Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Junagadh aka Sakkarbaug Zoo aka
Junagadh Zoo is located around 8 KM away from the city of Junagadh. It was
established in 1863 by the Babi Nawabs. It is located very close to the Gir
forest.
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| Sakkarbaug Zoological Park |
It is tagged on google maps, after visiting Baba Pyare Caves near Uparkot Fort, we boarded a rickshaw to visit it. it cost us Rs.60. We paid Rs.40 for
two to visit the zoo.
Now I have been to the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai, but this was
nothing like it. I was amazed to see the different varieties of birds, animals
and reptiles it housed. For a moment I decided to stop clicking photos and
enjoying the zoo like a kid. Fathima and
me hung around each and every cage to get a good view of the birds. Have to
admit, but the bird section was the nosiest. Each of the birds were chirping, I
guess they were trying to communicate with themselves. That language was alien
to us. Hehehe.
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| Birds in Cages at Sakkarbaug Zoological Park |
We then headed to see the snakes, the snakes were kept in
glass encloses and not cages else they would have been all over the place. The
snake skin was so beautiful. That's all I have to say.
Next were the crocodile, there were so many of them, It
looked like they were playing the game "statue" where in one acts
like a statue. They were hardly moving.
Sadly there were no dare devils around us, else we could have seen the
crocs in action. Just Kidding.
Next we paid a visit to the Deer and its extended family. We
saw the Antelope, Chinkara, Blackbuck and the Blue Bull. They were quite happy
in their enclosure. The way we looked at them, they too looked similarly at us.
Like we were trying to make some kind of contact. But we just couldn't. Had Dr.
Dolittle been there he would have surely communicated with the animals. Hehehe.
I was amazed when I saw the lions and tigers, I have never
seen them so close. they were huge and resting. I guess they had their lunch
and were trying to get some sleep, and there were we and some more people who
wanted them to pose for us in our photos. They didn't bother looking at us
either. There is a stuffed toy tiger kept outside the cage, it was as huge as
the ones within, it was kept so that people could pose with them and then
narrate tales of how they managed to take a selfie with the tiger.
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| Tiger in Sakkarbaug Zoological Park |
Eating and drinking within the zoo premises is not allowed.
Feeding the animals is strictly prohibited. There are restrooms within the
premises to freshen up.
Outside the Zoo premises, there are plenty of options for
food and drinks (no hard drinks) We had a finger licking pav bhaji at a cost of
Rs.60 bang opposite the Zoo entrance.
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| Pav Bhaji, we had outside the Sakkarbaug Zoological Park |
We had visited Uparkot Fort and the Sakkarbaug Zoological
Park, Junagadh and we were tired, so we decided to head back to the hotel. We
decided to visit the Narsinh Mehta Lake in the evening.
NOTE: Please click on the words in large font in the blog to read about them.
