Ever watched a chameleon changing colour? Here goes:
Just incredible. Other highlights of this morning’s safari are wild cats (no photo – they’re shy animals so only appeared for a few moments), elephants (this is a baby and her fairly old mother whose age is identifiable by her withered ears and loose skin):
Water buffalo:
Crocodiles:
Macaque monkeys (sat in a line grooming each other):
Young male crested hawk eagle… really, really close:
You know it’s a good find when the guide himself starts taking photos 😉
And a plethora of other birds, including:
- Serpent eagle (it eats only snakes)
- Viva bird
- Minor bird
- Green parrot
- White throated kingfisher (other varieties are: white tailed and common)
- Blue tailed bee eater
- Green bee eater (other varieties are: European and chestnut (which made an appearance in Kaudulla))
- Red vented bull bull..?
- Peacock (the Indian national bird)
- Red lap wing
- Black minstrel
- Weaver bird nests
- Brahamany kite
- White beak kingfisher
- Ibis
- Sea eagle
- Cormorant
- Common kingfisher
- Painted stork
- Grey heron
The landscape was unusual – note the water marks on the trees, showing the water levels in rainy season (which is just finishing):
Unfortunately, our guide wasn’t a patch on Rashen so apart from identifying the above, I didn’t get much info.
We’d started early, rising at 3:30am to get to the park for the morning performance (6:30am). Just an hour into the journey, we stopped for a break. An elderly couple ran a cafe from their shack, whose walls are built of dung and are rebuilt each year. Opening times: 2 – 10am and 3 – 10pm. Yep, you read that right – they open at 2am after closing up at 10pm the previous night. A hard life, if ever I saw one. And they were so lovely and welcoming, albeit with a shyness I’ve come to recognise. Egg hoppers and roti were on the menu:
And the woman stood just outside our little dining room, not taking her eyes off me, and smiling shyly when I caught her eye. I wondered what was going through her mind. Maybe someday, when the time feels right, I’ll ask. Whatever, I could tell it was friendly, without a trace of negativity.
Cars are extremely expensive in Sri Lanka. Applying a 300% import tax limits the number on the roads, a deliberate move by the government. It was little more than a tin can – a small bonnet, no central locking, manual windows – but cost Wasanthi (one of Sumana’s six offspring) a staggering $15,000. Just three years’ old, it already has almost 300,000 kilometres on the clock. Because he makes this trip multiple times a week, leaving Ella at 4am, via Uda Walawe National Park, dropping tourists in Mirissa by 1pm, and then heading straight back. A round trip of 373 kilometres.
Other stuff I learnt on the comfortable, but cautious, drive:
- Sri Lankan children attend school Mon – Fri
- Non-working days are Sat, Sun and every full moon (I like this idea – might mention it to old Theresa)
- White flags hung over the road (and by a house) advise of a death:
- … and posters pinned to the trees are also part of the public announcement:
A quick detour to see the bats:
And onwards to Mirissa. Rudy’s niece visited Sri Lanka and stayed in Mirissa for 1 month with the same family. This was six years ago. Gayani was conducting a cookery class when we asked after her, but was happy to be interrupted to see what the smiling, happy Belgian man wanted. When he explained the connection and showed her pictures taken all those years ago, her face light up in recognition and fondness. I’m kicking myself for not taking a photo of this moment now – it was wonderful.
But there was a cookery class to be delivered, so we made a respectful retreat with a promise to return tomorrow.
To the beach: listening to the insistent, assertive breaking of the waves is entrancing. And then we saw the Flemish women we’d first met in Polonaruwa and again in Ella. They’d been on safari in Yala National park and seen an elusive leopard. So jealous. But you can’t schedule this stuff, you just have to create the opportunities. Won’t have time for Yala, but it doesn’t mean seeing a leopard in the wild is off my list.
BOTD:
And another chameleon – I swear they pose for the camera:
