Going to the zoo...

Today we went to the Bannerghatta National Park. We have been there before but wanted to take Husbands today for the obligatory Indian Elephant ride.

The park is about 22 km (half an hour) south of Bangalore but it took us 3 hours to get there with the traffic etc!!

The park is big (25,000 acres) with a large nature reserve which has safaris. We booked up on one! Most of the animals you see here in the pics. you/we will of course have seen before but there is something about seeing these animals up close in the (semi) wild that is awesome. It is great to hear the the kids (especially the boys) say things like 'this is the best two weeks I will ever have in my life'! Ahhhh...










We saw Bison, Tigers (white and 'standard'), dear, wild boar, lions, loads of monkeys (human and furry!), zebra, bears - all wild (ish).

Do forgive us for boring you with a few of our best pics which we thought captured how close the jeep got to them!! Just a metal mesh sheet in between us really - and this had only been added in the last 6 months after a young boy had his arm ripped off by a tiger when he stuck it through the window!!! Seriously!!



















Unfortunately by the time we had got round the park in the jeep and then had a look round the zoo, the stars of the show - the elephants - had all been put away!!! No rides for the kids today - hey ho! They did have a camel ride yesterday.

It was another hot day today. Not as hot as when we first arrived but hot enough for us to need to keep an eye on the kids wilting every 2 minutes (!) an ensure we stuff them full of water! After the zoo, we were so hot we went to a local stall for a sugar cane juice drink. The guy gets a load of sugar cane sticks and puts them through a huge motorised mangle (4 or 5 times) and get loads of the bamboo juice out. Then, with a squeeze of lemon and some ice, we indulged. Very, very nice and good for the guts apparently....?









And then home, through the Bangalore traffic again and out for a big Chinese meal tonight: 10 of us, starters and main courses for £27!!! I had a great dish but half way through eat a chilly the like of which I have never ever had. My throat just ceased up, my tongue felt like someone was stabbing needles through it. It was unreal. I was 'out' for about 5 minutes solid ! Just gulping large chinks of water until they brought me some sugar which helped a lot....

A nice day - other than the chilly!