January 28, 2011

Banerghatta National Park - Jungle Lodges

We decided to go on a one night trip to the Banerghatta National Park, and it being a holiday for the Republic day in the middle of the week also helped. We stayed at the Jungle lodges nature camp, in one of their swiss tents, which were very comfortable. There were deers, peacocks and monkeys all over the camp… and they were very used to human beings around them, to the extend that they did not have any issue if you went quite close by for a good photograph. The food was simple and tasty, the lunch especially, and all meals were served as a buffet. We wanted to leave early to get to office on time, and also to give a miss to the traffic, so they even gave us breakfast early in our tent itself. I think it was very good service from Jungle Lodges, all activities on-time, and there were always many folks around who were ready to give information on the animals, the places around and advice on not disturbing the animals too much. 

The national park as such was disappointing I would say, with small enclosures where the bears, lions, tigers and the white tigers were kept. The enclosure area being so small made it seem more like a zoo rather than a national park. And even in these enclosures, some animals were kept in cages and some were left in the open, which seemed more like a fair gimmick than a true practice. On wondering why such a park was being maintained, the only reason I could come up with was the fear of poaching, even within the premises of the national park. To ensure animal safety, I guess the cages and allocated outside time was the only method they could devise. 

We did not visit the zoo or the butterfly park, amongst which I have heard quite a rage about the butterfly park. One thing I would have loved to do was visit the butter fly park, and post a post card from there, as the postage seal would be of a butterfly when dropped in that specific post box. 

Here are some pictures for a better idea of the camp and also the animals.













4 comments:

  1. Hi Aathira, We stay just 5 kms. from the National Park and have been to the zoo and safari umpteen number of times as you can imagine. It is a lot of fun to both my kids and also to any guests we take along. The pictures are nice, but I heard that they have really hiked all the rates there. That's bad because it was one affordable activity earlier even for the poor.

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  2. @Rachna: This was my first visit, and it was just more of a weekend outside home.. and very close by to ensure less time spent non road. There were many families who were at the park and zoo since it was a national holiday. Since we took a package with Jungle Lodges, it was all activities, stay and meals at 1650 per person, but I do not know the individual entry rates for the park and zoo.

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