Bannerghatta National Park

On Friday, as mentioned, Wade required "a day off," having submitted his vacation request via email and near the end of his rope on Wednesday. I similarly submitted my vacation request to my boss and we were set... start the day with a family visit to the Park (thinking like the zoo back home) and then Wade could have the afternoon to do as he saw fit, free at last.

This was the plan, but this is India. We set off early to avoid traffic, with our driver who showed up late, but not as late as the maid, who didn't show up at all. Bannerghatta Park is 22kms away, and, in hindsight, takes one turn to get there. Of course our driver didn't really know the way (this is more than suspected, we stop to ask for directions along any journey at least three times). So, we made it there just shy of two hours after departing and a little frazzled. But the park was open, as were the bathrooms, an unimposing structure where I paid two rupees to squat and luckily brought my own toilet paper (I've been around now and I think this is ok).
The zoo portion was a little less than the MN Zoo, with the animals mainly behind concrete and chain mail structures with dirty water, but at least it wasn't crowded.
Caden had fun with the peacocks.
And like any good zoo, it had a park where Caden had a fun time playing while the stray dogs watched.
And any good zoo needs a stray monkey, right?
We wrapped that up quickly and went on to the bus for the safari. The bus was a very Jurassic Park feeling thing (but old and with no shocks) that whisked us off to the safari, complete with the series of gates to ensure the bus got in and no animals got out. Caden inquired: "why are they locking us in here? Are we tiger food?" Of course, the first enclosure was where the deer were kept.
Finally (and a little shaken, literally), we made it to the tiger enclosure. I had told Caden (not very nice mommy I know) that anyone with their fingers out would get them bit off. So when we saw this tiger and I pointed at him, Caden grabbed my arms and held them back for the rest of the journey, scolding me "don't put your fingers out there mommy!" Super cute, but I managed to snap a couple photos under his watchful eye after my reckless pointing.
It was pretty cool, and I was glad the tigers here at least looked better fed than the cows...
Out the "window" of the bus...
So the safari was fun. The ride home, which involved piling dirty, tired and hungry into the car, very persistent begging, a brief car accident (our third in six weeks), getting turned around not once but twice despite our "expert" directions, and just an hour long car ride with a three year old who insisted he wanted the windows down to let in the "fresh air" (there's no such thing in Bangalore), was not fun.
But hey, it was a good outing, and helped Wade to thoroughly enjoy his afternoon off while Caden and I went up to the pool and also enjoyed ours. Not coincidentally, today, we decided to go...nowhere.