jab main Gir gaya...

Thanks to my dear friend "M", I was able to see the Asiatic lions up close and personal :)

M decided to get married at the right place at the right time and we saw this as a window of opportunity to make a trip to the last of the asiatic lions at Gir National Park.

I booked a hotel near the Gir national park, The Gir Birding lodge. Though the hotel is expensive and isnt value for money but still given the 4 days of extended weekend, i did not want to take a chance and transferred the amount for 2 rooms in advance :)

We decided to take the flight to Diu early morning, and travel from Diu to Gir (100kms) by a car. The hotel asked for Rs.3500 for an AC innova for the 100kms journey, so we did not book any car and decided we will hire a car directly from Diu as we land..

As usual, the early morning mess of Jet awaited us at the Mumbai airport on 26th, but we did not have much problem in boarding our flight to Diu. It was a Mumbai-Porbandar-Diu-Mumbai flight. 

We reached Diu at exactly 8.30 on schedule and walked out on the tarmac to reach the arrival terminal..

Kerala Kalling....

Glimpse of what we saw...

Images from Kolad...

Chokhi Dhani Mumbai Review

Location : From the Mumbai Nashik Highway turn towards Kalyan. You will find Chokhi Dhani (चोखी ढाणी) .

View Larger Map

 

Parking Space : Ample parking for Cars/Bikes
Time : 5pm to 11pm.
Entry Fee : Rs.500 (adults) and Rs.300 (children). We have to give a preference of the time we would like to have dinner at. This doesnt make the place chaotic at dinner time.

The Entry fee includes Entertainment, welcome drink (Jal Jeera), Snacks (lot of it) and Dinner (too much of it).

Lonavala MTDC Review

Location : Karla, Lonvala.. Nearly 3 kms from the centre of Lonavala..
If travelling via the express highway, its better to get out of the 2nd exit to lonavala.  If you take the first exist, there is a possibility of getting stuck in the traffic heading towards amby valley.

Ample parking space for Cars/Bikes.

The resort also has facitilites for boating as it has a small river flowing right behind the resort..
This location is also a paradise for birds.. especially KFs.. I saw Pied, Common and White breasted KF.
Other birds sighted : Minivet, Tits, Egrets, Cormorants.

Tarrifs : Change according to season. I paid 1300/- for a Garden AC cottage (double bed) in July'11.
There are a lot of cottages/suites over the vast spread of the resort.
But if visiting in monsoon season, its better to pre-book online.
[url=http://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/index/index.aspx]::The Official website of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation[/url]

Room service : non-existent. But we had a problem in the geyser at 9.30 in the night and it was fixed at that time.

Restaurant : This is the pathetic part of the resort. Though the food is really good, the service at the restaurant is really pathetic. On any day, the food wont arrive before 30-45mins of placing the order.

attaching some images for reference :)