Participants:
1. Shrikant Gaikwad
2. P.C. Gautam
3. Wife (Chumki) and Myself
Date: 22nd May, 2011
Mode of Transport: Bajaj Platina 125 cc, Bajaj Caliber
The national park comprises of around 104.27 sq.km in area and is mostly covered by dense forest and scrub land making it an idle home ground for wild animals such as tiger, lion, bison, leopard, wild boar, deers, elephants etc. The mammals are left freely in the forest and the visitors are taken around the forest in a well caged mini-bus to view these animals. Different partitions with huge gates and moats separate the forest into the herbivores section and the carnivores section.
The visitors are allowed to view the forest area only in the ‘safari’ (joy ride) buses and are not allowed to get off the bus whatsoever. I felt like going inside a big cage :-), but worth visiting. The park is open from morning 9 am to 4:30 pm.
It also comprises of a Zoo and a Butterfly Park.
Entry Fees:
There are a lot of variations in the fee structure depending upon the trip you want to undertake incluing the following.
a. Grand Safari – Rs 165, Zoo ticket is a must for this.
b. Zoo – Rs 45
c. Still Camera – Rs 25
d. Leisurely elephant ride – Rs 60
e. Nature trail – Rs 70
Route Information:
The national park is about 28 kms from Mekri Cirle and is very much accessible via public transport. BMTC buses including both Volvo ply to the national park. En-route to the national park you could come across the Meenakshi Temple on the right and Meenakshi Mall on your left.
References: http://wikitravel.org/en/Bannerghatta_National_Park
Leave a Reply