Mar 21 2008
Holiday on account of good Friday. Long weekend ahead. Think of escaping from Bangalore. Couple of hot product escalations pin me down to Bangalore as I had to check mails periodically and step in if necessary
8:00 am
Weather is gloomy. Thick clouds threatening to burst. And this is summer time we think. Me & veena decide we'll take kids to bannerghatta national park if weather holds good. Plan not to tell kids about it since they'll get disappointed if they know and it starts pouring & we cant make it.
10:00 am
It starts raining. We finish breakfast and the customary weekend tea. We decide to get ready for the trip anyway hoping rain'll subside by the time we leave.
11:30 am
all of us are ready and veena has packed a picnic bag with lunch & munchies. As we hoped rain stops but weather stays gloomy
12:15 pm
we reach bannerghatta. it is hard to imagine that there is a national park & a thick forest behind it only 19 kms from home. the thought of staying so close to natural habitat is exciting.
12:25 pm
we enter the animal park and realize the queue to safari is nearly zero. thanks to the gloomy weather & festivals of hindus, muslims & christians falling on the same day (holi, id, good friday)
12:45 - 1:45 pm
we enter the van that'll take us on the grand safari (covering herbivore, bear, lion & tiger safaris) . ticket cost is 125 bucks for adults. kids under 5 ride free provided they sit on the adults' laps. van driver & helper hint us to take the two seats in the front. we accept their graciousness to get a broad view of the safari thru the windshield. realise, it is a ploy of them to ask for bigger tips at the end. we play along with them as we get the best view in the van
the herbivore park has a few spotted deer, sambar, black bucks, bisons. wild pigs. only the wild pigs interest kids thanks to 'gaalipata' movie where anant nag loses & regains life in his legs due to a wild pig and his hunting attempts
we move to the bear safari. just a few ordinary bears there lazing under rocks. kids are disappointed that they are not moving around and lively.
I'm cajoling nidhi to befriend the van driver & helper so that she can sit with the helper and get the best view of animals. that would give me some space to move my legs as well. driver asks me if neha & nidhi are twins. I say yes. He responds ' namdu twins idhe'. I ask him really, you also have twins? he says not me but there are twin tiger cubs in the safari. I fell stupid and veena grins loud and says 'blog this'
we enter the lion safari. expectedly the male lions are sleeping. the female lions are more active but inside the cage & we do not get a good view of them. nidhi gets disappointed & does not want to look at the lions. reason - lion is shown in orange & brown in cartoons, books... here the lions are pale brown & with dirty brown hair. she tells me why they're not orange like in books. I tell her the lions aren't exactly orange in color and these ones are a little dirty as well. she tells me & the driver to get the lions bathed and then show them to her. alright queen, we'll do that!
the tigers were the most impressive and majestic. kids love them. so do we.
we pay 30 rupees tips to the driver. he is not happy. i think 'cant do much'.
2:00 pm
back in the park or zoo, we start our lunch. kids are eating kurkure & want to feed the crows. we finish lunch. kids survive on kurkure & icecream. we want to show them leopard & zebra. they are more interested in playing swing & see-saw in the play area. we tell them you play it everyday in the apartment complex & better see the animals. they win the argument & we end up getting some peaceful time on the stone benches while kids play & sway.
4:30 pm
we head back. there is a butterfly park to see but legs are aching & kids are tired. we skip it & head back home. i get stupidly adventurous & try an off track road to connect to kanakapura road. end up driving 10 kms more & reach home by 5:30
Holiday on account of good Friday. Long weekend ahead. Think of escaping from Bangalore. Couple of hot product escalations pin me down to Bangalore as I had to check mails periodically and step in if necessary
8:00 am
Weather is gloomy. Thick clouds threatening to burst. And this is summer time we think. Me & veena decide we'll take kids to bannerghatta national park if weather holds good. Plan not to tell kids about it since they'll get disappointed if they know and it starts pouring & we cant make it.
10:00 am
It starts raining. We finish breakfast and the customary weekend tea. We decide to get ready for the trip anyway hoping rain'll subside by the time we leave.
11:30 am
all of us are ready and veena has packed a picnic bag with lunch & munchies. As we hoped rain stops but weather stays gloomy
12:15 pm
we reach bannerghatta. it is hard to imagine that there is a national park & a thick forest behind it only 19 kms from home. the thought of staying so close to natural habitat is exciting.
12:25 pm
we enter the animal park and realize the queue to safari is nearly zero. thanks to the gloomy weather & festivals of hindus, muslims & christians falling on the same day (holi, id, good friday)
12:45 - 1:45 pm
we enter the van that'll take us on the grand safari (covering herbivore, bear, lion & tiger safaris) . ticket cost is 125 bucks for adults. kids under 5 ride free provided they sit on the adults' laps. van driver & helper hint us to take the two seats in the front. we accept their graciousness to get a broad view of the safari thru the windshield. realise, it is a ploy of them to ask for bigger tips at the end. we play along with them as we get the best view in the van
the herbivore park has a few spotted deer, sambar, black bucks, bisons. wild pigs. only the wild pigs interest kids thanks to 'gaalipata' movie where anant nag loses & regains life in his legs due to a wild pig and his hunting attempts
we move to the bear safari. just a few ordinary bears there lazing under rocks. kids are disappointed that they are not moving around and lively.
I'm cajoling nidhi to befriend the van driver & helper so that she can sit with the helper and get the best view of animals. that would give me some space to move my legs as well. driver asks me if neha & nidhi are twins. I say yes. He responds ' namdu twins idhe'. I ask him really, you also have twins? he says not me but there are twin tiger cubs in the safari. I fell stupid and veena grins loud and says 'blog this'
we enter the lion safari. expectedly the male lions are sleeping. the female lions are more active but inside the cage & we do not get a good view of them. nidhi gets disappointed & does not want to look at the lions. reason - lion is shown in orange & brown in cartoons, books... here the lions are pale brown & with dirty brown hair. she tells me why they're not orange like in books. I tell her the lions aren't exactly orange in color and these ones are a little dirty as well. she tells me & the driver to get the lions bathed and then show them to her. alright queen, we'll do that!
the tigers were the most impressive and majestic. kids love them. so do we.
we pay 30 rupees tips to the driver. he is not happy. i think 'cant do much'.
2:00 pm
back in the park or zoo, we start our lunch. kids are eating kurkure & want to feed the crows. we finish lunch. kids survive on kurkure & icecream. we want to show them leopard & zebra. they are more interested in playing swing & see-saw in the play area. we tell them you play it everyday in the apartment complex & better see the animals. they win the argument & we end up getting some peaceful time on the stone benches while kids play & sway.
4:30 pm
we head back. there is a butterfly park to see but legs are aching & kids are tired. we skip it & head back home. i get stupidly adventurous & try an off track road to connect to kanakapura road. end up driving 10 kms more & reach home by 5:30
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