A final rendezvous...

Nearing the fag end of my walk through the path enveloping the caged realm, that seemed to be receding slowly as imprinted memories in my mind, I tried to get a few last compelling shots of the wildlife around me.  

So if I had to take 'An invisible you' along with me this is how I would relive that memory:

On a mental note, you start with the Giraffes strolling calmly on your right as you enter. 

Moving on you take a curved bend to your left that leads to the birds sanctuary.  Also on your way here, don’t miss looking up at the trees that border the walkway – you might just be lucky enough to spot a few surprises up there! After having graced the Hornbills, Sparrows, Cranes, Stork, Budgerigars, Pheasants, Parakeets, Owls, Eagles, Vulture, Lorikeets, Macaws, Cockatoos, Conures  and Flamingos you move on to meet a couple of Capuchins.

A little straight ahead takes you to the Tiger clearing.  I think there were 3-4 tigers in all, but just the sight and noise of the crowd in front of the ‘somewhat-just-big -enough’ cage making the striped King pace around restlessly, was much too gut wrenching for me to want to be a part of that crowd.  I just stood behind the now half mocking impenetrable crowd, looked on for a few seconds at the one animal I was so looking forward to see and just managed to get a fleeting glimpse of!  I just took a couple of half-hearted clicks for the record and decided to move on with my folks, casting a dreary look behind me. It all just felt out of place and nothing else could have made me more reminiscent of the fact that, they so did not belong in there!  But, well that is just my honest opinion.  I just simply convinced myself that they were rescued animals that couldn’t have made it otherwise on their own in the wild and were well taken care of here- something I did at almost every other clearing! On the flip side, it did give me an unasked for excuse to be at close quarters with some of the animals that I may never otherwise have had a chance to see, like the Lemurs, Marmosets, Kangaroos and Blackbucks up ahead.

Further on you stride into the Gorilla clearing of which I’ve spoken of in Part 2 of this series. Passing the Baboons and Langurs you move on to meet a surreal sleeping One-horned Rhino and a couple of Cheetahs (now extinct in India but I guess efforts are being made to restore them back) in glass covered clearings.  Just curious but aren’t cheetahs supposed to be excellent tree climbers? For the enclosures although high, had even taller trees with branches that spread across and hung just a few feet up from where I was standing. It was a bit unnerving to think that with just a couple of jumps those cheetahs could easily climb out of the glass barricade. But the question was did they realise that? Well, that’s when I stopped deliberating and moved on warily.

Zebras, Wolfs, Dholes (Indian wild dog now bordering the edge of an endangered species list) and Sloth Bears then call for your attention as you trudge on. This then leads you to huge clearings of Chital, Hog deer, Chinkara/Indian Gazelle, Jackals, Elephants and Bison.

 Zebra

Chital

 Chital again...

 Tongue flicking by a Bison on display...;)

Hog Deer

Just when you start wondering where the Lion King is, you march on to meet His and Her Highness after passing the Leopard enclosure, all secured in huge twisted iron railed fences. Four-horned Antelope and Sambar then greet you with their usual stand and stare mannerism!

His Highness..

One of best moments I was fortunate to capture..

Sambar - Was my Super Model of the day while we played the 'Stand-and-Stare' at each other game..I of course did it through my lens!! (Pic 3)

Leopard - It was more of a balancing act on that wooden plank! (Pic 2)

African Buffalo

A semi-circular glass enclosure further, houses the creatures of the slithering kind including a Banded Racer, Anaconda, Cobra, Rattle Snake, Python amongst a few others. It was too dark to get any pictures and I refrained from using my flash not wanting to disturb the hissssssers. I know snakes have poor eyesight but when anything with two sets of visible glistening eyes bore at you, you can't help feeling otherwise!

A sort of a wooden bridge then guides you through the Crocs enclosure-  Muggers, Nile Crocodile and Gharials to name a few.

Mugger (Pic 2)

Gharial

Nile Crocodile

A surprise then awaits on the other side, when you walk through a string of chains wondering what else the zoo could have to offer.  You walk into a completely closed but one of the biggest enclosures yet of Pelicans, Ibises, Painted Stork and the kind that gives you more of a feeling of having walked into a huge nesting area, for you share the space with them with nothing but a bridge and a few feet separating the two of you. (See Part 3 for more pics of them)

Now, like me if you have walked all the way till here, this is the point where your legs send a silent signal to your brain cells that you only have two of them!!! Well, let’s just say that ignorance was nowhere near bliss for me at this point. But the zoo offered no shortcuts so the only way was through.

A quiet Hippo family soaking up the remaining evening sun then gives some encouragement to move on, as I realise my legs only had to support 1/10^th of  that bodyweight…..and I am just comparing myself to the baby hippo just so you get a clear picture!

I am now almost convinced that I have seen almost everything that there could be to see, but that’s when the zoo exceeded my expectations as I walked through another set of chained drapes to enter the most beautiful clearing yet, of water birds! Read Part 3 of this series where I have talked at length about my encounter inside that holy haven.

It’s almost the end before you move along small rounded caged enclosures of tortoises and turtles. Nearing that 3km walk which seemed more like 10km and took almost 4 hours to complete you come back to where you started as you see a couple of Giraffe’s heads looming in the foreground.

One of the lines I recently read in a magazine jumped out at me "We can also create images in abandon, in random succession, without need, without rules or without guidelines...." and at some level I think that's what I ended up doing with this Zoo series. Sometimes just clicking and letting your imagination run wild helps you discover more of yourself and your passion than you thought you would when you set out. A memorable experience that definitely struck a chord somewhere deep within.....

Pure Randomness..