Asiatic lion,Gir jungle and a road trip...what else!!!

It was the calm cold sunny october day..we started our journey from valsad to sasan gir in my Honda jazz at around 6 am in the morning. We were four me my parents and my old friend parimal.
I've already booked for the jungle safari from the government website and a hotel from goibibo few days back.
The cost for the jungle safari trail was 4300 including a gypsy,a driver and a guide which is quite cheap,in one gypsy max 6 persons is allowed..so if you are more than 6 person you've to book another gypsy.

We were enjoying on highway as there was very less traffic,we took a stop at hotel novus near bharuch..

After that we took a drive to the sarangpur  amreli road.. but at cross road parimal advised me to take a turn which was a wrong one..initially I was very angry with parimal because it was around 50 kms more than our planned route but when velavadar came we saw that we were passing by blackbuck national park and we got excited if we found any blackbuck...guess what!!! We saw a hundred of blackbuck on our way.. after few meters of driving we saw 4 blackbuck young ones were roaming on the road...we stopped our car and saw them without teasing them..they made my day... After that we went on the same route as we divided before that turn.. As we approached further and further we saw so many beautiful houses that we haven't seen before.. we took mandatory medicine called tea.. Now only 10kms left for the sasan gir and we were at the gate of jungle.. this was the road that lead us to the sasan gir but for that we have pass through the jungle..but the authority person told us it was closed as it was around 6pm so you should take a U turn and take another road to reach sasan gir...so we took another road and that took us 40 kms and almost 2 hours to reach at our hotel...just imagine!!! Its just because of google maps...so remember one thing you should not solely dependent on google maps..you should ask locals also for the situation of roads.. We have booked our hotel near sinh sadan which was the meeting point for the next day's jungle safari..

After that we took a drive to the sarangpur  amreli road.. but at cross road parimal advised me to take a turn which was a wrong one..initially I was very angry with parimal because it was around 50 kms more than our planned route but when velavadar came we saw that we were passing by blackbuck national park and we got excited if we found any blackbuck...guess what!!! We saw a hundred of blackbuck on our way.. after few meters of driving we saw 4 blackbuck young ones were roaming on the road...we stopped our car and saw them without teasing them..they made my day... After that we went on the same route as we divided before that turn.. As we approached further and further we saw so many beautiful houses that we haven't seen before.. we took mandatory medicine called tea.. Now only 10kms left for the sasan gir and we were at the gate of jungle.. this was the road that lead us to the sasan gir but for that we have pass through the jungle..but the authority person told us it was closed as it was around 6pm so you should take a U turn and take another road to reach sasan gir...so we took another road and that took us 40 kms and almost 2 hours to reach at our hotel...just imagine!!! Its just because of google maps...so remember one thing you should not solely dependent on google maps..you should ask locals also for the situation of roads.. We have booked our hotel near sinh sadan which was the meeting point for the next day's jungle safari..

One person from safari authority has called me before the night of jungle safari and gave me the details of reporting time and many.. I was very happy with the service of gir jungle safari organization.
And this was the first day...

Our reporting time was 6.15am and our jungle trail time was 6.45am so we reached at the meeting point and met with our driver,guide and a beautiful gypsy..
We were quite excited and was praying to see the lions because our guide told us that it's totally depend on luck to see a lion.. Many visitors couldn't able to find  the lions even for the 3rd or 4th jungle safari..
So just cross your finger and go for the hunt..!!
We've started our jungle safari at around 6.30am which was before time after having some tea and breakfast.. They have banned the use of plastic bottles, food items inside jungle area which was quite impressive.. I was happy to see that they were caring a lot for their lions..
Sitting in open gypsy in jungle is the best experience you can have and it should be in your bucket list for sure..
There were total 10 routes in the jungle and we were on the route no 2nd.. total 35kms ride is there..
Our driver was driving at very low speed so that we could enjoy each and every part of jungle.. Guide has a lot of knowledge about the jungle and lions...
Suddenly we saw spotted deer on the road..

They were so beautiful.. all were watching us with curiosity and vice versa...

Atmosphere were so pleasant and the mobile was out of coverage and jungle was talking with us its beautiful sound of birds,small waterfalls..what else you need in your life..

Driver has stopped the car for a break..it was a place where all the gypsy driver stops their car for a while and for visitors convenience..
We did some photoshoot and started our journey again.

Suddenly our guide found something which we were looking for.. A lion!!!
What a great luck..we found a lioness eating her food (the local cow) which was killed by her.. We were speechless as we have only seen this type of thing on national geographic or discovery channel..

She was around 30 feet away from our gypsy...thanks to my zoom camera I was able to take her pictures...after few videos and photos we moved further...the whole jungle was so beautiful and we were happy for that we chose morning time for the jungle safari.. Guide also told us to select morning safari it will increase your chances of catching lion than in afternoon or evening safari... He told there are 523 lions distributed in 5 districts..
After so many photos and great memories of jungle safari we headed towards somnath temple which is around 40kms from sasan gir.. and after that we took our lunch at somnath... and in the evening we've decided to go fo devaliya jungle park...which is also a part of gir safari but its kind of preserved area in that area you will find almost all kind of animals in their habitat .. and entry ticket was around 180rs per head.. devaliya park is around 12kms away from sinh sadan..
We saw many animals there like a lion a lioness ,jackals ,blackbuck,etc

It was also a good experience..after that we went to our hotel and enjoyed in pool..  For the dinner we decided to eat local food and we went to a dhaba..and it was surprisingly so tasty..

Its on the main road of sasan gir junagadh highway..
And that how ended our 2nd fantastic day..

It's a day of going back to home..so we took the same route that we came from.. We've visited sarangpur hanuman temple in between..and then returned back to home with so many beautiful memories..
It was one of my best road trip..!!!
You should visit gir jungle safari once in a lifetime...it opens after 15th October every year and booking is exclusively online... so many Resort and hotels are there so no worry of accommodation..
Thank you.. :)#BestNationalPark2019