SayajiRaje Park - Akluj

I visited SayajiRaje Park at Akluj last Sunday and found it to be a nice place to visit for a full day picnic with one's family. It was a Sunday and 1st January so there was quite some crowd there and the weather was a bit hot compared to normal winter days.

Timings: We started from home at 6:45 in the morning since according to our knowledge it is around 165 KM from Pune. We thought that it will take around three and a half hours to reach there but we had a Tempo Traveller 17-seater whose max speed was locked at 70 km. Also there was heavy construction activity going on to make NH-9 four lane. So it took around four and a half hours and we reached there a quarter past 11. The park remains open from 10 AM to 6 PM.

How to reach: NH-9 from Pune through Natas-Bhigwan-Indapur and then a state highway leads to Akluj. Different routes are mentioned on the website of the park.

There are many places to view on the way including Bhigwan water body where there is a bird sanctuary. We did take a halt for around half an hour at a dhaba to take some food and rest.

Parking: The park provides open parking facility for four-wheelers without any charges.

Entry Fee: There is an entry fee of INR 400 for adult and INR 300 for child below height of 4'6". There is no entry fee for child below age 2. This covers the whole park including the water park and a meal. If you just want to go for water park, the entry fee is INR 300 but the ticket is valid only for three hours. There are big elephant statues at the entrance of the park. The water park provides swimming costumes for INR 10 on hire.

Commute inside: The park is not as big as say Essel World or Walt Disney World so commute inside is simple walk on your feet.

Attractions: The park has three kinds of attractions:

• Rides for adults: These rides are for adults with height more than 4'6". These include:
• Swing Chair
• Octopus
• Columbus
• Ranger
• Cup and Saucer
• Roller Coaster (This was close when we visited).
• Frisby

• Rides for kids: These rides are for kids below age of 5 years. When you visit these rides, if nobody is present, you have to ask people there to start the rides. These include:
• A kidzone with a slides, swings, see-saw and many more entertaining things for kids.
• Helicopter

• Merry-Go-Round

• Mini-Train (This is different from the one mentioned in family below)

• Aeroplane
• Up and Down

• Group rides: These include water park, boating, and mini-train. There are many animal statues kept at the shores of water body so it will be a fun ride for kids in the peddle-boats. The cost of peddling is included in the ticket of the park. There are speed-boats available too for payment of INR 50 extra for up to five people. The photos at the water park are censored so can't post them. Water park is best to spend time in the whole park but please remeber to carry towels, swimming costumes and extra pair of clothes with you.

Food: There are lots of small eataries spread inside the park which serves vada-pav, bhel-puri, sandwich etc... But the meal is served by SayajiRaje Shoppe which has a canteen where you get a rice-plate with 6-puris, limited shira, and unlimited sabji and dal-rice.

We left the place at around 5:30 PM but due to heavy traffic-jam and slow bus, we could reach home only at around 11:15 PM. All in all it is worth one day trip with your family but it is better you visit after a year when the NH-9 construction work completes. The commute time will reduce a lot.

Rajiv Gandhi Zoo - Katraj

I visited Rajiv Gandhi Zoo at Katraj yesterday with my Family and found it to be a nice place to visit for a full day picnic with one's family. It was a Saturday so there was less crowd and the weather was cloudy with heavy shower in the evening while we were there.

Timings: We started at 11 in the morning from home but one can start early. The zoo opens at 9:30 AM in the morning and remains open till 6 PM in the evening. In the summer, the closing time is extended till 7 PM in the evening. Some part of the zoo closes at 5:30 PM.

How to reach: The road from Swargate towards Satara leads to Rajiv Gandhi Zoo after a 6 km ride.

Parking: The zoo has parking facilities for both two and four wheelers and charge Rs 5 per hour for four-wheeler. Since there wasn't much crowd on Saturday, I got parking space but I have heard that Sunday is full so be prepared to park your car outside.

Entry Fee: There is an entry fee of Rs 10 for adult and Rs 5 for kids below age 4.

Commute: As soon as you enter, there is a stoppage from where the taxi service is available. The taxi service has a lunch time between 1 and 2 PM so make sure you reach there at other time or you can spend an hour visiting places on your feet and then use taxi. Taxi charges Rs 20 for adult and Rs 10 for a kid. The taxi makes a tour of most of the places in around 25 minutes. So you will have to hurry-up. Not much time is given for viewing the animals so not value for money.

Attractions: The zoo mainly has three attractions:

• A snake-park: This part of the zoo has a lot of reptiles like crocodiles, turtles, snakes, pythons, etc... on display.

• A zoo: This has a lot of animals like elephants, chinkara, deers, bears, tiger, jackal, monkey, etc... on display.

• Boat-ride: This provides a facility for peddle-boat for 20 minutes for Rs 80 for two-seater and Rs 100 for four-seater.

Food: There is a canteen inside which serves good Dosa, Uttapam and Vada-Pav along with cold-drinks.

We left the place at around 4:30 PM. It was a nice place to spend a day of picnic with your family.