We were in a reasonably organised way as our plan to see the wildlife started. Our driver Arjun arrived and off we set at 8.30 prompt to avoid some of the city traffic as we headed south. We arrived after about an hour of travelling (40kms) which was quite an achievement in Bangalore.
Our journey to the ticket office was one of slight confusion. Non air con bus, air con bus, jeep, car, etc etc. We opted for the air con jeep only to be told that it was sold out until later in the day, but the new helper who turned out to be the a/c bus driver decided to intervene and help with the ticket purchase. 1600 rupees later we were heading to his bus 🚌 which looked actually quite roadworthy! A promise of I'll save you a seat at the front was given, which immediately provoked what's a suitable tip in my mind!!
We set off in the a/c bus that appeared to have a temperature gauge setting but no a/c however the driver was to leave his window open all the way through even in the Lion and Tiger sections! I figured that if he got attacked he would be enough fresh meat to keep them busy...
The journey through allowed us to see deer (yes let's move on we know them from home!) getting a little more interesting when larger deer appeared but then the next section when we saw the elephant being ridden along the road it got more exciting. Shortly afterwards we reached the elephant park with perhaps 15 elephants visible. What a wonderful sight especially two getting washed by keepers in the shallows of the lake. Yes Milo wants one now as a pet.
Next area was the bear section - 60 rescued former 'dancing bears' - quite cute really. The driver took my phone and leant out to get more close up piccies...
The trip continued with a double gated entry to the Lion enclosure to which Max said to the driver 'your window is still open' I'm not sure that The driver's English/ Hindi and the Max's English had any form of equivalents. We carried on and found lions basking in the sun by their pond. Despite attempts from the driver to attract them over by revving his engine we couldn't convince them to move!
Tigers came next and we were again slightly disturbed that the double gated entrance was left open. Was this a lapse of security?!! We then saw keepers and maintenance people carrying out some work before arriving at the white tiger (being slightly camera shy but safely inside his enclosure!)
This was the best day of Milo's life he suggested as we headed back on the bumpy road to the zoo section.
Difficult to say too much about a zoo environment after we have experienced some of what are deemed to be the more natural ones like Chester Zoo but perhaps the most noteworthy were the wild monkeys that were raiding the bins and following tourist around much to Milo's annoyance.. A very large king cobra within an enclosure gave us an indication of what we might see in the garden!! Apparently they are reasonably common in the summer!
Finally a note about Carla's most feared experience - yes it was the stand up hole in the floor toilet...It's one to avoid if possible and the first thing done on our return was to have a big wash of feet and anything that was close to the offending piddle pit!
Editors Note: We think that this was the previous A/C coach before the driver fell off the road in it!
