A few weeks ago Ed and I were at a loose end, so we planned a quick trip to Bannerghatta National Park. We got up early on a Sunday to get to the park for 9am. The park is about an hour and a half away so it was something on my list of things to do locally.
The park comprises of a zoo, a butterfly farm and a national park with very large, open enclosures for animals to roam in.
The zoo was pretty depressing and is not really worth looking at, but since the safari tours were not running for another hour when we arrived, we took a look around to kill some time. The cages are very small with concrete bases and if it was in the UK, it would have been shut down years ago.
The first thing we saw were the hippos taking refuge from the heat in their pool.
The park comprises of a zoo, a butterfly farm and a national park with very large, open enclosures for animals to roam in.
The zoo was pretty depressing and is not really worth looking at, but since the safari tours were not running for another hour when we arrived, we took a look around to kill some time. The cages are very small with concrete bases and if it was in the UK, it would have been shut down years ago.
The first thing we saw were the hippos taking refuge from the heat in their pool.
The crocodiles were doing the same thing!
I had never heard of the Indian Giant Squirrels which were pretty big! One of the wild monkeys was taunting the squirrels and it was quite funny to watch!
The monkey struck a pose for me!
I nearly walked straight past the Iguana because I didn't notice it!
They also had some lepoards and panthers - the panthers were still inside the building, but we could just about see them. We could definitely hear them though; I thought it was a chainsaw, the big cats are so loud and have a huge amount of bass when they roar.
We went on the ‘Grand Safari’ which was an hour long tour on an old bus driving at high speed along a dusty track. We did see a few wild animals though – bears, lions (and lionesses, but I never managed to get a picture), tigers and my highlight was seeing a white tiger.
The bus tour stopped at the butterfly farm, but it was quite limited in the range of butterflies – most were pretty much the same colour and size. There were some really unusual plants in the greenhouse though.
On the outside of the butterfly house was a big hornet’s nest – I’d never seen one quite like it before.
There were loads of termite mounds everywhere. I'd never seen one up close before. I gave it a knock to see just how hard they are, and they are like concrete. It was also very cool to the touch.
So, overall, not a bad trip – I’d avoid the zoo though (except for the giant squirrels) and just go on the safari tours. They also do an elephant ride and an elephant safari – if I return, I may try the elephant safari.
So, overall, not a bad trip – I’d avoid the zoo though (except for the giant squirrels) and just go on the safari tours. They also do an elephant ride and an elephant safari – if I return, I may try the elephant safari.
On the way back, we stopped at Big Bazaar (probably the closest thing to a supermarket I've found yet) and discovered another crazy sign!
