Writing this post to share our trip to Vandalur Zoo a.k.a Arignar Anna Zoological Park. Another primary reason is that when I planned, I was looking at web to see how I should make it and tips for a great trip. Found some real interesting ones but they were old. So thought of putting this new one. Date of this post is Dec 30, 2011 (Friday). We visited a day ago which is Dec 29, 2011.
For more information and history about the zoo, please refer Wikipedia post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arignar_Anna_Zoological_Park
We had guest at home and planned to visit the zoo. But right from the morning we had a big challenge of the cyclone "Thane" warning and it has been raining. So ignored the rain and warning was after 24 hours, so packed and gone there.
Location of Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur: 12.879162 ,80.095394
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=Vandalur+Zoo,+Chennai,+Tamil+Nadu,+India&hl=en&cid=12893818695027825798
How to reach?
-> Personal car will be best a option
-> Metro train that goes upto Chengalpat from Tambarm.
-> Plenty of Deluxe, ordinary and Volvo buses go there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MTC_Chennai_bus_routes
Entrance into the zoo:
-> For personal car's Rs.20 to be paid and you have plenty of parking space
-> For adults Rs.20 and for children its Rs.10
-> For still camera Rs.25 and video camera its Rs.50
-> There are three rides you may need to book
-> Electric car ride: Eco friendly electric car ride if you go with family and kids, elderly person. Tickets will be sold fast so early visitors can easily get it. This ride will last for an hour and they will stop at only 3 or 5 places based on time you take at each place. Charges are Rs.20 for adults and Rs.10 for kids.
-> Lion safari: This is about 30-45 minutes van ride inside the forest area where you can see the lions at wild. You will be in a covered van. Try to get tickets as soon as you enter into the zoo. Try to avoid seat numbers 20+ in the van. Who gets 1-6 are lucky in this case. Charges are Rs.20 per adult and Rs.10 per children.
-> Bicycle ride: At zoo, you can hire bicycle for rent. Rs. 15 for a non-geared cycle and Rs. 30 for a geared cycle per hour. Those who like to take more photograph, enjoy watching the animals and planned to spend a day, you should take this option. A refundable deposit of Rs.200 per cycle is to be paid.
What to carry?
-> Food for yourself as there is only one Tamilnadu hotel restaurant inside the zoo
-> Water bottles for yourself
-> Good walking footwear, towels, cap, sun cream and sun glass for any sunny day.
-> Preferably a SLR or DSLR camera as P&S cams doesn't work good. At times animals will be far away from boundary. Make sure your SD card is pretty empty and batteries are fully charged / backup battery.
-> Light weight baggage and food items packed in a paper cover as plastic covers are not allowed
In the beginning, you will start with deers, monkeys, and they you can find several other mammals including White Tigers
Also you can find nice and beautiful deer and monkey
Also found some beautiful pair of river otter kept in there...
And a lot of birds there in the zoo and you will definitely spend a lot of time and photo shots there. Also you can find the zebra, giraffe, hippos and crocodile (about four or more varieties including american alligator).
During the lion safari, please try to get a P&S cam with you. The mesh outside the van will not be enough for the SLRs to skip them and shoot. I would highly encourage you to have this safari. Below are some pictures from the lion safari.
the last picture was taken on the way back from lion safari... very interesting to see the fight.
In general, a nice place to go and spend. Plan for a full day with full energy. Go early to get the rides, prefer a weekday rather than a weekend. Personal car would be so easy. Carry your own food and water but carry lesser weight :-) Have a nice time!!
For more information and history about the zoo, please refer Wikipedia post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arignar_Anna_Zoological_Park
We had guest at home and planned to visit the zoo. But right from the morning we had a big challenge of the cyclone "Thane" warning and it has been raining. So ignored the rain and warning was after 24 hours, so packed and gone there.
Location of Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur: 12.879162 ,80.095394
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=Vandalur+Zoo,+Chennai,+Tamil+Nadu,+India&hl=en&cid=12893818695027825798
How to reach?
-> Personal car will be best a option
-> Metro train that goes upto Chengalpat from Tambarm.
-> Plenty of Deluxe, ordinary and Volvo buses go there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MTC_Chennai_bus_routes
Entrance into the zoo:
-> For personal car's Rs.20 to be paid and you have plenty of parking space
-> For adults Rs.20 and for children its Rs.10
-> For still camera Rs.25 and video camera its Rs.50
-> There are three rides you may need to book
-> Electric car ride: Eco friendly electric car ride if you go with family and kids, elderly person. Tickets will be sold fast so early visitors can easily get it. This ride will last for an hour and they will stop at only 3 or 5 places based on time you take at each place. Charges are Rs.20 for adults and Rs.10 for kids.
-> Lion safari: This is about 30-45 minutes van ride inside the forest area where you can see the lions at wild. You will be in a covered van. Try to get tickets as soon as you enter into the zoo. Try to avoid seat numbers 20+ in the van. Who gets 1-6 are lucky in this case. Charges are Rs.20 per adult and Rs.10 per children.
-> Bicycle ride: At zoo, you can hire bicycle for rent. Rs. 15 for a non-geared cycle and Rs. 30 for a geared cycle per hour. Those who like to take more photograph, enjoy watching the animals and planned to spend a day, you should take this option. A refundable deposit of Rs.200 per cycle is to be paid.
What to carry?
-> Food for yourself as there is only one Tamilnadu hotel restaurant inside the zoo
-> Water bottles for yourself
-> Good walking footwear, towels, cap, sun cream and sun glass for any sunny day.
-> Preferably a SLR or DSLR camera as P&S cams doesn't work good. At times animals will be far away from boundary. Make sure your SD card is pretty empty and batteries are fully charged / backup battery.
-> Light weight baggage and food items packed in a paper cover as plastic covers are not allowed
In the beginning, you will start with deers, monkeys, and they you can find several other mammals including White Tigers
Also you can find nice and beautiful deer and monkey
Also found some beautiful pair of river otter kept in there...
And a lot of birds there in the zoo and you will definitely spend a lot of time and photo shots there. Also you can find the zebra, giraffe, hippos and crocodile (about four or more varieties including american alligator).
During the lion safari, please try to get a P&S cam with you. The mesh outside the van will not be enough for the SLRs to skip them and shoot. I would highly encourage you to have this safari. Below are some pictures from the lion safari.
the last picture was taken on the way back from lion safari... very interesting to see the fight.
In general, a nice place to go and spend. Plan for a full day with full energy. Go early to get the rides, prefer a weekday rather than a weekend. Personal car would be so easy. Carry your own food and water but carry lesser weight :-) Have a nice time!!
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