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I have a pair of Vortex Viper 8x42 and am very happy with them.

I have two pairs of Vortex 8x32s. I think that they are just superb. They are a medium cost pair of binoculars, but I really don't feel that Swarowskis,or other more expensive binoculars are better. They are compact and reasonably lightweight.

Were you sleeping in our bed?  Photo from 2018.

Oh I just love this report!    Brings back such amazing memories.     Your chalet at Tafika had such an amazing view of the river from inside!  (How far away from the communal area were you??).     Love Big Lagoon Camp.  (And Chikoko too)  I do have to confess to being a little wide-eyed at your snake photo though!!   

I had a super cheap pair that I'd won in a golf tournament for my first safari (thinking that the optics through the camera would be enough for me) (????).      I came home with a completely changed opinion,   and already had future itineraries,   so set out finding some.   I went to my local camera store,   and the hunting store.   I bugged my brother to look through all of his.      Talked to everyone I could.     I really think that it's worth going and picking up a pair to look through.     If you aren't used to it,   the longer focal lengths can certainly give you a headache in short order,    but if you are too short on length,  you will miss the birds,  especially.  (I would love to have a 10x,  but I just cannot do it) - Perhaps it's just a matter of getting used to.     I spent a lot of time comparing different magnifications  and  lens diameters in different lights.   I settled on 8 x 32's as the size I wanted.   They aren't full sized,   but they aren't compact either.   Call me Goldilocks.     By the way.......mine were purchased on EBay.    They aren't used,   but rather a "demo" pair (and also discontinued).    I scored a great deal.   Quality of binocular glass - follows the same economic law that camera lenses do:    Law of diminishing returns. Once you find something that is optically pleasing to you,  at a certain price point.......there is always going to be something better.     But twice the price won't ever get you twice the performance.    It will be only marginally better.    And so on,  and so on.       Good glass - has different meanings to different people.   If you are a photographer,   chromatic aberration will bother you - but most people I know,  don't notice that.    So don't pay money for stuff that is irrelevant to you.   What helped me decide was: The feel in hand.   Tension on the focus wheel.    Field of view.    Close focus distance.    Brightness at dusk/dawn. @janzin's comment about being waterproof,   and nitrogen purged.   I took my Leica's to Belize (it's not Costa Rica,   but very similar in environment).    There were times I wanted a 10x for sure.   And also something brighter than the 32's (the rain forest is a darker environment than I thought it would be).    (but I also don't yet have any kind of harness for them,   and the 8x32's are plenty heavy enough around my neck).      One thing to note:    I started keeping them outside all the time (on a secure deck) ,   instead of in the air-conditioned room.    Otherwise,   they needed 15-20 mins to de-fog heading into the rain-forest.  My camera's lenses seemed to fare better with the humidity.

We start out in the morning,   to cross back across the river and make our way to the airstrip......to be reunited with my clothes for the next 5 days of walking in NLNP.   Very sad to say good-bye to Stephen,   but was wonderful to also meet another couple at the airstrip who would be joining us.       But no bag.      Whoops!    The bag was in Tafika's office,   with a tag on it to bring to the airstrip.   But it didn't make it.       Oh well........I'd done okay so far,   and the temps were hot enough that even my safari trousers were dry overnight and inside.....not even in the sun.     I'll be good.     There really was only one thing I was truly missing from the big bag,   and that was my antihistamine cream.    The tsetse fly bites weren't healing,   and now I had a great many of them.     Maybe it would get better up North.                       It was really Mwaleshi Camp I was most looking forward to,   and I'm not sure why.      But it was everything I'd hoped and more when we got there.      

One thing that you should test in the shop, is the minimum focusing distance, for visiting rainforest countries like Costa Rica, the closer you can focus the better, for many years I used a pair of Zeiss binoculars, excellent optics but the minimum focusing distance was much too long, so I could find myself trying to look at some confiding bird that was too close to me to focus on and you don't want to be having to try and back up, in that situation to get far enough away to focus. A few years ago I bought a pair of 10 x 42 Hawke binoculars, perfectly good binoculars with a good minimum focusing distance, but there are some with an even shorter focusing distance, besides for birds it is useful for looking at butterflies. Unfortunately whilst in Alaska, one of the eye-cups came loose, it came off a few times and I kept having to put it back on and then inevitably at some point, it came off without me noticing and I lost it, I can still use them well enough without it, so I haven't got around to getting it replaced yet, I don't know if that is a blackmark against Hawke, or I was just unlucky with my pair.   I used to always recommend a shop called In Focus Optics for binoculars, as they had a branch at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust HQ at Slimbridge, the shop had a huge window overlooking a pond covered in ducks, but they have relocated to a new site, I don't know why, the WWT Slimbridge website shows that you can still buy binoculars there, so maybe WWT, just decided that they would sell binoculars rather than have In Focus selling them, Slimbridge is probably of little interest to you, as it is a long way away. WWT do have the Wetlands Centre in London, that used to also have a branch of In Focus, so I wonder if the WWT shop there sells binoculars and I guess WWT Arundel would be not too far from you, you could check if you can buy binoculars there. Or there might be an RSPB or Wildlife Trust reserve with a shop that is closer. The nearest In Focus Optics branch I'd guess, is at Willows Farm just off the M25 in Hertfordshire, the showroom apparently overlooks a group of trees with birdfeeders.    There are at least a couple of old threads on binoculars, so you might want to look up binoculars and have a read through those, for any other advice not added to this thread. 

I acquired the Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x30 earlier this year. They are roof-prism, 420g and not too large, about £180. An 8x30 is also available I believe.   For my purposes the image quality is fine and I can't see myself spending Swarovski prices.

@Atravelynn/ @Caracal- thank you, and yes the elephant shrew was lovely to see in broad daylight like that.   Day 7 (26 June): Tafika     I'm excited to finally arrive at Tafika. I mentioned before how this trip felt almost like a return to somewhere familiar. I feel this even more at Tafika, the star of so many glowing reports on this forum and elsewhere. The location, the style of the camp, the warm family atmosphere, the quality of guiding… all have been praised at length. "Among the very best camps in the whole of Africa" is the kind of comment that's not uncommon. It's a reputation to live up to.   Met by Vel (front of house) and Amon (one of the guiding team) I discover I'm the only guest in camp for now, until another UK couple arrive this evening. Lunch is hosted by owners John and Carol Coppinger, their daughter Christine who is visiting along with her husband Bruce, and we're joined by Ginny and Keith who are doctors working in the valley. Being the only guest in this company initially feels slightly awkward… but not for long: the Coppingers are wonderful hosts, unsurprising as they have opened their home to guests here for more than 2 decades.   After lunch I check out my accommodation and the rest of camp. The accommodation at Tafika follows the same reed and thatch style that I'm used to now from Chikoko and Big Lagoon. Mine is furthest from the sitenje with a view out across the river which I can choose to enjoy from the sun-loungers and seating at the front of the chalet…     Tafika chalet (iPhone 15 Pro Max)   View downriver from my sun-lounger … or sitting inside on the end of the bed or at the desk.   Chalet interior, with views to challenge those from Big Lagoon   Chalet interior. Toilet, washroom and open-air shower are beyond the mirror.   Once unpacked, I check out the hide. It's set in the camp's reed perimeter walls, with a ground-level view onto a grassy area dotted with trees.             I believe I heard there is a waterhole somewhere out there, making this an active spot later in the dry season. This afternoon there's only a lone white-crowned lapwing to be seen.   White-crowned lapwing (OM-1, Olympus 100-400mm @400mm, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO 800)   White-crowned lapwing (OM-1, Olympus 100-400mm @385mm, 1/500s, f6.3, ISO 1250)   Tea is at 15:00, taken on a sandy terrace overlooking the river, where I meet David and Janet who arrived this afternoon.     The full schedule is confirmed… 05:30: breakfast 06:00 - 10:00: game drive 12:00: lunch 15:30: tea 16:00 - 20:00ish: game drive 20:00ish: dinner …then we're off on our first game drive in the Nsefu sector.      

https://www.vice.com/en/article/tigers-crocodiles-fishermen-and-bandits-are-at-war-in-the-sundarbans/     Below is a more academic article on the Sundarban Tiger: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266671932300033X   An old but relevant article from 2008: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/04/21/tigerland

Absolutely correct on all accounts!   I noticed that when I was doing these tours, the vast majority of the visitors were from Kolkata or other parts of Bengal. Occasionally there would be someone from other parts of India, but it wasn't too common.  I do recall on every tour hearing the words "man-eater" in English by guides/visitors alike. I wish I had more insight as to whether they were talking in general terms or about specific tigers. But I do believe what you say is true - the authorities don't seem to go after tigers that go after humans. I remember hearing in the news that there was an attack in February of this year.   One person told me there were quite a few attacks during Covid times. A lot of people in Bengal migrate to other parts of India for work and the Sundarbans population is no different. But due to restrictions on movement during that time, many people that were normally migrant workers ended up staying there and would go into the forest to help collect crabs, fruit and honey. I was told that many of those people had no experience entering the forest (wearing the wrong footwear, not knowing how to be careful, etc) and there were many incidents at that time. I can't fully verify this but it sort of makes sense.   I don't think I saw any honey-collecting boats/people, but I did see crab collecting boats. They are much smaller and it seemed like they didn't have an engine/motor either. They were using paddles or a long pole/stick to get around. They are able to enter smaller/shallower canals that our boats could not. My guess is that those are especially dangerous places to be and then being on those very small and slow boats offers almost no protection or escape against a tiger. I would have loved to be on one of those boats for a day for the experience lol but was told it's not really possible to join them.   I have also heard about people wearing masks on the back of their heads as a way to protect from being attacked from behind and seen photos one, but I didn't see it in person. I'm not sure if that was because of the time of year (honey collection is around April-May I believe), or if they only wear them when they are deeper inside the narrow canals, or if that's just more often seen/used on the Bangladesh side though.   I'd love to find that National Geographic article! From what I see, in terms of documentaries, there isn't much Sundarban tiger coverage. Usually a little bit, but mainly the impacts of erosion or cyclones in the area, victims of tiger attacks - but little actual tiger footage. I suppose it makes some sense because sightings are not too common and when they do occur they don't last very long. Drones are not allowed there, but I am guessing National Geographic/BBC/etc could find a way to get permission. 

It is very different indeed - I am going to try and post some of the landscape shots I had as well but they aren't the best. During the winter I used a 200-500mm zoom lens and during this monsoon period I had a 500mm prime lens. I regret that I didn't bring another lens to focus on the landscapes.    Yes that's correct, the only way to get around within the park is by boat. There are a couple (1-2 I think that tourists can access) watch towers within the park that you can get off at when traveling by boat, but from what I've seen it's only the picnic boats that do so regularly. The photography tours don't seem to go there unless they've had good sightings during their tour and are looking to pass time at the end, or unless there is news of wildlife at them. In September we did stop at one because there was news of a red tailed bamboo pit viper seen in a tree on the watchtower grounds.   At one of the watch towers there is a large man-made pond, used to collect fresh rainwater. It was thought that by building this, tigers and other animals (spotted deer/wild boar) would come to drink from it rather than the saltwater found all around. Apparently they do come at times, but it's quite rare.    The human-inhabited area bordering the park (and where all the accommodations are located) is built on what used to be mangroves a very long time ago. In that area there are roads, scattered homes/villages and rice fields. The tigers are kept out for the most part due to nylon fencing, but the human inhabited area is apparently good for birding, snakes and also jungle cats. We had a sighting of two jungle cats one evening after exiting the national park/forest during the winter time.  The human inhabited area can be covered by either motorbike electric rickshaw. 

Thanks for doing this about a little mentioned park in terms of Tigers/ wildlife although very well known in Bengal for general visits.  Commend you on your perseverance with repeated visits and upfront knowledge that tiger sightings were going to be challenging.   Good perspective and some extraordinary pictures of the rarely seen Sunderban tiger that I understand also have some man-eaters in their midst.   To the best of my knowledge, Indian authorities do not go after man-eaters in the Sunderbans, only warn locals not to venture there. Apparently people going there for work ( gathering fruit etc) wear masks at the back of their heads as Tigers are reputed not to attack people head on but rather from the back.   National Geographic had a superb article on the Sunderbans many years ago. 

I have a pair of RSPB 10x42 HD binoculars and they are more than acceptable in performance but maybe not as small as you might like them to be. I would definitely go to a show room somewhere you can test them for yourself. I tried mine at our local RSPB reserve and it was nice to compare various sizes and quality claims although brands were limited. My own findings was that the higher the supposed quality, the higher the price which was to be expected but the improvement in quality didn't match the higher price proportionally. No doubt that the high end ones are better but where do you draw the line. I used to have a very inexpensive pair of 10x25's but not only was finding your subject difficult, the lighting was poor too. The likes of Swarovski, Leica, might improve matters on light but the FOV still very limited. I guess it depends on size and if you want a pair of pocket binoculars instead of ones that are bulky .  Web sites like Birdforum have a used section and it seems "bins" are traded on a regular basis by true birders. Photographer leaning folk like me put them on a less needed scale when it comes to what to take and what not. Incidentally I went to Costa Rica earlier this year and put in a trip report that might be of interest.

A very interesting report. Your determination gave you some very good sightings of Tigers. Thank you