Around Bangalore : Bannerghatta National Park

Have been thinking of reviving this blog, and it struck to me that I could add trip reports of places I’ve been visiting – Most of these places are around Bangalore – of course, there are exceptions, but very rare. And of course, once in a while, you’ll get the usual rambling from me.

To start with, let me write about one of the attractions, closest by distance to Bangalore – Bannerghatta National Park.

Located at a distance of around 30 KMs from Bangalore, Bannerghatta National Park is probably the closest weekend getaway for most of the folks – For a nature lover, it can’t get better than this.

Getting there : Very simple, take the Bannerghatta Road. The offshoot from Hosur Road, will take you through Dairy Circle Underpass, Shopper’s Stop, IIM, Meenakshi Temple and continue straight on the road – Plenty of route markers to give you directions, and there’re plenty of people to help you with the route. Spoiler – asking anyone on the road would yield the same answer – “Seedha” (Straight, in the local language) or “Straight”. The only time you may probably need help is at Bannerghatta, where there’s an easy to miss direction board – The board is fading. At the junction, the road splits into three different off-shoots – Keep going straight – The road isn’t good though. Take a diversion immediately to the left, and continue on the road that takes you close to the hill. This beaten road will take you to the National Park. Alternatively, you can take the Volvo buses (I saw them standing at the entrance of the park) operated by KSTDC. Traffic is not normally a problem if you start early. There are plenty of good restaurants on Bannerghatta Road to grab breakfast – Sri Krishna Cafe (opposite to IIM), Adigas to name a few.

Parking a vehicle isn’t a problem – You’ll have to pay for parking though.

What to do : As I’m aware of, there are three things to look forward to at the National Park.
1. Zoo (Opens at 9 AM)
2. Safari (First van at 10 AM)
3. Butterfly Park (Probably 9 AM)

A variety of safaris are available – You can choose the animals that you’d like to see and decide the safari that you’d like to go for. There’s the Herbivore Safari, the Bear Safari, the Grand Safari – to name a few. Alternatively, if you are in a group of 10 or more people, at Rs. 35 per person, you can take a guided walking tour of the herbivore area for an hour.

The following schedule is based on you entering the park at 9 AM – Depending on the distance, you can decide when to start.

For those who’ve decided to take the safari, pick up the tickets to your choice of safari – My suggestion would be the Grand Safari – this is the king of all safaris – and includes everything on the menu – Herbivores, lions, bears, tigers. If you buy tickets to the safari, you don’t have to buy tickets to the zoo separately. If you aren’t interested in the safari, the tickets to enter the zoo have to be bought separately. On a holiday, the price of tickets for the safari is higher, and it’s more expensive for a non-Indian citizen to get in. Cameras are allowed to be carried in, at an extra charge.

In the zoo, there is huge variety of animals and birds to look around – Star Turtles, Geese, Snakes (Python, cobra, rat-snake to name a few), pigeons (varieties and varieties of them – I didn’t know there were so many!), parakeets, finches, porcupines, foxes, zebras, panthers, crocodiles, alligators, deers, emus, elephants, peacocks, langurs, macaques, malabar red – squirrel, horn-bills, pheasants, hippos to name a few. There is a huge aviary with a lot of water birds – herons, pelicans, painted storks. So choose your pick. There’s a little bit of everything for all kinds of nature lover. Apart from the birds and animals on display, the zoo premises also serves as a habitat for a variety of other visiting birds such as kites, sandpipers, herons. (Please note that the animals and birds in exhibition are kept in protected enclosures – while one may not appreciate this, this is a zoo – it is what it is).

Once done with the zoo, you can proceed to the area where they queue up people to board the safari vans. These have grills so that it is difficult for an animal to come in, or a person in the van to jump out. The safari will take you through all the areas that sections of the park where they have the animals in controlled environments. On each occasion I visited the park, I found the drivers and the helpers very co-operative – They stop for reasonable time, very close to the subject, and guide the people very well. They even kill the engine (without people asking for) so that getting photographs is not that much of a pain (if on idling, the vibrations can play mess up good shots). One gets to see a variety of animals during this safari – Nilgai, Sambar deers, Crocodile (if lucky), lions, tigers, white tigers, bears to mention a few. The van takes you through curving roads which are difficult to remember and recollect – each enclosure is securely protected with double gates, that are carefully operated. It takes about an hour’s time to finish the safari.

Once done, they halt the vehicle outside of the zoo, and you can use this time to refresh yourself with a cold-drink or snacks – Plenty of options to choose from. From Lay’s chips to our famous boiled and salted corn – everything’s available.

Butterfly park is a about half a kilometer away – You’ll have to walk all the way. There is a separate entry fee (cameras extra) for the butterfly park. As you’ll see, it’s a rather large room filled with plants. It’s very easy to miss the butterflies. By the way, take care of those kids if you’re taking any along – they tend to get excited at the sight of a butterfly and start catching them – Also watch your step – some of the butterflies sit on the ground – you may end up trampling one unintentionally. The room is humid, and the more time you spend there, the more you will sweat. I have seen various varieties of butterflies here – Common Tiger, Striped Tiger, Common Rose, Crimson Rose, Common Mormon, Blue Mormon, Common Crow, Common Castor to name a few. Best season to visit would be during summer, when I was told that maximum numbers would be available. Butterflies are categorized to areas based on the flowers they feed from. And if you love flowers, you just found one more reason to visit the butterfly park.

Food : Not a problem – Jungle Lodges and Restaurants has a decent restaurant – provides a good meal for lunch – Friendly waiters.

Restrooms :
1. Pay and use – at the zoo
2. Available at Jungle Lodges restaurant – very neatly maintained.

Suggested itinerary :
* Reach the park by 8:45 AM
* Take tickets for the safari – enter the zoo and look around.
* Take the safari area by 10:30 / 11 AM.
* Back near the restaurant by 11:30/12 AM – early lunch, relax.
* Butterfly park at 1 PM – How much time you want to spend there is your decision.

I have been told that taking the safari at 10:30 / 11 AM might be a bad idea as the animals are not active – I’ve taken it at all times from 10 AM – animals kept in controlled environments aren’t exactly active – They will be idling around most of the time – If you expect to see tiger / cheetah chasing a herbivore, you came to the wrong place.

Tips :
* This is a no plastic zone.
* Do not feed the animals.
* Do not tease the animals.
* Do not litter
* Please take care if kids are around – keep them within control
* If you have a baby (< 2 years), avoid the safaris – though it is nice to let the kid look at the Animal Kingdom, there is a good chance that if the kid starts to cry, it can disturb other passengers, or animals at the park.
* Avoid making loud noises.
* Everyone needs a chance to look at the animals during the safari – be courteous and allow fellow passengers to get value for the money that they’ve paid too – Of course, don’t let them hog your space.

Around Bannerghatta National Park :
* Bannerghatta town has a beautiful temple – ask for directions and ye shall find where it is.

If you have any specific queries, or want more details, leave a comment with a valid eMail ID, I will write back to you.