Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore, Karnataka
Sometimes we do an exciting elaborative plan, but what happens is totally opposite to that. But if you are lucky, that will also turn out to be a good thing; Just like how I planeed to visit a friend's marriage in Ranchi and end up in Bannerghatta National Park!
Bannerghatta National Park is 22 km away from Bangalore and has three attractions: Safari, Zoo and the Butterfly Park(said to be India's First). After reading in wikitravel that getting tickets for safari in weekends after 2 PM would be very difficult, we tried our maximum to start as early as possible i.e. 11.30 AM and reached the park by exactly 2 PM.
While buying tickets, you have three options. The normal Non AC bus package ('Grand Safari Pack' I think) is Rs.260 per person and you can visit safari and zoo with it. For Butterfly Park, you have to pay Rs.30 separately. The bus/van looks like the one used by police to transfer prisoners except this is in green color. May be the driver of the prison bus would drive carefully to transfer the prisoners safely which you can't expect in this safari trip. I wonder why they haven't put an warning on the back side of the ticket that says 'If you stand up when the bus is on the move and loose some tooth by falling, the authority is not responsible' ! If you want to take pictures also during this safari, then this bus ride will test the agility of both your camera(autofocus) and yours(moving to the left and right side of the bus). If you are a DSLR person I wouldn't recommend this option for you, unless you want to break your costly camera also with your tooth during this bumpy ride. Other than this silly reason, this mode is the cheapest and best.
Other than this, there is an AC bus package for Rs.500 which uses the bus/van similar to the ones used in IT companies. There is no fence on the windows in this bus, so you might be able to take better pictures, unless you are so unlucky that the glass window is very dirty outside and your camera automatically focus on that dirt instead of animals in autofocus mode. The another option is by jeep, which costs Rs. 2500 for 4 persons. I saw some Mahindra Bolero going inside while I was coming out, so I hope those are the jeeps used for safari. I think this would be the best option, if you want to take some good pictures without any hurry using your DSLR.
The safari consists the enclosures of deers, elephants, bears, lions and tigers (both bengal and white tigers). The authorities have created artificial water tanks and ponds along the safari road, so you can definitely see all the animals. I have seen so many animals along the road that I really got the doubt whether they really have 100 sq. km area in this national park. Especially the white tiger enclosure looked even smaller than an indoor stadium. But these should be the concerns of the animals and not ours. As a visitor, you are ensured to get what you paid for.
The Butterfly park is near the entry of safari and outside of the premises of safari and zoo. It is said to be the first of its kind in India. Even though, most of the butterflies looked same to me in black color, there are many inside (also outside) and you can find some interesting or big ones too.
Even though I have resided in Mysore for six months and Chennai (near Vandalur) for an year I didn't visit Zoos there. So this was my visit to zoo after a very long time. Though we were unfortunate not to see the white peafowl dance and an awaken king cobra, we were fortunate enough to see some interesting activities of rat snakes, lizards and leopards. We also saw a lazy bear lying in supine position and got choked from a sugarcane which it was eating. It also has a large number of macaws. Many monkeys could be seen outside rather than inside of the cages. The other animals are fox, ostrich, owls, deer, porcupine, etc.
So, Finally, Is this place worth visiting or not ? Yes, Definitely it is. It might not be worth to plan a trip just to visit here, but if you are around Bangalore and free for a day, you can visit here and have a good time.
P.S: There's a Hillview Restaurant inside the premises. Since I haven't tried it, not sure about the quality and price of food available here.
Sometimes we do an exciting elaborative plan, but what happens is totally opposite to that. But if you are lucky, that will also turn out to be a good thing; Just like how I planeed to visit a friend's marriage in Ranchi and end up in Bannerghatta National Park!
Bannerghatta National Park is 22 km away from Bangalore and has three attractions: Safari, Zoo and the Butterfly Park(said to be India's First). After reading in wikitravel that getting tickets for safari in weekends after 2 PM would be very difficult, we tried our maximum to start as early as possible i.e. 11.30 AM and reached the park by exactly 2 PM.
While buying tickets, you have three options. The normal Non AC bus package ('Grand Safari Pack' I think) is Rs.260 per person and you can visit safari and zoo with it. For Butterfly Park, you have to pay Rs.30 separately. The bus/van looks like the one used by police to transfer prisoners except this is in green color. May be the driver of the prison bus would drive carefully to transfer the prisoners safely which you can't expect in this safari trip. I wonder why they haven't put an warning on the back side of the ticket that says 'If you stand up when the bus is on the move and loose some tooth by falling, the authority is not responsible' ! If you want to take pictures also during this safari, then this bus ride will test the agility of both your camera(autofocus) and yours(moving to the left and right side of the bus). If you are a DSLR person I wouldn't recommend this option for you, unless you want to break your costly camera also with your tooth during this bumpy ride. Other than this silly reason, this mode is the cheapest and best.
Other than this, there is an AC bus package for Rs.500 which uses the bus/van similar to the ones used in IT companies. There is no fence on the windows in this bus, so you might be able to take better pictures, unless you are so unlucky that the glass window is very dirty outside and your camera automatically focus on that dirt instead of animals in autofocus mode. The another option is by jeep, which costs Rs. 2500 for 4 persons. I saw some Mahindra Bolero going inside while I was coming out, so I hope those are the jeeps used for safari. I think this would be the best option, if you want to take some good pictures without any hurry using your DSLR.
The safari consists the enclosures of deers, elephants, bears, lions and tigers (both bengal and white tigers). The authorities have created artificial water tanks and ponds along the safari road, so you can definitely see all the animals. I have seen so many animals along the road that I really got the doubt whether they really have 100 sq. km area in this national park. Especially the white tiger enclosure looked even smaller than an indoor stadium. But these should be the concerns of the animals and not ours. As a visitor, you are ensured to get what you paid for.
The Butterfly park is near the entry of safari and outside of the premises of safari and zoo. It is said to be the first of its kind in India. Even though, most of the butterflies looked same to me in black color, there are many inside (also outside) and you can find some interesting or big ones too.
Even though I have resided in Mysore for six months and Chennai (near Vandalur) for an year I didn't visit Zoos there. So this was my visit to zoo after a very long time. Though we were unfortunate not to see the white peafowl dance and an awaken king cobra, we were fortunate enough to see some interesting activities of rat snakes, lizards and leopards. We also saw a lazy bear lying in supine position and got choked from a sugarcane which it was eating. It also has a large number of macaws. Many monkeys could be seen outside rather than inside of the cages. The other animals are fox, ostrich, owls, deer, porcupine, etc.
So, Finally, Is this place worth visiting or not ? Yes, Definitely it is. It might not be worth to plan a trip just to visit here, but if you are around Bangalore and free for a day, you can visit here and have a good time.
P.S: There's a Hillview Restaurant inside the premises. Since I haven't tried it, not sure about the quality and price of food available here.
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