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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...
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Tirupati Part 10 - The Zoo

A visit to Tirupati usually entails a hectic visit to temples and nothing more. This time, however, since we had so much time on our hands, we decided to take Samhith to some place where he could have fun too…… The first of these was the zoo. Yes, Tirupati has a zoo – the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, located about 12 Km from the Tirupati Railway station. The zoo is spread over 5500 acres, and to really enjoy it, one needs to spend the entire day there!


We took an auto from the Srinivasam Complex to the zoo, and were surprised to hear that we could tour the entire zoo in the auto itself. We were rather skeptical at first, but then agreed, since, after climbing the hill, we weren’t in the mood to exert ourselves just to see a few animals! But the zoo turned out to be a surprise – well maintained, with few cages, mostly moats keeping the animals segregated…. It is certainly one of the best zoos I have seen so far, and we had a wonderful time there….

I won’t waste time writing about the zoo and the animals we saw. The zoo has a wonderful website, which includes a virtual tour, so you can head over there and see all that it offers…. So, you can head over to http://www.svzoo.org/ for the details, and meanwhile, you can join me as I take you around the zoo through my photos

Macaques.....




Water Birds..... This, for once, was really clean and nice to see...






Deer..


I loved this board....


Black Buck...


Pheasants........









A Nilgai which ventured really close to us....


A majestic Sambhar which was busy trying to eat....


The Lions.....



More deer...


This is the only reasonably good pic I was able to take of the birds....


These star tortoises seemed to be happy in the birds' enclosure!


More big cats...




Baloo (Sloth Bear) didn't seem to want to get out of the rain!


Wild boar seemed cleaner than usual!


Crocodiles enjoyed their siesta...


An Emu...


A Gharial...


By the time we were through, we were too tired for words, in spite of being driven around in an auto. This is one place worth taking kids to...

Information:


Zoo timings:

Summer 8.00 AM to 6.00 PM
Winter 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM
Zoo remains closed for visitors on every Monday of the week.
Zoo remains open on Mondays too if it is a general holiday or a festive day.

Entry fee particulars:

Adult : Rupees 5/- per head(Indian currency)
Children(aged between 5 and 12): Rupees 2/-
Groups of school children : free entry.

Vehicle Charges (for driving inside)

Auto: Rs. 75
2 Wheelers: Rs. 50
4 Wheelers : Rs. 150
Golf carts are also available for riding inside, but there is a requirement of minimum 8 passengers. Per head charge is Rs. 60. 


Autos charge Rs. 250 for a visit to the Zoo, exclusive of the zoo entry charges. 
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Comments

  1. ArtiDecember 22, 2010 at 8:39 AM

    Looks very clean and the animals seem happy too!!
    Loved the pics, the tiger is majestic and also loved the turtles...

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaDecember 22, 2010 at 9:50 AM

    I can imagine Samhith having a great time! What a variety of animals in one place!

    ReplyDelete
  3. chitraDecember 22, 2010 at 10:44 AM

    I too loved the board with animals sending strong messages.
    There is a gleam in the eyes of the first tiger. I loved the star turtles too. they are an endangered species.Recently one was found near Ramanthapuram during the recent rains as it was searching for warm place to park itself, rescued.

    ReplyDelete
  4. saiDecember 22, 2010 at 11:08 AM

    nice post with good pictures...

    ReplyDelete
  5. जितेन्द्र ‘जौहर’ Jitendra JauharDecember 22, 2010 at 3:40 PM

    Wow... Anu ji...!

    It's a nice experience eying these beautiful pics...really pleasant to look at.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SridharanDecember 22, 2010 at 9:57 PM

    Interesting... Tirupathi has a Zoo..this is a news to me too.. I have been avoiding Tirupathi for long because of the unpredictability of Dharshan timing and accommodation related issues.. I guess, I need to make a trip soon..So much to see, so near my place..Your Tirupathi posts are being good catalysts for me to plan a trip. Hope to revert with a post on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anuradha ShankarDecember 22, 2010 at 10:20 PM

    @Arti: It is really clean.. thats what struck me at once... also theres so much space, theres lots of place for all the animals not to be completely restricted...

    @Mridula: oh yes, he loved every bit of it! and its one of the few zoos i have enjoyed visiting!

    @Chitra: It was a nice way to get the point across... and yes, this was the first tiger I have seen which looked at least wild!!! as to the tortoises,there were so many... from what i heard, many of the animals have been the ones rescued from circuses, or found like the one u mentioned..

    @Sai: thanks a lot, and welcome here!

    @Jitendra Jauhar: thanks so much! welcome to my space!

    @Sridharan: yes, i guess you should make a visit again. i agree with the unpredictability and that it makes us less interested in visiting, but somehow, this is one place i love visiting in spite of all that!

    ReplyDelete
  8. NatashaDecember 23, 2010 at 1:45 PM

    Awesome photographs, Anu.

    ReplyDelete

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