I had no idea what to do today so I got up early and decided to start planning the rest of my trip out. I figured out where I'll be heading after my next stop but that's as far as I got. While browsing things to do in Bangalore, I found a national park near by. Bannerghatta National Park is situated about 15 miles from my hotel in the city and the staff here generously agreed to help me find a rickshaw driver to take me there and back. One pulled up and we zipped away. When we got to Bannerghatta, I was looking at the safari options. It seemed to be that I could either take a bus or a personal Jeep. I elected for the jeep so my rickshaw driver and I hopped in the Jeep and we sped off through the gated facilities.
They keep the herbivores and the carnivores in separate areas so things in the park don't become to natural for the visitors. We drove along winding dirt paths with the jungle inching itself to the road on either side. Around one bend we came to a clearing. A small lake opened up before us as the trees parted and standing down on the bank of the river was an elephant going for a swim. It was the closest thing I've seen to an elephant in the wild and it looked so peaceful. It's enormous grey body soaking up the muddy water of the lake. It would suck some in with its great trunk and blow it into the air. After a brief moments pause we kept going.
Finding more a species of deer native to India called Nilgai. A family was feeding on some clippings laid out for them by the park's staff. We were whisked away again to another clearing. This one with many more elephants. There was one noticeable difference though. Some of these elephants had chain manacles around their feet. I wondered if the other did as well and I could not see it. I am not fond of zoos or companies that exploit animals for people's convenience. I was suddenly faced with an ethical dilemma that I really would rather not be part of. But I suppose that's the point of ethics. I choose to believe these elephants were more happy than the one who cart visitors up and down the steps of palaces all day. They seemed to be enjoying themselves from what I knew of elephant body language which is none. But I couldn't shake the feeling of regret I felt when I saw the chains around the elephants feet.
Once we had spied a few more nilgai, buffalos and elephants we started to go through the various carnivore habitats. First came the bears native to India, the sloth bear. Which is predictively as lazy as their names may suggest. While passing one that was grooming itself off in the woods the rickshaw driver and myself were excitedly jabbering and taking pictures. Our guided pointed to the road ahead where there were four sloth bears laid out in the road. They were all snoring. As our driver maneuvered us through the minefield of sleeping bears, they would lift their heads to see what was happening then place them gently back down. Sloth bears were all over in various states of relaxation. It was quite a thing to see these massive animals in such a lethargic state.
After the bears came the lion enclosure. As we drove through slowly, all of us peering around, we saw one. One lion sitting out in a small clearing in the jungle. His mane illuminated by the sun that passed through the trees outstretched branches and landed to cast golden light all around the predator. He was gazing off into the distance. Sitting in the warm sunlight and silently waiting. After a while he got up, stretched and gave a loud grumble. I have never heard a lion make noise before. It caught me off guard. There is so much base in a lion's voice that it reverberates in your chest. You can feel it. It hits this long forgotten, near primal center of your brain and you can't help but acknowledge the power he has.
After lions and bears only tigers would logically follow. So we drove through the tiger enclosure. White tigers lounged in the bushy undergrowth grooming themselves and bengal tigers stalked through the forests. Sometimes the bengals would get terribly close to the car and you could see their fierce muscles laying just below that orange and black pelt. They are a sight to behold.
On the way back into town my rickshaw driver swung me by a silk factory. I could see beautiful fabrics being woven together in the dark rooms sitting next to the stores. It was very interesting to see the hard work in the dark and dingy rooms. The two men weaving the machine to form beautiful flowers and peacock feathers. Through the grime that coated the old machines and the sweat on the men's brows glistened the iridescent colorings of what would become shawls, gowns and beautiful saris next door. One blend of orange and black in a shawl shined so seamlessly with the colors moving so smoothly together it reminded me of one of the bengal tigers, stalking through the dense under growth as the sun bounced off its hide as the tiger creeped in and out of shade. I stepped into the store for some chai while the store owner laid out dozens upon dozens of beautiful silk wares for purchase. After being doped up with coffee and beautiful fabrics I had some laid out to buy. It wasn't until I caught myself that I decided to see how much they were ready to have me spend. Just shy of eight hundred dollars they had saved at the counter for my purchase. I asked them kindly to put the vast majority of that back and I made out with a few goods.