 1980's and early 1990's many sentenelese were killed in skirmishes with armed salvage operators who visited the island after shipwrecking. Another tribe the Jarawas are an indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India, They live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman islands, There present numbers are between 250 to 400 individuals. They too have shunned interaction with outsiders and many facts of their society culture and traditions are poorly understood, Jarawas currently have a population of 270 but there biggest threat is a highway the Andaman Trunk Road that runs through their territory and reserve that consists of 1028 square meters of dense evergreen forests.
But the tribespeople are slowly contacting the outside world and are in regular contact with the outside world through settlements on the fringes of their Reserve, They make contact with outsiders along the Andaman Trunk Road and at jetties marketplaces and hospitals near the road and at settlements near the reserve, Some of the children even turn up at mainstream schools asking to be educated.
A lone Sentinelese tribesman takes aim at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter flying low over North Sentinel Island.
Jarawas Children.
Jarawas in Andaman - Jarawa Reserve, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Jarawas are the only remaining Negrito remnants of the Andaman Islands out of four, They have a history of being hunters foragers and fishermen, They also had a fearsome reputation as warriors and uncompromising defenders of their territory. They would hunt for wild pigs monitor lizards and other animals with there bows and arrows, They like to eat Mollusks dugongs and turtles as these are a major part of the Jarawa diet, They also love to collect fruit tubers and honey, To get the honey from the trees they would use a plant extract to calm the bees first. During honey collection members of the group will sing songs to express their delight, They chew the sap of leaves such as Ooyekwalin which they spray with their mouths at the bees to keep them away, A study of their nutrition and health found that they had detailed knowledge of over 150 plants and 350 different animal species, It was also concluded that their diet and nutritional status was optimal.
The Jarawa bow is made of chulood (Sageraca eliptica) and is also known as "aao" in their own language, The arrow is called "patho" and the wooden head of the arrow is made of areca wood, To make the iron head arrow called "aetaho" they use iron and areca wood or babmo. Kekad is the name for their chest guard they wear to go hunting or any raids.
Tribes of the Andamans, An Onge collecting honey
Two Jarawas tribemen show off their pre-draw archery form. Notice the wide stance taken.
Online website - Barefoot Holidays. If endless white sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise waters, pristine tropical rainforests and romantic sunsets are the words that aptly describe your dream holiday, there is no better destination than the Andaman Islands.
Tourism is also having an impact on the Jarawas, The tourism department of the Andaman and Nicobar administration consider tourism a major problem, They dislike tourists taking photographs attempting to speak to the Jarawas, and offering them rides. These activities are prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation of 1956, Tourists can be prosecuted under a strict interpretation of the statute, But tour operators are regularly flouting the rules by providing private tours to at least 500 tourists on a daily basis, Some tour operators take people a little to close as an Indian travel company called Barefoot has built a resort just 3 km from the Jarawa reserve, Some Andaman authorities wanted to stop this resort and appealed against a Calcutta High Court ruling that would allow it to continue but lost as Barefoot won the case, Tourists are so close that they sometimes toss food cans from the caravans at the Jawara who they consider hungry or in need,
In 2012 a video shot by a tourist showed a woman being encouraged to dance by an off camera policeman. Now the Andaman trunk road can only be used four times a day in large convoys to stop tourists passing through Jawara areas and to stop tourists making contact with the indiginous people, The trunk road is a vital link and connects more than 350 villages, This interim order was made law on 5th March 2013, The interim order was reversed after local inhabitants filed a petition expressing how vital the road was, Intially a bench of judges G.S Singhvl and H.L Gokhale on 21 January 2013 passed the interim banning tourists but I guess these rules will still be flaunted and tourists will use disguise and a low profile approach if they desire to meet with the Jawara.You will always see Jawara alongside the Andaman trunk road they are begging in some cases. I feel that tourists are getting labelled as some kind of a virus they are not really welcome in these parts and many others around the world, They only venture into these isolated places for the entertainment value and not for anything else,
A Jarawa woman and boy by the side of the Andaman Trunk Road
Tourist vehicles queuing to enter the Jarawa tribal reserve.
In 2014 Two French film makers Alexandre Dereims and producer Claire Beilvert were booked with the charge of tresspassing into the protected tribal lands of the Jawara reserve in Andaman islands, They were there filming a documentary on the tribe and were accused of violating the laws of the land,the filmmakers gave the tribals rice, cooking oil and biscuits to make them cooperate during the shooting.
No one is allowed to make contact with the Jawara even though they try and make contact with the outside world. The film makers defended their actions and explained that the Jawara tribe gave them permission to film and take photographs, The documentary is focused on a two year old boy caled Utchu from th tribe and his family and friends, This film is entitled Organic Jawara, It is a difficult situation as people have a strong interest in this ancient tribe and it is a learning experience to meet one I would imagine, Let the government build some homes for them and let them choose to move a notch forward into the modern Indian society, Offer them vaccination from diseases and contagions educate them if possible. I think some of these people would like to break off and live a slightly more modern life as they are frequently seen on the side of the Andaman trunk road and they contact people from outside of the tribe, They could be compared to the homeless of a modern society even though they have a reserve and tribe to go back to.
Jarawa boy Utchu.
French film makers Alexandre Dereims and Claire Beilvert
A sign at the side of the Andaman Trunk Road telling tourists what they can and cant do.
A tourist makes contact with some of the Jarawa tribe. Tourists are not allowed to enter the reserve or have any contact with the tribe as they can bring diseases to which the Jarawa have no immunity
In 1990 the local authorities revealed their long term master plan to settle the Jawara in two villages with an economy based on fishery, They suggested that hunting and gathering could be their sports, But following a vigourous campaign by Survival and Indian organisations the resettlement plan was abandoned. In 2004 the authorities announced that they had a new radically better policy, The Jawara would be allowed to choose their own future and outside intervention would be kept to a minimum, This idea was a huge success for the international and Indian campaign, Outsiders and international poachers enter their rich forest to steal the game the tribe needs to survive, This problem is so bad Jawara have come voluntarily come out of their reserve to complain to local administration officials about the poaching, They like the Sentanelese remain vulnerable to outside diseases to which they have little or no immunity for, Jarawa women have been sexually abused by poachers settlers and even bus drivers, What will happen to the Jawara will they choose mainstreaming which is a policy of pushing a tribe to join the country's dominant society, or will they continue but there problems are really only going to get worse. It is sad to say but these people are stuck in time between the stone and iron age living and being in a primitive stage of development, They dont want to lose there identity and their self sufficiency or struggle at the very margins of society, They will one day have to make that choice can they leave there deep and long history and roots can they move on and change evolve into the civilised Indian society and eventually become one with it,
Jawara Children
Jawara Tribe members at home on their reserve in Andaman.
Two young Jarawas girls, their heads and necks encircled by flower decorations.
This maybe is very similar to the Sentanelese people, They also feel threatened scared of there customary life could they give it up and join the Indian society, could they become more like the Jawara and allow more people to visit and become friends with them. The North sentinel island is truly the last place on earth and only time will tell what will happen to these people.
A five month old infant was found murdered by a ritual custom and blame has been put to the Jawara tribe, The baby was fair skinned and it has been assumed the father was not from the Jawara tribe but an outsider, Two men from a large Bangladeshi refugee community have been arrested. It seems a Jawara was plied with alcohol by the father of the young boy, He convinced the Jawara to kill the boy and he was found drowned after entering the mother of the boys tent the night before. If the father of the boy was found out he would quite possibly have faced retribution by the Jawara tribe and his own community, But the Jawara man can not be arrested and The Indian government has to decide how much of the rules and regulations that are implemented in the outside world can be implemented on the Jarawa tribe.” Samir Acharya explained to the New York Times that the Jawara tribe have the right to maintain the purity of there race, Is it now time to interfere with the Jawara and their customs and traditions even though they have a history going back 50000 years that is the question,
Incredible though it sounds they live by there own ancient laws and customs and are not accountable to any laws outside of the island, If a group of people accidentally shipwrecked on to the beaches of North Sentinel island they could quite realisticaly be attacked murdered or worse and it is acceptable to the rest of the world because the Sentanalese are not governed by any laws. No one knows for certainty how many Sentinelese live on North Sentinel island it is estimated there is a population of between 50 and 400 individuals, The Sentinelese face the potential threat of violence from intruders and infectious diseases also, The Andaman and Nicobar administration stated in 2005 that they have no intentions to interfere with the lifestyle or the habitat of the Sentinelese and are not interested in pursuing any furthur contact with them or enforcing law on the island, The island is not legally part of the autonomous administrative division of India, An exclusion zone exists of 3 nautical miles around the island so no one is allowed to go there for reasons stated. The Sentinelese people have been known to fire arrows and toss stones at low flying aircraft on reconnaissance missions, These tribes people are the direct descendants of the first humans who emerged from Africa and have lived on the island for at least 60000 years untouched. They truly are the very last untouched tribe in the world a truly incredible situation and such a beautiful island a complete paradise with dazzling stretches of sand and glimmering reefs full of colourful fish, a peaceful island with a dense and rich forest of green.
A young Jawara couple.
A female from the Sentenelese Tribe. The women wear fibre strings tied around their waists, necks and heads.
The Sentanelese tribe on the shore of North Sentinel Island.
Triloknath Pandit offering coconuts to the Sentinelese
After the 2004 tsunami food parcels were dropped onto the island but the Sentenelese responded by firing arrows at the rescue team, In March 1970 Pandit's group found themselves cornered in their boats after coming to close to shore, The tribes people all started shouting some incomprehensible words, They shouted back and gestured to the tribe that they wanted to be friends, The tension did not ease and at that moment a strage thing happened, A woman from the tribe paired off with a warrior and sat on the beach in a passionate embrace, This act was repeated by other woman each claiming a warrior for herself, This was some type of community mating and the militant group then dispersed. On January 4th 1991, 28 men, women and children approached Mr Pandit and his group without hostility before retreating into the forest in a gesture he called 'incredible'.