PS - I am not much of a story teller, so it’s going to be a short and crisp post with few images.
As the Covid cases mellow down we decided to take a short vacation. Kiddo being locked down in the house since past 2 years - literally 40% of her life needed an outing.
What better place than the jungle safari with some wild animals. Something that she has been familiar with, only the television.
Bags Packed and on the move!
Additionally, what better than a friend with similar interests (travelling, driving, photography, etc) joining along.
So BHPian
1:1 and I tagged along in this journey.
So it was an
Ecosport 1.5 TDCI and
Seltos HTX+ Diesel Auto on a Gujarat trip.
Travel - It was a simple decision -
Drive.
Reasons:
- We Love to Drive!
- Social distancing (no use of public transport)
- Roads of Gujarat are amazing!
Preparation
It was going to be first super long trip for my kiddo and my better half; and for the Ecosport as well.
Car
-
Rear Inflatable Bed
-
Dashcam - DDPAI Mola N3 with GPS
-
128 GB Memory card - for the Dashcam
-
Tyre Inflator - TUSA
-
Puncture repair kit - STANLEY
The material on the Inflatable bed is good, but not warm for the kid to sleep snuggly. So we put up a proper bed sheet, and carried kiddo's pillow and blanket, and she "could" comfortably sleep throughout the journey. It also raised the height of the seat, so even sitting she could comfortable see out of the window. The bed is also comfortable for a 5 feet adult for a short nap.
Hotel Bookings and Activities
We decided it’s best to cover 400-450 kms at a stretch in a day so the hotels were booked accordingly.
Day 1 Stay - Vadodara - Comfort Inn Donil (miscalculated, we could have easily reached Ahmedabad, no worries, we booked Ahmedabad for return)
Day 2,3,4 Stay - Sasan GIR - The Fern Gir Forest Resort
Day 5 Stay - Ahmedabad - DoubleTree by Hilton
Day 6,7 - Daman - The Deltin
Day-wise Travel Day 1 - Mumbai to Vadodara
Starting at 7 am, we reached Vadodara at 3:30 pm. 2 breaks - one at Charoti for breakfast and the next at a Shell fuel station near Vapi.
Anybody travelling, I would highly recommend using the Shell fuel stations because their good fuel quality, clean washrooms and well stocked stores.
The Ecosport with 1:1's Seltos resting at Vadodara
So after relaxing in the hotel, we went to a local place called "Night Bazar" for dinner. There was quite a hustle - bustle in a rather quite city at that hour.
It's named as a Bazaar, but it’s only a dinner bazaar - with highlight being the Matka Biryaani.
Matka Biryaani, Badam Shake and Kulfi from the Night Bazaar
That Badam shake was Yumm!
Day 2 - Vadodara to Sasan Gir.
Vadodara -
a- Ahmedabad -
b- Rajkot -
c- Junagadh -
d- Sasan Gir
Ecosport ready to start Day 2 from Vadodara a. Next day we started in the morning and took the NE1 towards Ahmedabad - Amazingly smooth road.
b. From Ahmedabad towards Rajkot is the highway still in progress with quite some diversions. The stretches which have been completed are very good. The road is quite deserted in terms of restaurants and be would suggest to start full or with snacks. There are more fuel stations than decent restaurants on this road. We halted at
SN Highway Food Mall, it was the inauguration and so the place itself and the washrooms were quite clean.
Later, entering Rajkot, the roads get worse with the road works being carried on. The traffic is unmannered but sparse for a person from Mumbai. As it was almost sunset by the time we crossed Rajkot, we halted at Shell after Rajkot city for refilling of water and snacks.
Driving into the sunset. Enroute Junagadh. c. Post Rajkot the roads are good towards Junagad. We reached Junagad after sunset and had to make way through the city traffic. Being a small city comparatively, it did not take much time.
Crossing Junagadh d. Journey from Junagad to Sasan Gir was in total darkness and through the forest. However, there are enough fuel pumps and few hotels on this road as well. So even if you have not tanked up, need not worry. It’s a single lane road and good headlights are recommended. Oncoming traffic will blind you.
Day 3 - Sasan Gir
Visited the Gir Safari which was the highlight of the trip.
The most important thing is that you have to book the jeep (its actually an open Gypsy) safari well in advance. Limited number of jeeps allowed and booking is online only. The cost per jeep is Rs 4500. Suggest to book a hotel near to the Safari - If your stay is within 5 kilometers radius of the safari, you can book jeep to pick you up from the hotel itself at an additional cost of Rs. 1000.
If you don't want to spend the additional 1k, you can drive to the Safari pickup point; there is ample space for parking your vehicle.
Inside the jungle, your gypsys will be allotted a fixed route. This prevents from all the gypsys crowding on a single route.
A few Images from the Forest.
And so the day ended on a beautiful feeling...