Kondakarla Bird Sanctuary is located about an hour away from the city and is best to visit during the winters. Kondakarla Bird Sanctuary is scenic and has a beautiful clean lake, surrounded by the Eastern Ghats and forest. The local villagers offer boat rides on the lake for a small fare. Local fisherman and villages prepare boats by joining two logs of palm trees and making a sitting arrangement by placing a wooden plank or wooden bed over it. This arrangements remain quite stable in water. While boating you can flock lotus flowers from the water. There is no fixed rate or any type of ticket arrangement here. Rates depends on demand and season. On our visit the boat man asked for Rs 300 for a one and half hour boating to other side of the lake. There is a temple of Lord Venkateswara over hill at the other side. From the hill top view of the surroundings is the only attraction to climb up. The boats are little different with made of two hollow tree trunks joined together with a “Charpai. You can pick fresh lotus stems as you enjoy the boat ride. One needs about 3 to 4 hours to properly cover this bird sanctuary.