We booked a small Homestay very near to Wilpattu National Park for 3 nights, cost $142, a lovely spot in the forest with only 5 rooms. We settled into our room which was well equipped, A/C, fridge, kettle & a perfect front porch with comfy chairs.
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| Our cozy cabin |
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| Best part was the front porch |
We ventured out for a walk to a nearby lake, saw several birds, some stealing rice that was out drying on the road.
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| A well |
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| Huge tree |
Since we were quite remote our only choice for supper was at the Homestay, whatever they chose to cook. Our first night was a very tasty rice & curry - this is a name for the national meal - a generous plate of rice accompanied by assorted meat &/ or vegetable curries, various pickles, sambols & poppadums. And we were glad that they also served beer.
We were up well before the “crack of dawn”, picked up for our safari at 5:45. We had booked this prior to arriving, a difficult decision as many to choose from. We went with Wilpattu Falcon Safari as the driver is also an excellent photographer & copies of his photos were included in the price, also included meals, snacks & drinks for the 12 hour safari. Wilpattu National Park spans an impressive 1317 square kilometres, it is a haven for leopards, sloth bears, elephants, nearly 150 varieties of birds & numerous other animals. A 12 hour safari seemed a good choice as there was so much territory to cover.
We had an unbelievable day, spotting so many colorful birds, marvelling at all the peacocks strutting around & laughing at the “roosters” - actually called jungle fowl (the national bird).
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| Jungle fowl |
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| Mr Peacock |
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| Mrs Peahen |
The Big One to see is the leopard, only found in 2 parks in Sri Lanka & we were fortunate! It was across a lake but with our Canon 40x zoom camera & our monocular we got to enjoy the time we had with it!
We saw 2 sloth bears, quite the luck as they are hard to find ( not as impressive to us though since bears are common where we live).
An elephant popped out of the brush, gave the watching jeeps a nasty look & ran off. Later we saw elephants having fun in the lake.
There were so many birds & animals to see, here’s a few more photos.
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| Mongoose |
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| Termite mound |
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| Black faced langurs |
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| Spotted deer |
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| Our trusty driver/photographer |
The jeep was fairly comfortable, nice with the elevated seats so a great view! But the roadways were pretty nasty, lots of rough spots, dips, holes & virtual lakes to drive thru, around & over. It was fun for most of the day, but near the end the bouncing around got a bit old. This park was known for not having too many people & jeeps, but there was certainly a rush of them when the word got out that there was a “good” animal spotted!
We ate breakfast on the go, there was only one place in the park where you could get out of the jeep for toilet breaks or to stretch your legs but it was over run with monkeys - toque macaques - peacocks & jungle fowl. Lunch was set up for us inside a building there so we didn’t have to share. Our driver was determined to show us as much as possible so our lunch break was all of 35 minutes & we were back in the jeep! At one quick stop the monkeys were in the jeep poking thru the garbage can before Robin could even get out!
When the day ended Robin’s hair was reddish around his face from all the dusty roads. My Fitbit watch registered over 18,000 steps, despite barely walking at all!
Breakfast the next morning was coconut roti, coconut filled crepes, eggs, white toast, fruit & juice. Coffee & relaxing on our porch, going thru the countless photos we took yesterday.
I went for a run down the road towards the park, everyone I passed smiled & said hello. A lady in a small shop asked me “why are you alone.” She told me that at night the elephants leave the park & roam thru the surrounding areas looking for food. The farmers all have wires across the edge of the fields & homes, some are electrified to keep the elephants out. There was more rice, corn & maybe lentils drying on the road. And many barking dogs protecting their property. I headed back quickly after one nearly took a chunk out of me!
We had monkeys swinging in the trees above us & birds chirping everywhere. We were sitting on the porch when 4 young girls approached us, explaining that they were taking English classes nearby & their teacher had sent them out to converse with some tourists. They were all 13, chatty, giggling & we had so much fun! They took us on a long walk, taking turns asking us questions about our lives & family, in between laughing, switching between Sinhalese & English, teasing each other about boyfriends & acting like typical teenagers. They even played a game of “Scissor, rock, paper” as they play it.
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| Pointing at the wires to keep the elephants out |
Supper was another delicious Sri Lankan meal of string hoppers, dahl curry, coconut sambol, chicken & fruit.
The next morning we used the Pick Me app to call a car & headed off to Anuradhapura, an hour ride costing $27 including tip.
The adventure continues - Still Living the Dream!
