The Great Safari at Bannerghatta National Park, Bengaluru
2nd article on where to go when you stay in Bengaluru. I have been here for 2 years now in Bengaluru and have rarely visited many places around the city. As during long weekends and other holidays, I am out exploring other places around Karnataka. So I thought why not cover some of the places and events I have been to in Bengaluru. So let’s get started on the National Park located in the city – The Bannerghatta National Park.
Bannerghatta National Park
It is located just 24kms from where I stay so you can either take an Uber, Bus or can ride till there. As they have immense parking for you. We took an Uber with the gang as we knew getting a ride back wouldn’t be a task. We started early in the morning so we can grab the Jeep Safari which would have been awesome. But still a little scary as we saw some videos where the lions tried to attack a Santro in the park, and that it wasn’t for the first time. The park opens at 9:30 AM till 5 PM, but try to be there before 9 AM as you won’t get any other safari options except the bus. As all get booked pretty fast on weekends with many people going to the Safari. The rates for the different types of Safari are as follows –
Non-AC Bus Service – 300 INR/Adult
AC Bus Service – 500 INR/Adult
Jeep Service – Depends on the number of people
6 Seater Non-AC Jeep – 3000 INR/Adult and 3500 INR/Adult for the AC Version
8 Seater Non-AC Jeep – 4000 INR/Adult I don’t think there are AC Versions available for this
Photography is allowed, but chargeable at 25 INR for cameras and 200 INR for video cameras. But try to grab a proper seat as most of the animals can appear from any side. I talked with the driver and grabbed the front seat on the gearbox so I could at least see them while I ride through the forest. And also there are other options for you to choose as you can just take the Grand Safari or include with it the Zoo and Butterfly Park. The prices –
Only Zoo – 80 INR/Adult
Only Butterfly Park – 30/Adult
Safari – 260 INR/Adult
You can take all of these at one time as the safari takes around 1-2 hours and you have the whole day to visit the zoo and the butterfly park. We did the same as we were early and wanted to see all the animals there. After taking our tickets we were among the huge crowd of people who were going to the Bus Safari. I think the line was a km long, after which you reach the rest zone. Which is covered with tents and benches for you to relax and then take 1 seat/person on the bus. This was good as you would not love to get on a crowded bus and not be able to spot any of the animals there.
The Safari
In 30Mins we were on our bus, which drove us through the entrance towards the first spot. We saw some elephants and deer on our way to the Bear Safari. They have these caged gates, which are opened by the workers inside the cage for their safety. We spotted many bears on the road of the safari some of them were walking relaxed on the roads. This was the first time I saw a bear they were not the big ones. Some of them were just sleeping beside the road and some walked past our bus as we slowly and silently drove near them.
After the Bear Safari we were at the jungle king safari the Lions Safari we spotted 2-3 of them. They slept beside these bamboo trees and didn’t care much about the bus. One of them in the cage was looking at us the whole time as we crossed her cage. I think it was a lady lion with less hair around its neck.
The next safari was of the Tigers we spotted a White Tiger at first on this rock. After that, we saw 7-8 of them just walking around and some drinking water in the pond. A jeep broke down in the middle of the place where the tigers were walking. A bad situation to be in wonder how they would have fixed the vehicle there. This made me think that is it actually safe to try the Jeep/Car Safari available there. Not many Bengal Tigers like the quantity of the white ones, but we spotted some on our way to the exit of the place. The safari lasted for an hour and we were soon out of the bus. Which dropped us near the Butterfly Park.
The Butterfly Park
After grabbing some water bottles we headed towards the Butterfly Park. You can grab a golf car with the others to reach the entry gate after the ticket counter there. But we chose to walk which was not that far, you will also reach this souvenir shop in the middle where you can buy some stuffed animal toys and gifts. We reached the beautiful gate which was the replica of a butterfly.
Not just the gate, but inside the park was also amazing with this garden made in a dome. Closed from all sides for the butterfly’s to be inside. There were flowers and trees all around, we spotted some butterfly’s there but didn’t know the names. There is a bridge too, which leads you to the butterfly museum. Where they have documented about many butterflies and also preserved many of them properly named and framed. I think it was around 20mins we took to walk around the Butterfly Park.
The Zoo – Animals at Bannerghatta National Park
We started with the turtle zone, which was a pond type area with all the turtles out of the water. I didn’t count, but there were about 30-40 of them. After that, we entered this museum where they had showcased the different statues of the animals you will see at the Bannerghatta National Park. And eggs of different animals like Ostrich which is huge, Silver Pheasant Egg, Paws of the animals. Next stop the hippopotamus where two of the hippos just slept in the water. The zoo was full of monkeys on trees, careful if you are walking around with food.
Other animals which you can see included crocodiles, zebras, deer and many types of land and water birds. The zoo might take 2 hours to walk around, spotting all the animals around.
Which makes it 4-5 hours to visit the Bannerghatta National Park. I didn’t expect to spot so many animals here but had a great one day trip. And seeing so many tigers was truly amazing as I never spotted so many at other places I have been to. This has been the biggest zoo I have been to after Kolkata and Patna in Bihar.
Hope you liked the article I am trying to post 31 articles this month as a great start to the New Year 2018. Hope you are loving this getting 1 article to read each day. Tell me should I continue to do such daily blogs for you guys. Comment down below and do not forget to subscribe to my blog for a new place to read every now and then :). See you guys.
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