Exploring Bannerghatta National Park

                                                                                                              Text & photos by N.A.Varun

Wild animals have always fascinated me since my childhood. But seeing them in the wild had never been easy. If you want to observe wild animals up close & personal ,then the Bannergahtta NP is probably the best place you have got.

The park is accessible from the Bangalore central bus-station , and is connected by a variety of buses. At the time of my visit, my cousin was there to guide me through .We reached there via train and the Bangalore central bus-station is located very close to the railway station . We boarded a No 365 Volvo AC town bus. It was the first time I was entering into an air conditioned town bus. Half an hour in to the trip, we did reach our cousins room located at a nearby town . My watch pointed 10 o' clock . So I spent that night in my cousins flat for gaining energy for the trip next day.

The sound of a helicopter woke up both of us in the morning.An army air base was nearby. The city was  

emerging from the darkness of the cold night. The climate was just so nice that I felt as if the pillow and the woolen blanket was calling me to go back to sleep. My cousin seemed to have read my mind and presented  me a cup full of steaming hot tea. After having the tea and a hot water bath, all my sleepiness ran out of the city . We started to get ready for the trip and had our breakfast.We moved to the bus stop.

As soon as we reached the bus stop, a beautiful No 365 AC Volvo bus was standing there as if it was waiting just for us. We boarded the bus and gazed through the glass windows to see the beautiful city. After some distance, the city disappeared and it felt as if we entered into a tiny forest. It was the place where the offices of the wild life department of Karnataka were located. Within a couple of minutes, the bus reached the Bannerghatta bus station. The bus station was clean and well managed , but there are less number of good shops and hotels nearby. There was a garden close to the bus station and we walked through the garden. 

The time was 9:30 in the morning. A number of school buses were parked in the parking area nearby the entrance to the Bannerghatta Zoo. I saw lots of nursery students walking in line towards  the park entrance along with their teachers. Their sounds were filled in the atmosphere.

We took our tickets for the safari and the zoo from the ticket counter. One ticket costed  Rs 160. Also the ticket for my still camera was Rs 25. We proceeded towards the entrance. The guard teared the tickets a bit and returned it to us for marking that the ticket is used. We stood in the queue for the safari.

The safari is done in buses that are built like cages. Some holes are provided for sticking your camera lens a bit out. I used a 70-300 lens and hence the holes were useful for me. only one bus is allowed at a time for the safari. The people for safari will have to wait for some time before getting into their safari vehicle.

We got into our bus. The bus started moving. We spotted a sambar deer and its fawn in the distance. I could easily grab a shot of them. Luckily,they were on my side of the bus or else I would have to circle inside the moving bus hitting others heads with my big lens. by gods grace, most of the animals were at my side.

The guide started calling the photographers inside the bus and told that he would provide them with his front seet if they were willing to give him Rs 100. With a telephoto lens attached, the offer was not for me. I would hit the windscreen with my lens if  I were to sit there. Also the direct sunlight will cause flare & glare in the image degrading its quality. Hence, I could keep that money in my pocket. 

Then we moved in to the area for the Sloth bear. I was shocked to see about 20-30 bears collectively resting in the road. The honks made by the bus were not enough to wake those hairy creatures. Then the driver started sprinkling water from his water bottle to make way for the bus. The water did its job and we got way through 'bear-path' after giving them a 'bear-bath'  :-)

The bus stopped at a gate and there was an empty region. Again another gate was opened and the bus moved inside. We saw a lioness proudly waking nearby a waterhole. She posed for a photo as if she was the queen of Bannerghatta . The bus moved to another zone.

It contained the rare white tiger. We saw one lying very close to our window. It turned its head as if it was not at all interested in us.Its pale skin,fur and black stripes seemed as if it was a big painted house cat. My co-travelers howled and whistled to grab its attention. But it simply didn't pointed its eyes towards us.

The bus proceeded with the safari.

We moved to the next zone and the next gate opened as if it was a curtain with a VIP inside. It had the world favorite animal inside .It was a Bengal tiger , India's national pride. Everybody pressed their nose on the glass to see the most karizmatic cat in the world. It circled the bus and the bus moved towards the exit gate. The tiger waved its tail with its eyes and ears locked on to us. It seemed like it was telling Bye bye......