It’s been almost two weeks since our Chennai trip when we visited Vandalur zoo. My daughter Jahnavi has been seeing pictures of animals in her story-books. We thought it would be a fun idea for her to see them in actuality.
We went there one afternoon and it was a very long drive from home to the zoo (partly due to the bad Old Mahabalipuram Road). When we eventually got there (around 4:00 pm), we found out that the train ride around the zoo was over for the day. We just about managed to get a ride on the lion safari (only after paying some extra cash to the driver).
Paying the money was well worth it. The guide got really enthusiastic and decided to get some beef to feed to the lions, so that we could see them up-close. Here is a snap that shows just how close they were 🙂 
My daughter who was chirpy all the while got extremely quiet after seeing the lions. I think she was a bit shocked that they were not all cute like she has seen in her story-books :). I am so thankful that she didn’t cry and scare away the lions.
Shocked and worried Jahnavi
After the lion safari, we went walking around the zoo to see the rest of the animals. Some of the highlights were :
- White tiger
- Hippo
- Giraffe
- Zebra
Some photos below:
My parents, myself, and Jahnavi in front of the tiger cage
Hippos
It was a very long walk and very hot as well. My mom started to get very tired, and so we tried to to make it to the exit as quickly as possible. There was a cafe near the exit where we all settled down to have ice-creams and cool drinks.
All in all, a very nice day 🙂
