The Safari at Yala- day 5

Image courtesy:google.com

Travelling through villages and towns, the common sights that greeted us were of fresh and inviting veggies and fruits, except of course Durian ;-) But one thing that had us absolutely drooling over was the tender coconut. What's new, don't we have that in India, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. This one is orange in colour and the the size is pretty much the same as our green ones but the water is sweeeeeeeeeet. A standard sized one holds so much water and yet has a sizeable amount of "malai" to eat at the end of the fruit. In my experience in India, if the coconut is big, the water is more but rarely ever this sweet and if you want the "malai-wala", then the water may be sweet but before you can relish you'd reach the bottom. But this one, rightly called the King coconut, is a combination of plentiful sweet water (always) and a good chunk of tasty malai in the end.We devoured one whenever and wherever we could.

The Yala National park is one of the most visited national parks in Sri Lanka. It has about 5 blocks out of which only one or two is open to tourists. It houses elephants, wild buffaloes, leopards, sloth bears, jackals among a myriad of birds and water species like crocodiles. We left for the park in a safari jeep at around 5.30 in the morning. The dawn and dusk hours are known to be the best times to catch the animals in their natural habitat. We were damn excited about taking the safari. It was to be our first major safari. Our previous so-called safari at Jim Corbett park was a rushed affair for want of time and done mid-morning- not a good time to spot animals. I had once taken a boat safari in Thekkady, Kerala and we didn't even see a crocodile. Again the timing was completely wrong. If anyone of you is going with on a package tour, ensure that the safari has at least 4-5 hours dedicated time allotted and it is either a early morning or dusk safari.


We entered the park at around 7.a.m (yes it took us about 45 mins to reach Yala from Tissa and again we were held up at the entry gate waiting for clearance as many others chose that particular day to take the safari). We were greeted first by beautiful peacocks at such close quarters; we got lost in the beauty of the colours on our national bird. True, we have seen many at this range in the zoos but to be a visitor in their natural space is truly a different and exciting experience. In fact, there are so many peacocks, peahens and fowls (the national bird of Sri Lanka) that, we sighted one every other 10 minutes. Just the initial few yards had us clicking away as maniacs at different angles and lengths, later on we just let them be :-)
A huge tusker walked past us next, so up and close that I could just reach out my hand and pull its ears. Of course I didn't or wouldn't have done anything of that sort; I was just mesmerized by its slow gait and experienced the oneness that one feels with nature in such an atmosphere. The jeep driver was a trained guy who knew the forest like the back of his hand. He had a trained eye too, spotting animals well hidden within the green canopies or far away near the water bodies. He provided us with binoculars at strategic points.
Colourful birds of various sizes greeted us near the water bodies. It's a pity, we are no bird watchers and didn't know the names of most of them except the obvious Kingfishers, cranes and some flamingo variety. 
A pack of jackals far, far away would have been surely missed by us had it not been for our very alert and informed jeep driver. Spotted deer were abundant as were wild buffaloes. Every now and then we'd pass by fellow tourists and the drivers would exchange a one or two liners- tipping off the other of any animal that they'd have spotted on the track they were returning from. 


We were content just spotting just about any wild being without having any expectations of sighting the lone predator in such a huge jungle, the leopards, which also came with the tag of being "very rare to spot". There are in all only 35 of these spotted carnivore in the park tipping the odds against sighting one easily. Little did we know the surprise that luck had planned for us. As we were returning from a particular track, the jeep came to a sudden halt and we were hushed into finding a mother-child duo right in the middle of our path as though to oblige us. We were so excited and overwhelmed to see the duo that was blissfully unaware of the effect their presence was eliciting amongst mere mortals. They spent a good 10 minutes basking in the early morning rays doing and just being at home while we took turns in clicking snaps at every possible angle. What a magnificent sight it was! The rest of the safari paled in contrast to this moment and we were just too grateful to mother nature for choosing us to be the lucky ones. Within a span of 2 hours, we had spotted almost all the major animals that were to be found in this park, with the exception of the sloth bear, which is so rare that even our safari guide hadn't seen one in his career span of several years. 


I'll stop my commentary here and leave you with some pictures:

Jackals

Wild boars

Iguana

doesn't need a caption, does it? :-)

Showing off

We left for Unawatuna, a beach at Galle after lunch. It was again a 3.5 hour drive from Tissa. The weather had turned oppressive outside and our spirits were lifted only by the sights of crystal clear blue-green waters as we travelled along the coast.
More later...

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Day 4 continues..

The drive to Horton Plains National Park (HPNK) via the vast green grass-fields of the Ambewala farm and New Zealand farm managed by Ambewala was a treat to our eyes. At the entry gate of the HPNK, we bought the tickets for the nature trek through the plains leading to World's End and Baker's falls. Vehicles are allowed only upto a certain point after the entry gate, after which the area is demarcated for trek lovers.

 The short trail up to the demarcated point by vehicle was home to wild stags that could be easily spotted:

Steps downwards leading to the trail

A small museum about the birds and animals present in the national park

The trail began like this..

advanced into uneven grounds like this..

We planned to walk at least upto the mini World's End which would have been around 5 kms round trip. R was a total sport and walked enthusiastically refusing to be even held when he faltered over the uneven grounds of small rocks and stones. The trail began as a cobbled path but as we proceeded further into the trail, it began to get a little muddy and rough though it was still manageable. At a particular patch, the shrubs and trees on either sides grew denser making the trail colder and a tad eerie. We came across many other trekkers, mostly foreigners, who stopped to greet us, smile at R appreciatively and carried on. Our hopes to reach at least the mini World's End rose with every advancement and as we breathed in the fresh air, listened to myriad insects and birds' sounds, enjoying nature to the fullest. We'd have made it but just as we were nearing, R showed signs of tiring down. We were still tempted to carry on but we were hesitant of tiring R further. It was unfair on the poor kid and then there was the possibility of us needing to carry him all the way back which also would have proven difficult considering the fact that we already had almost walked 2 kms into the forest. So we just thanked our luck for having come even this far and started our trail back. R kept up his spirits for a major part while we took turns in carrying him back whenever he appeared jaded or slowed down.

Fully pumped with the energy of such a power-packed morning, we bade farewell to Nuwara Eliya and started on our downward and a long journey (it took about 5 hrs) to Tissamaharama, called Tissa in short, a town 21 kms to Yala National Park where we were to take a wildlife safari. Signing off from the cooler hills we geared up to face warm to hot weather conditions from hereon. We drove through sleepy villages of Ohiya, Hauptale and Ella, where we halted at the Rawana Falls. We reached our hotel in Tissa, whic was strategically located on the banks of Tissa lake. All the rooms had sit-out areas from where one could view the serene lake. The rest of the evening at Tissa was meant to relax as we had to be up early next morning for the jeep safari.

Rawana Falls at Ella

Hotel Lake wind on the banks of Tissa lake

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A wonderful trek and a looong journey-day 4

We reached the hotel at Nuwara Eliya around 2 p.m. We were famished and were treated to freshly prepared fried rice and grilled cheese-tomato sandwiches with some french fries. The hotel was more of an Inn with a friendly and informal atmosphere. You could even customize the menu and get something prepared for you exclusively. The caretaker was quite friendly and we chit-chatted about his family and also got some useful tips and information on the local sight-seeing. I am not sure of how vacant or occupied the hotel was during our stay but there was this elderly person from the UK who seemed to be a permanent feature in the lounge area, watching the cricket match on the television with a mug of whiskey/scotch always by his side. Oh, and yes, Sri Lanka is a cricket-crazed nation, pretty much or more than us. At least it is their national sport.

R spent the waiting time for lunch running about in the patio, refusing to eat any lunch when it arrived, feasting only on the fries and exploring the corridors of the old cottage-like hotel. The hotel was a little cramped and dingy for my liking initially but then the spaced out lounge area and hospitable staff quite made up for it. Throughout the trip, R lived on a diet that comprised of set curd or sweetened yoghurt, some tidbits like biscuits and suchlike, bananas and juice/water/coconut water. When coaxed a lot, he'd eat 3-4 morsels of proper solid food. He was simply content breathing in fresh air and scampering about here and there.

The sitting area of our hotel

Fire-place

We were so famished and tired that we wiped off two plates of the fresh, yummilicious fried rice and the sandwiches and set out to just rest our tired backs from the winding and tiresome drive uphill. It was already half-past three and we intended to be ready-to-go in a couple of hours. The next thing we knew that we were looking sleepy-eyed outside our room window into pitch darkness. It was well past 6 p.m. when we dragged ourselves to the reception area. Mr. Shirley, we learnt from the caretaker, had waited for a long while for us to emerge from our room and in the end got tired himself and not wanting to disturb us, retired to his room. We missed going around the sleepy little town as it was already very dark and quite cold. A few minutes later, Mr.Shirley filled in the details for the agenda next day. We were supposed to leave as early as 5.30 p.m. the next morning to see the World's End via Horton Plains National park. The trek up to Baker's fall is a 9km round trip which has a Mini World's End at about 3 kms from the beginning of the trail, then the World's End  (observation deck at the edge of  highest plateau of Sri Lanka) and then the Baker's Fall.  Do read more about it here and here.  We were not too thrilled to hear about the details as we knew that we could not walk 9 kms with R in tow. Also, we were ill-equipped for the chilly weather. Early morning would be chillier and we didn't want to risk our health without proper winter-gear. However the caretaker, Mr.Shirn and Mr.Shirley had quick solutions for us. They suggested that we walk up to whatever point it was possible since the trek was supposed to be an easy and pleasant one. And, we could always buy some winter wear from the local market as branded ones were sold at dirt cheap rate at the local bazaar (this is indeed true!). Still skeptical, we agreed.

We checked out of the hotel with breakfast packed neatly for all of us and left for Horton's park from where the trail began. The views en route were spectacular as though to give a prelude to what was in store and we were glad that we didn't not skip this part of the trip. We passed by Ambewala, a huge milk factory that had wide and vast green fields where the cattle grazed.

This post is getting longer than I expected. So, will leave you with some pics and continue with a part 2 of the same day.

First rays through the grassy fields

Check out the mist

Spotted wild stags in the wild

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Kandy to Nuwara Eliya- day 3

We are so similar yet so dissimilar. Contradictory, I know. But the landscape, SL history, culture, (we saw a lot of influence of India on their culture) the Kandyan dance, the fire show, the skin-colour, the general disposition of people: no one can tell a difference. Buddhism and Hinduism have lot in common as religion. But I guess the similarity ends here.
There are no major industries in Sri Lanka apart from the agriculture, tourism and fabric industry. The population is just about 20 million and the literacy rate is quite high too. I was totally impressed with how clean even the smaller towns were. We later came to know that the cleanliness drive has been very recent. The enormous fine that is imposed on people littering has taken the country's cleanliness levels to greater heights in the past one year. The traffic moves in a disciplined manner too. No one honks unless absolutely necessary. And wonders of wonder, at least for me, was the fact that at any Zebra crossing across the major towns (it is called yellow crossing over there since the lines are yellow in colour), the vehicles, irrespective of the speed they are coming at, slow down or stop to allow the pedestrians to cross.

After visiting the temple of the tooth the previous evening, we walked for a short while by and around the lake and set to explore some veggie food outside of the hotel we were put up at. Vegetarian meals in SL are pretty much rice, dal, some curry or fried rice or veg. noodles. They do not have much wheat around the southern parts. Whatever little wheat production the country has, is in the northern side. Only Colombo offers some respite with plenty of Indian restaurants, esp. south Indian outlets serving snacks like the Idly, Dosa or the regular meals variety. A regular breakfast feature, though, is Aappam (popularly known as String hoppers) with some masoor dal fry as side dish in all the parts of Lanka that we visited.

Day 3, we left Kandy around 9.30 a.m, did a quick round of the Bogambara lake, sneaked into a artifacts shop that supposedly sold trinkets for a good deal, grabbed a few items as souvenirs and gifts and started the climb up higher altitudes towards Nuwara Eliya.

Bogambara lake

A closer view of the lake

At this point I have to mention this particular incident. On our way, a road-side vendor was selling this fruit called Durian. Do read the link to be able to empathize well. Mr. shirley, our guide-cum-driver, very enthusiastically began to enumerate its rich taste and goodness and implored us to taste the fruit. It resembled a jackfruit from the outside and we thought it might taste similarly. We parked a little away from the vendor. I was feeling a little lazy and also uninterested to disembark from the vehicle and asked the men to try it first. Mr. Shirley wouldn't give up. He came up to the car with half a Durian for me to try the fruit. The aroma sent nauseatic waves down my body. Yet, I didn't wish to be impolite and bit on the pulp. I have no words to describe how I felt. I didn't want to make a bad face and at the same time I couldn't pretend to like it and eat it up. I made an excuse of needing to wash my hands and got down to join the husband who looked quite distraught after having eaten one third of the entire fruit. We mumbled some excuses and offered the remaining to Mr. Shirley. He looked a little puzzled at our expression but thankfully didn't read too much into it. The winding roads uphill added more misery to the hubby who had endured more. After what seemed an eternity, we made a stop en route at a tea factory. A flavoured and aromatic cup of tea without milk was like soothing balm. We swore never ever to even mention that dreaded fruit's name and joked that we should highly recommend this fruit to people on our non-favourite list.

There were tea plantations all along our way to the top. Some pictures:

 

Mackwoods-the largest tea estate

Glenloch- The tea factory we stopped by

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Tour of Kandy city-day 2

I was a little concerned about the quality of accommodation because of the "budget" tag and also because the bookings were not done by brand names. Although I had done the necessary check on sites like Trip Advisor, my mind was put to rest only after we checked in into the hotel room at Kandy which was our first stopover of the trip. I am not considering the overnight stay at Colombo as it was a last minute booking done to simply accommodate us for the surplus time (due to flight schedules) before the tour began the next day. The sight of the clean room and bathroom with all the basic amenities in place allayed my concerns and I felt a tinge of pride in having taken a well-worth risk.

We visited the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peredaniya the next morning. This 147 acre huge green space is  house to a plethora of trees, ferns, orchid, a spice garden and a lake. It would take a minimum of 2 hours to visit all the mapped areas within this beautiful garden. We set about without any agenda to tick off the places on the guide map. We just wanted to let R be himself and stroll around taking in the exotic view and sweet fragrance that accompanied us throughout the shady and cool trail.

We spent a good one and a half hour strolling at the garden, at times running after R who was just too thrilled to be left on his own in such a vast area of openness.


We visited a wood art showroom that offered on display intricate and beautiful wooden pieces of art, furniture and the famous Srilankan masks. Also known as devil masks, they are used to ward off evil eye. Sri Lanka is expensive and has a depreciated money value. But all the shops have a discounted rate for people coming from neighbouring countries. Yet, even after a discounted rate and a favourable exchange rate, the price can be a deterrent to hoard these lovely artifacts.

We got a couple of such masks

We stopped by for a brief period at a Batik clothes boutique-cum-workshop where they showed us how the fabric is printed, coloured and dried- all done manually.

Sri Lanka is also famous for its precious gemstones. The blue sapphire is the most precious and expensive gemstone found here, also known as Ceylon Sapphire. The husband gifted yours truly blue Topaz, its more affordable semi-precious substitute as an anniversary gift.

After some post-lunch rest at the hotel-room, we headed off next to the temple of tooth relic. We took the services of a separate guide to narrate us the history behind this Buddhist temple which is very sacred to the people of Sri Lanka. R was obviously not interested in halting anywhere much less appreciating the history or beauty of the ancient temple. Poor Mr.Shirley took upon himself to manage the little fella so that we could get some space and peace of mind to hear what the temple guide had to say.

Surprisingly, we were allowed to take photographs even within the temple.

The entrance-moonstone step

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Pinnewala and Kandy- day 1

Just one and a half hour away by flight, this country can be easily mistaken for our own Kerala. I simply had to keep reminding myself that I am in a different country; going by the landscapes and the people around, I was reminded constantly of India, esp. Kerala. But a much cleaner and greener one at that.

We landed at about 10.30 p.m on Friday last week to be greeted at the airport by our guide-cum-driver for the trip, Mr. Shirley.  A very warm and helpful person, he made sure we were comfortable and made us feel at home. We started off early morning next day to our first stop at Pinnewala, (90 kms from Colombo) en route to Kandy, where we were to visit orphaned elephants that were taken care of at this Orphanage. It was fun watching the elephants bathe, feed and stroll about in the huge expanse of green area. There were specific areas where the elephants could be fed a fruit basket or milk bottles in case of baby elephants.

baby elephant being fed milk bottles-check out the size. The elephant gulped four of those in a few seconds time :-)

An elephant being fed a fruit basket by tourists

While preparing the itinerary, I wanted to include an Elephant ride (not carried out in the orphanage) but could not because the elephant rides I had read was at a different town that didn't quite line up in our route map. However our guide was sweet enough to include one after he saw R's excitement levels at the orphanage. There was a foundation called Millennium Elephant Foundation near the orphanage where we went next to mount on one-it was to be the first one for me and R. The tickets were priced for rides spanning 15 mins, 30 mins and 45 mins respectively. We were also quite excited about riding on one and took a ticket for a 30 min ride. (A rash decision, we were to realize later.) It sounds all exciting but trust me, it was really tough (read painful and scary) to be perched on such a height and precariously balanced while the gigantic animal swayed and sashayed its way over uneven terrains of paddy fields. While the little boy seemed to enjoy the experience, the two adults tried to put on a brave face and prayed for the show to end soon :-). We cut short the ride to a 15 min one. After all saving our ass (literally) and backs seemed more pragmatic than saving our face ;-)

A picture can be so deceptive :-)

A 2 and a half hour drive post lunch (we stopped en route at a lovely spice garden which also prepared herbal medicines) took us to the pretty city of Kandy where we were to spend two nights. We reached just in time to make it to the cultural dance show at an auditorium. We were held spell bound by the talent display of the artists there whose dance performance was truly amazing. A dance troupe performed in groups displaying the various art forms of dance, about 6 or 7 I think. Each one was unique and superbly executed. We were seated on the last row of the auditorium and our basic model camera has not done any justice in the dim lights. So, please excuse the poor quality of the snap. If you wish, you can view a glimpse of the dance video here.  (ETA: I chanced upon this video while googling for a video. I am not sure if I have violated any copyrights by doing this. If I have, I'll remove it.)

Add caption

 The show lasted for about one hour at the end of which there was fire-walking show. Unfortunately there are no snaps of these.

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The miracle that is Lanka

After much deliberation over taking a toddler for a trip overseas, we finally decided to take the plunge. To mark our 5th wedding Anniversary, we decided to visit our friendly neighbourhood- Sri Lanka. With the husband being pretty tied up with work, the entire task of the concept, scheduling, planning and execution fell squarely on my shoulders. I plunged into action a good two months in advance, taking some planning tips from Aparna who had recently planned and executed a marvellous trip to New Zealand. I did an initial cursory survey of the must-visit places with kids on Trip Advisor and checked out itineraries with the popular tour operators like SOTC and Cox & Kings. It took me a while to get acquainted with the Srilankan city names and with it the associated sights they offered. Google and the map of Sri Lanka remained my best buddies during this period.

A country that is a size of our Tamil Nadu has a huge lot to offer as a tourist destination. From culturally rich places of historical significance like Polonnaruwa, Anuradharapura, Kandy with Sigiriya in the centre (also known as the cultural Triangle), to Hill resorts like Nuwara Eliya that abounds with breathtaking natural beauty, to various Wildlife parks that houses Elephants, leopards, jackals, bears, deer and a myriad of bird species, to the pristine and clear beaches along the southern coast leading up to the capital city of Colombo. Most sites suggest at least 10-14 days stay to get a taste of the variety. However, with a tour span of 7 days that we could afford with respect to time at disposal and the pocket, we tried to do as much justice as was possible. Keeping R's nature and interest in mind, I felt that a package that covered more of wildlife and nature would be ideal.

As the next step, I scoured the net for the best tour deals and a customized itinerary. The popular ones seemed a little rigid with customizing option and also a little steep on the wallet. Going by the showcased Ads, one was inclined to assume that most preferred the more popular locales of Singapore and Malaysia over Sri Lanka. A little further digging led me to this site- Miracle Sri Lanka, a tour operator based out of Sri Lanka that specialized in customized budget and luxury packages. We decided that if we had to cover more places in a short span, we would have to adjust with budget hotels. I was a little apprehensive about going with a lesser known operator. But, it proved to be a risk that paid off well in the end. I looked for the guest reviews for this operator, scanned their website and Facebook profile to my satisfaction and then contacted them for the deal and picked out one that suited my requirements. After some back and forth of emails with the operator guys, we decided on a itinerary that covered Pinnewale en route Kandy, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala (pronounced as Yaal-a), Unawatuna, Galle and Colombo. We were to cover the entire distance by road. They were to provide an English speaking chauffeur and an A/c vehicle as a part of the package deal.

A not-so-popular destination and an off-beat route of hiring a local tour operator- a road less taken you'd say? My stomach had butterflies even as I sealed the deal, made the flight bookings and the Visa application online. This was my first trip on foreign shores and hell, I was making all the calls!

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