Safari World

Mira’s Papa and I are just not the adventure kind. We’ve never parasailed in the unpredictable wind of a beach or rafted in the daring water of a river. Any adrenaline raising activity, if ever undertaken, has either been part of college curriculum or some superfluous team building initiative from office. After all, we pride ourselves as rational and practical people who prefer taking man-made safer alternatives rather than testing one’s luck through parachutes, rafts, ropes and things like these.

So, when we traveled to a fabulous open zoo called Safari World, we ensured that we stuck to our rational profile just like a honey bee does to the hive. But still, this trip was really memorable - it was Mira’s very first encounter with real animals; till now she had only seen them in different shapes and sizes in her picture books. And second, because it had the entire family in accompaniment – Mira, Mira’s cautious parents, Mira’s super-organized Daadi, Mira’s 2 hep Nepalese maids and a real clever Thai driver.

As soon as this eclectic mix of ours reached the park, we were supplied with all-in-one guide maps, which carried the various animals we would encounter on our way inside along with their brief descriptions. This jungle trail was supposed to be done in one’s vehicle since the animals were let loose in their natural habitats. The other section on the map talked about the different animal shows/ interactions along with their precise timings. Having taken a copy each, we headed towards the park and came across the first set of activities:

a) Feed a tiger cub by a milk bottle;
b) Shake hands with orang utans dressed in the most fluorescent of clothes;
c) Click pictures with the super-trained elephants (in dangerous proximity).

The mere sight of people queuing up to do such unbelievably meaningless stuff triggered off a series of nervous spasms in my body and the brain worked overtime to look for a well-suited excuse, when Papa (who might be under the same stress) announced single-mindedly, “Let’s hit the jungle trail first”. Mira’s Daadi who had barely reached the inside was taken by surprise and mused out loudly about the change in plan. “We don’t have much time on hand,” Papa answered back in the most matter-of-fact manner. “We are here for Mira – to show her the animals. We’ll do all this stuff later, if there’s time that is,” Papa said conclusively eliminating all possible chances of us ever coming back to this dangerous animal trio while we all proceeded towards the car.

So, there we were – four reasonably large women occupying the rear seat in a zig zag pattern, while Papa & Mira made themselves comfortable in the front seat along with the driver. As the trail began, we took up our individual roles. I played the official guide – spreading out my jungle map awkwardly with Daadi on one side and a maid on the other, announcing the name of each upcoming animal as we moved from point to point. Papa, as usual, continued with his role of confusing us by presenting his half baked knowledge (this time on animals!) which was interspersed with distracting Mira from pulling out A/C knobs from the dashboard in front. The maids interestingly transformed themselves into photographers who kept clicking random photos on their fancy cell phones. Daadi got busy with circulating some home-made namkeen and then, carefully sealing the mouth of the packet to prevent the ensuing moisture and sogginess of the snack. Our Driver, all this while fiddled through the glove box to extract the most favorite Beatles CD. Whose favorite? Driver’s favorite! Obviously, nothing plays in our car till it appeals to the refined tastes of our man-in-command.

The trail was lovely. The best part was that animals were visible and that too, in really good numbers. Mira, we could make out was completely ecstatic. She almost behaved like a drunk little person on the verge of collapsing, with her constant muttering of “Hhhhhhhhh”, “Oohhhhhhhh”, “Eehhhhhhhh” in the hoarsest of voices she could manage. The funny thing was that her reactions remained the same, no matter whether it was a beautiful bird in view or a dangerous tiger – probably she was just amazed by how life could manifest itself in such varied forms, sizes and colors; something which she was experiencing for the first time in her life.


We were happily cruising through this jungle path, when a lovely deer just decided to abandon his group and check out the occupants of our car. Can you see how close he got to our car, rather to the front seat where Papa & Mira were seated? Papa retrieved a bit in his seat, as the deer further neared himself to sniff/see/ lick both Mira & him. “That’s just a harmless deer,” I said mockingly as Papa unsuccessfully attributed it to his concern for Mira. Anyhow, we just drove past the animal and decided that it was time to be spectators (passive) to some of the recommended shows.

We went for the “Cowboy show”. Now, I wish that I could give you lucid flowing details about this but unfortunately, Mira was just not upto it. She insisted to be carried around while our entire team sat through the show with unabated attention. Though, Daadi and Papa did turn their necks over every now and then to sympathise with this sincere mom, both the maids were too caught up with the cowboys and their horses, to look away anywhere else. Mira had gone off to deep sleep as our impressed audience emerged out of the hall, leaving us with not much to do with the rest of the evening. And so, we decided to call it a day – a nice, happy interesting day.

And there we were – four reasonably large women with a sleeping toddler occupying the rear seat of the car while Papa made himself comfortable in the front seat along with the driver. It was a nice breezy journey going back home with a lovely Beatles CD playing in the background.