“Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary” or Sasan Gir is the only place in India to spot the Kings of the Jungle. As per 2015 census, the lion population has comfortable increased to 523 in the 4 districts of Gir National Park. Apart from Asiatic Babbar lions, many other animals like leopards, hyena, foxes, spotted deer, Sambar deer, Blue Bull (Nilgai) and Black buck are found in huge numbers. If you are looking for information about booking wildlife jungle safari at Gir Jungle trail, which is the main sanctuary area, then check out our post on Looking for Lions at Gir National Park. This post is all about booking wildlife jungle safari at Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ) Devalia.

Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ) Devalia

Gir Jungle Trail, which is the Main Sanctuary area of Gir National Park, experiences a flurry of wildlife enthusiasts from all over India and abroad while the park is open for wildlife jungle safari. To reduce the overload of tourists here, an interpretation zone has been created at Devalia. Comprising of 412 ha of chain-like fenced area, Gir Interpretation Zone Devalia provides whole of the wildlife Gir has to offer in one single place and in a safe habitat. The inherent advantage of this Zone is that it provides an opportunity to view lions and other major wildlife in their natural habitat in a short span of time and of-course at cheaper rates . Apart from Asiatic Lions and leopards, numerous other wildlife can be observed here such as Spotted deers, Blue Bulls, Wild boars, Blackbucks, Jackals, Sambhars among others. Also scavengers such as vultures are pretty common in this zone. Therefore its aptly nicknamed “Gir in a nutshell”.

How to Book the Safari at Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ) Devalia

Gir National Park is the only place where you can view the majestic lions in India. Gir National Park is open to visitors from 16th October to 15th June. Here there are 3 different options of Safari to choose from, namely:

Option 1: Gir Jungle Trail (Main Sanctuary area)

Option 2: GIZ Devalia Gypsy Safari (Gir Interpretation Zone – “Gir in a nutshell”)

Option 3: GIZ Devalia Bus Safari

Gir Jungle Trail is open to visitors from 16th October to 15th June however, GIZ Devalia is open all year round with Wednesday as a weekly off.

Asiatic Lions and other wildlife sightings tend to happen more easily at GIZ Devalia. Even the “shy” leopard sightings easily occur in GIZ Devalia as a few (“man-eater”) leopards have been kept in a separate enclosure. As for the big cats, it is their wish if they want to be seen . Summers are best for wild life sightings including lions and leopards as they come out more often in search of water bodies.

Here is the jungle safari timings at Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ) Devalia:

Safari Tip #1: Book at least 1 Safari at GIZ Devalia for maximizing your chances of big cat sightings. Preferably book 7AM to 7:55AM morning safari at GIZ Devalia.

Basically the safari cost consists of 3 items which you need to arrange to visit the GIZ Devalia – Jungle Safari Permit (INR 800 – 1,000 per Safari Vehicle – Single seat permit not possible at Gir), Vehicle Hire charge (INR 1,500) and the Guide fees payment (INR 400). There is a difference between Indian and Foreign tourists only for the Jungle Permit charges however the charges for the Vehicle hire and Guide fees remain the same.

Vehicle Permit Booking for Jungle Safari at GIZ Devalia

Private open Gypsies, registered by the Forest Department are available locally along with the well-trained local Guide. All the Permits are issued online by the Forest Department at the Reception Counter, Sinh Sadan, Sasan.

Unlike other national parks, at Gir National Park, only Full Vehicle permits are available. Single seat permits are not available.

The vehicle Permit Booking for the Gir Jungle Trail can be done in a relaxed way online on the Gujrat government’s website for Gir National Park. This is definitely better than trying to getting it when you are already at the park entrance, where things become a bit tedious. The manual paper work involved in filling the permit forms coupled with the hassle of standing a long slow-moving line while the family and friends are waiting for you in the safari jeep is in my opinion … a sure shot way to kill all the fun!

Once you are on the Gujrat Govt Girlion website, click “Booking” tab and select “GIZ Devalia Gypsy Safari” and fill up the details.

Full Vehicle permit: The Full Vehicle safari permit for the whole jeep costs INR 800 on weekdays and INR 1,000 on weekends/festival days. A safari Jeep can seat up to six adult tourists + 1 extra child (3-12 years) excluding the driver and the guide. Extra child permit costs INR 100 on weekdays and INR 125 on weekends/festival days. Single seat permits are not possible at Gir National Park.

Vehicle hire charges – Jeep booking

Once you have completed the permit booking online, then the Safari Jeep booking is done easily once you reach Gir National Park. At the Reception desk of Gir National Park, the permit booking details will be verified by the forest official with the ID proof you mentioned while booking the permit. Then the vehicle number will be mentioned on the vehicle permit booking printout. The vehicle hire fees needs to be paid directly at the Gypsy. The hire charges for the vehicle i.e. a 4×4 Jeep safari is INR 1,500 per jeep.

Guide Fees

Also, guide fee of INR 400 per safari vehicle needs to be paid directly to the guide.

Now you will need to board the allocated safari vehicle and the guide will accompany you for the jungle safari.

Safari Tip #2: It is better to come up a bit early say 30 minutes to an hour before the scheduled entry time, to complete these formalities in time before the safari starts and avoid any undue delays.

Best time to visit Gir National Park

Gir Jungle Trail is open to visitors from 16th October to 15th June however, GIZ Devalia is open all year round with Wednesday as a weekly off. The winter months are pleasant and best to visit. The summer months of April and March are scorching but best to view the wildlife as they prefer lazing around the water holes.

How to Reach Sasan Gir

However, we were on a 3500 km long road trip from Delhi to Gujrat in our own vehicle. We found the roads connectivity awesome and comfortable to drive most of the time except in and around Talala and Rajkot.

Where to stay at Sasan Gir

Sasan Gir has only a handful of good family friendly hotels and kid friendly resorts to choose from.

The Fern Gir Forest Resort: The only 5-star resort at Sasan Gir. The best part about this resort is that it is only 5 kms from the city center. All points of interest including the Reception Desk at Sinh Sadan, can be easily reached from here. The resort also houses a family room, playground and babysitting services.

The Gateway Hotel Gir Forest: This resort a short distance away from GIZ Devalia. The resort boasts of a great garden area offering stunning views of the countryside which can be explored by leisure walks or on rental bicycles.

Woods at Sasan: This resort is also near the GIZ Devalia. The resort has a library which is the best place to unwind after a grueling safari.

If you need any assistance, you can contact Salma (7567377783) who made our safari entertaining and informative.

Have you been to Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary? Did you see any Big Cats there? What was your experience? Do let us know or if we are missing something, please contact us or comment below and I will update this blog soon. Your comments and/or feedback are welcome.

In case you found the above read interesting, you might also like the following: 

Singapore Night Safari – A Family Night Out

Sariska National Park – Where The Tigers Roar (for few lucky ones)!!

Wildlife Jungle Safari at Kanha National Park

Looking for Lions at Gir National Park