Stutzfamily.com>Travel Pictures

India

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

September 2007


When we got to the park, the first thing we found was a little train that rode around the figure-8 track every half hour. We paid our 44 rupees (15 for each adult and 7 for the kids) and got on just a few minutes before it left. We had exotic visions of wild animals based on the flamboyant paintings on the cars, but we didn't see many of them. We did see a lot of birds and butterflies, though, and passed some cages where the animals were kept.
After our ride, we decided to hike back along the track to see some of the things we had zipped by. We got to see the animals, although they were all pretty mellow. There were some leopards napping in the sun, some peacocks, bunches of different kinds of deer, and a few birds of prey. Pretty uninspiring, but whatever. It is a pleasant day in the sun.
As we continued, we decided it was a pretty enough walk through the trees. We were a bit dismayed by the amount of garbage that was strewn everywhere, however. It is still a shock to our Western systems to see litter - lots of it - just thrown on the ground, and in a supposedly protected nature area nonetheless. 


We decided to keep our eyes up rather than down, and were rewarded with beautiful flowers on the trees and bushes. At least we were out of the house...

When we made it back, we decided to take a paddleboat ride around a little lake there. Remember that this 'park' is in the city, so at the end of the lake, we saw apartment residents (actually, more probably people who live in the shanty towns that ring the park) going about their business. 
  
Our most exciting moment was when we were under a big tree and saw a kingfisher hanging out. Suddenly, right alongside of us, he swooped down, grabbed a little fish out of the water, and landed on a branch to have lunch! We didn't get picture of the attack - we were so surprised and engrossed in his adventure - but it was something else to see! (That's him sitting on the limb after eating)

We headed back to the playground that was near the lake, where the kids were happy to see that we are not the only parents who insist on taking their kids' pictures!! After some play time, we loaded up in the van and - with Susan driving! - headed down the road to see the caves.
National Park home - train and boat - caves

To the main India page
To the Stutz's Welcome Page