Sri Lanka Surfing, or Safari: Part 2

Hi, It's Chris!

Otis snapping pics of a nearby elephant in Udawalawe NP

In her last post, Jen left us at the Lake Edge Holiday Inn, chatting with friendly Australians and preparing for a 4:30AM wake-up on November 23rd to meet Sugathe's Yala Keen Safaris for a tour of Yala National Park.

Benefits of a 4:30 wake-up call

Yala is the most popular and second largest national park in Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation tries to balance the popular safaris with the mission of protecting wildlife by closing most of the park entirely to the public, and in the areas where the public is permitted, only allowing visitors accompanied by a licensed guide in a Jeep. No one is allowed out of the Jeep. That's okay though, because there are a lot of animals that can be dangerous, and a lot of animals that are endangered.

In the area where safaris are allowed, it can be quite hectic when word spreads that a particularly charismatic animal has been spotted, and drivers can sometimes seem like they've entered the Paris to Dakkar rally. Yala is particularly famous for leopards and if there's word of a leopard, it suddenly goes all Mario Kart in the park.

My list of sited animals we sighted included:

• Spotted deer
• Water buffalo 
• Warthog (Jen specialized in spotting these)
• Mongoose 
• Storks
• Green bee eater
• Kite eagle Brahminy Kite (Props to long-distance naturalist Mary Knight)
• Green parrot
• Egrets
• Pea fowl
• Sri Lankan Jungle fowl
• Hornbill 
• Changeable Hawk-eagle
• Many other birds
• Termite mounds
• Many colorful moths/butterflies
• Elephants
• Jackal
• Crocodile 
• Monitor lizard
• Jungle cat

We did not see the Sri Lankan flying snake (this is a real thing!), leopards, sloth bears or cobras. Maybe some of that was for the best. The ride in the jeep was so bumpy that my fitbit thought I had over 20,000 steps. An easy and exciting way to stay in shape you guys!

We did see our first wild elephants though, which is an amazing thing to see; and from quite a distance, we did see some large crocodiles eating what was maybe a deer. Nature is metal.

Loony from sleep deprivation, or just loony? Why not both?

The line to buy park entry tickets for 0600

Water Buffaloes are big, love water, and DNGAF if you want them to get out of the road

hypothetical leopard induced hysteria

A very impressive gentleman, he was not impressed with the jeep frenzy's lack of decorum

The green bee eater is common and lovely 

Photo courtesy of Jen Gannett: Expert warthog spotter

Sri Lankan jungle fowl or escaped chickens: why not both?

Mom and Baby shoulder their way though the jeeps

When we got back to our hotel, we caught a lunch-time ride to the outskirts of Udawalawe National Park (sometimes spelled Udawalawa). We stayed at a hotel called Nil Diya Mankada, which was a bit fancier than recent digs. Jen and I also visited the Elephant Transit Home, which is sort of a rehabilitation home for baby elephants found orphaned in the park. Since all the elephants here are being prepared to return to the wild, you are not allowed near them, but you can watch them be fed from afar, which is super cute and satisfying.

The orphans at the Elephant Transit Home

Jen's cute friend at the hotel

Less cute, more authentic friend at the hotel

Udawalawe NP is on the banks of a reservoir, and maybe because of the consistent supply of fresh water, there is a large resident elephant population (much of the rest of Sri Lanka's elephants migrate from north to south to stay with the water). If you want to see elephants no matter what time of year you visit, Udawalawe is probably your best choice in Sri Lanka.

I expected it to be very busy, but there was far more peace and quiet in Udawalawe than there was in Yala. As nice as it was to see elephants in Yala, it was much nicer to see them in Udawalawe when your guide turns the engine off and all you hear are birds. At one point, our guide took us to the edge of the reservoir, where there were just endless birds, and we sat and looked and listened for ten or so minutes. That sense of peace and wonder was, for me, a highlight of the whole trip.

My list of animals in Udawalawe included:

• Pea fowl
• Parrot
• Stork
• Sea eagle 
• Black winged Steele
• Grey heron
• Pelican
• Pony heron (very common in yala as well)
• Changeable hawk eagle 
• A very blue kingfisher
• Black and white kingfisher 
• Green bee eater
• Green parrots 
• Many other birds 
• Elephant
• Jungle cat
• Butterflies 
• Termites 
• Deer
• Water buffalo 
• Golden jackal
• Crocodile
• Turtle
• Snake?
• Mongoose 
• Rabbit 

So that was it for our safaris; after we came back from Udawalawe, we caught a ride up into the hill country; I'll leave that for another post.

Lovely early morning skies

Me: "huh, all the peahens are out working while the  peacocks are all still asleep in the trees" Jen: "It was ever thus"

Golden jackals

Crocodiles

a mynah bird

a peaceful moment in bird heaven

Stork Patrol 

A black and white kingfisher or two in front of a family of water buffalo 

Jungle cat out for a stroll

The changeable hawk-eagle: hawk or eagle? Why not both?

A close-by elephant shows Otis her good side 

This family was shielding a very young elephant - our guide guessed only a few months - from any potential harm