Gir - The family man trip

 

Hello friends, hope you are doing well. So, are you ready to cheer up 2026? Many of us would be thinking of resolutions to follow in the New Year, such as going to the gym, learning, giving up some habits, or eating only healthy food etc. Wishing all the best for achieving dreams in the upcoming year and wishing a very happy 2026 in advance.

The title of the story is Gir, so I am sure you must have guessed correctly that I am going to talk about the Gir trip.

Yes, the story is about Gir, but why a Family Man trip? Is there any connection with Family Man? The answer is NO, I am not talking about OTT family man, to know why family man let us visit the next section.

Family man story

As I said, there is nothing to do with OTT series, no characters like Rukma, Tiwari JK in this story😂. The story is of a common man who is a family man, and in this story, the common man is none other than the self-proclaimed family man BT 😆😆😆

So let me narrate the story of this trip and the reason for calling it a family man trip. The main reason for planning the trip was the family’s constant push. They wanted me to plan a trip to Veraval to take blessings of the family goddess (Kul Devi), which had been pending for a long time. Now family man with family pressure, with no choice, I had to plan for it.

So, with the opportunity of a long weekend in November, I planned Veraval and Somnath and smartly added Gir in the itinerary so that both a religious trip as well as a wildlife trip can happen in a single trip. Now, let me narrate what we enjoyed in the whole trip in the next section. 

Gir Lion family

We reached Somnath temple on the first day, and after that next day we took blessings from Kul Devi and then moved ahead to Sasan Gir.

The family was very happy with temple visits, and now it was time for me to visit my temple (the forest). Forest never disappoints and gives happiness much more than you expect. Let me take you through the forest now. 

We reached Gir in the evening of the 2^nd day of travel, hence it was just a relaxing time in the jungle lodge. After a relaxed time on the 3^rd day, we started with a morning safari, all arrangements were superbly planned by Nature Explorer, and help from Hitesh bhai was bang on. 

We entered the forest with a mild taste of winter with lush greenery all around; we never expected such a quick sighting, and the same knock on the door just in 15 minutes. The lion was roaring high, calling the lioness to pay attention, but the lioness was not at all bothered by the calling. We got enough time to spend with this couple and went ahead to enjoy the other part of the forest.

Now see what happens in the post-lunch session, in cricket post lunch, either you will see a lot of wickets falling or set batsmen scoring more runs. What I mean to say is that the 2^nd session, most of the time, generates more interest. You will be thinking, already we had a superb sighting in 1^st part, now what's more on the card? 

Let me tell you, the 2^nd part was a game-changer, my cub wanted to see his counter parts, I mean my son was like Is it possible to see lion kido? I told him anything is possible in the forest, but let’s not feel bad if we don’t get the kido sighting.

We started the evening session by telling various stories to keep my son’s attention away from the cubs. I was telling him my experience and why forests are important, and we should respect nature, while I was trying to keep his attention away, the guide found the cubs playing in the clutter. The major surprise was three cubs with their mother playing with each other. You can imagine, once you see the cute pictures of these kids

This was just a dream come true, to see such small cubs openly playing with their mother, just amazing and unexpected. These moments will stay forever in the heart. The family saw the lion's family, nothing more you can ask for, what a successful trip, the family was happy with temple visits, resulting in an unexpected time in the forest, difficult to describe the kind of happiness we had with this trip.

Apart from lions, we managed to see owls, eagles, crocodiles, and mongoose, and many more varieties. Do visit BT's World for captures, and help me with your feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Vote of Thanks

Nature Explorer Team – Many thanks, team NEI, for managing the tour so smoothly. You people are rocking, keep it up.

Hitesh Chauhan, Hitesh bhai, you know Gir like your own home, your knowledge and your support were truly amazing 

BT’s World