Saturday trip to Bannerghatta Zoo

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Today started off with drama with the drivers. Around 9 AM our doorbell rang a couple of times so I went to answer the door. It was Sanjay and he wanted to let me know that he would be taking us to the Zoo today. According to Marc Ravi is supposed to drive us. I told him to talk to Marc and work it out with him. About 30 minutes later he comes back to the apartment and insists that he will be taking us today. In the meantime Dionne, our new roommate, comes out of her room and introduces herself. She is dressed and is ready to do some shopping. I am really impressed because I was not in such good shape when I first arrived in Bangalore. Sanjay has already told her that he would take her shopping for the day. I have no idea how he will take us to the Zoo and Dionne around town shopping at the same time. Nadine and I go down to the Hub to meet Marc and we find out that another group of expats are going shopping around Bangalore and Manjuthan will be driving them. We go back upstairs and grab Dionne so that she can join the other group. Finally we have the driver situation figured out!

Nadine and I go outside to wait in Sanjay’s car while Marc finishes breakfast at the Hub. Manjuthan and Shashi come over to visit with us. Shashi tells us that he has a new fiancée that he met the previous night. He just broke up with this last fiancée two weeks ago! He proceeds to tell Nadine and I that he has several girlfriends and they do not know about each other. Sanjay then says that Shashi should be ashamed of himself because he is a disgrace to his Indian heritage. Nadine and I just laugh and tell him that in the USA he would be considered a player.

The ride to the Bannerghatta Biological Park and Zoo takes about 45 minutes. It is an interesting ride and takes us through a part of town I have not seen previously. It is clear that we are leaving the heart of the city because the surroundings become increasingly rural. Sanjay is able to drive faster than normal because the roads are not as crowded as they are in the city. I notice that he is basically playing chicken. He will pass a car and will not pull over into his proper lane unless the oncoming vehicle is larger than our mini-van. This means that motorcycles have to veer out of his way even though they are in their proper lane.

When we arrive at the Bannerghatta Biological Park and Zoo I immediately notice that it does not look anything like a Western Zoo or National Park. The roads are in poor shape and there is a family of beggars working the parking lot. Outside of the ticket booth there is a row of vendors selling knick knacks, drinks, film, and making food. There are a couple of vendors making a beverage out of compressed sugar cane and one vendor roasting ears of corn. While Sanjay waits in line to purchase our tickets I watch the sugar cane vendors. They have a machine that presses the sugar cane and they gather the juice in a canister underneath the compress. The vendors have filthy hands and their hands touch the juice. I have lowered my standards of cleanliness since I have been here but I would never drink this juice!

Sanjay buys us three tickets to the Grand Safari and we get in line to board a bus that looks like a school bus from the 1970’s. Right before we board Sanjay approaches me and tells me to tip the driver. We get on the bus that is almost completely full and the driver has saved us the best seats in the bus! I wonder if the other people on the bus are irritated about this. The bus is now full and we are on our way down a dirt road.

The bus drives us a hill and the driver tells us to look to our left. There is an elephant next to the road eating some shoots. Sadly there is a shackle around his foot so he has been put in that location for our amusement. We continue along the safari and see some deer. We pull up to a gated area and a man jumps out of his chair in the shade to open the fence so the bus can enter. Once the bus pulls completely into the fenced area the first gate closes and the man opens a second fate so the bus can pull into the main “bear safari” area. As soon as we pull in there are three bears in sight. We get out our camera and start snapping pictures. We really do have the best seats in the bus. Two of the bears are immediately underneath the driver’s window. He tells me to give him my camera and he takes some awesome pictures of the bear cubs fighting for me.

Next we are on to the lion safari. Again we have the best seats in the bus and are able to get some amazing photos. A man who is sitting a few rows behind me sees how good our seats our and comes over and stands right in front of us to take a few snaps with his camera phone. There is not much space but he does not seem to mind. The seats are so good that I feel guilty, so I do not mind that he is invading my personal space to take a few pictures.

The next stop is the tiger safari. Sadly there is a row of cages that contain tigers. They do not look happy in these cages. We then pull into a natural habit where several tigers are roaming free. The driver pulls right up the Tigers. We could stick our hands out the window to pet the tigers but we are not insane. We got some really good pictures of the white tigers.

After about an hour the safari is over. We want to ride an elephant but we have to wait about 20 minutes. Again Sanjay buys our tickets and we walk over to the area where the elephants are. Unfortunately we are mobbed by beggars yet again and they do not leave us alone while we are waiting for our turn to ride an elephant. A little girl who looks very rough keeps harassing Marc. She does not speak English but she speaks to us in Hindi with a raspy voice that you would expect from a 60 year old smoker. Marc gives her half of a rupee and this just seems to tease her. It is now our turn to ride the elephant. We take off our shoes and climb to the top of the elephant-boarding platform. We all get on the elephant which is outfitted with a rectangular area for us to sit that also has a guard rail. The elephant doesn’t smell nearly as bad as I thought it would. The ride is not particularly exciting - the biggest thrill is the mere fact that we are riding on an elephant. The raspy voiced beggar girl followed us as if we would throw money her way while we are riding the elephant. We can hardly believe her persistence.

After about 10 minutes the ride is over and we disembark the elephant. I am not sure whether or not I am supposed to tip the elephant driver but I slip him 100 RS anyway. I guess he liked this so he did not let the next group board the elephant right away. Instead he brought the elephant to the side of the platform and insisted that we get our picture taken with the elephant. Nadine and I had our picture taken and then it was Marc’s turn.

We were followed by the begging family all the way back to the car. The little girl continued to harass Marc. He even takes her picture as she bangs on the window. We did not give her any money. As we start to pull out of the parking spot Sanjay rolls down the window and gives her mother about 50 RS and says “may God be with you”. I feel awful - if our driver gives beggars money then does that mean that I should give them money? I am really torn. So many people have told me to never give them money even though it seems cruel. Sanjay is a local and he gave them money. I am not sure what to think.

We are hungry so we ask Sanjay to take us to The Only Place. On the way there he pulls in front of a store and tells us to go inside because it would not be convenient to come here again. He insists that the prices are the best in town. We go inside and immediately are accosted by a herd of shopkeepers. Nadine buys a selwar suit and a silk top. I buy a cotton top and a scarf. Since these items are tailor made they will be available for us on Wednesday.

We finally make it to The Only Place and we see a group of expats from the company at another table eating burgers. We order our food and it is quickly delivered to us because the kitchen is about to close. We then ask Sanjay to take us to Commercial Street but he keeps coming up with excuses to not take us there. We then tell him to take us to the Cauvery which is on MG road. He says he knows a better Cauvery that is closer. He drives us around for about 30 minutes before we get there. I realized that he took us to the Labalgh Gardens part of town - this is a long ways away from The Only Place. We could have walked to the Cauvery on MG road from The Only! Clearly Sanjay gets a kickback from this place. We go inside and of course there is a barrage of sales people wanting to show us every corner of the store. I am actually impressed by their prices so I end up buying a comforter and a couple of gifts for friends. Both Marc and Nadine also purchase silk comforters. By this point we are tired and we ask Sanjay to take us home.

Nadine and I decide to take naps so that we will have energy to go to Mary Barbara and Josh’s party later tonight. Right when I am about to lay down for a nap my phone rings. Brian, whose stay in Bangalore was extended by a couple of weeks, is calling to invite Nadine and I to dinner at Sunny’s restaurant with him and 3 other guys. I knock on Nadine’s door and she says she will skip dinner. I take a quick shower and meet up with the guys.

Sunny’s is in the MG road area and is very close to The Only Place. It is a continental restaurant and is very Western inside. Brian insists that the salads are safe so I order one. He also insists that the ice cubes are made from filtered water so I order a cocktail with ice. The salad was amazing as was the rest of the meal. It was not cheap, we split the bill 5 ways and it was about $55 a person. A meal like this in Atlanta would have cost close to $300 for 2 people so I think that we got a good deal.

After dinner we headed back to St. John’s Wood to go to a party at Mary Barbara and Josh’s new apartment. Mary Barbara works for the company and will be working in Bangalore for a year. Josh is Mary Barbara’s husband and is a “trailing spouse”. Josh quit his job to follow Mary Barbara over here but he is actively looking for a job in Bangalore. They just moved out of the D block into a new apartment in the Olive 1 block. The apartment is nice - it has a balcony on each side of the building. It is quieter than the D block because there are only two apartments per floor.

The party was a lot of fun. We played cards and Nadine showed us a card trick. The night ended with Brian taking a few of us up to the roof us his building. The view from the roof was amazing - we could see all of Koramangla. The moon was full and the sky was relatively clear. It was an experience that I will never forget...

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Photos

Elephant Ride
Marc, Nadine and me on an elephant ride.

Bear cubs wrestling
This picture was taken by our driver on the Grand Safari

Lion
An upclose picture on a lion on the Grand Safari

Tigers
These tigers were so close to the safari bus that we could have reached outside the window to pet them!

Having fun at MB&J's party
Jim Fancher, Nadine, Mary Barbara, me, and Brian having fun on the balcony of Mary Barbara and Josh's new apartment