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Round the world trip!
25/4/2011
Up at 4.45am for our safari through Yala National Park. Enjoyed yet another cup of tea, maybe it means I'm now a little bit of an adult?
It was a pretty sunrise whilst we drove for half an hour into the park. On the way in, we were taken via a lake where plenty of birds inhabited and the scenery was fascinating with the cranes wading and the sun creeping up in the background, not to forget the water buffaloes slobbing in the water and the 'muggers' aka marsh crocodiles chilling on the banks.
On the rest of the safari from 6am until 12, we encountered many Asian elephants lugging around the swamps and grazing, a ceylon jackal, many monitor lizards basking in the heat of the sun at about a metre in length, lots of water buffaloes that looked so comfortable - soaked in the lakes and ponds up to their heads that just peer out of the shallows, dozens of species of birds that Wilf kept a keen eye out for (personal favourite a big hawk/buzzard), groups of deer (two different species), another croc, wild boar, mongoose and monkeys!
If anyone is keen on birdlife, Wilf spotted; drongos, hornbills (like toucans), lapwings, storks, pelicans, egrets, herons, a rare Asian paradise flycatcher, bee-eaters, a huge forest eagle owl, terns diving into the water, kingfishers, parrotts, eagles, darters, kites, cormorants, spoonbills, warblers, ibis, junglefowl (basically a chicken!), munia, pheasant-tailed jacana and even heard an oriole.
The only thing about our safari was that we did't see an elusive leopard! Our driver yelled at one stage that there was one in front and sped off trying to hunt it but we had no such luck and didn't see one. All the other vehicles come and follow you too and we had some annoying Israelis chatting at the tops of their voices which would've pretty much scared off any hope of seeing a leopard! Jack was annoyed, especially when we were telling them to shush and she patronised us by putting her finger to her mouth. So he went up to one of the ladies at our lunch stop and said: "Are you German?" She replied: "No I'm from Israel." Jack's response: "Oh, that would explain it." Haha.
Someone else informed us that they had seen a leopard with two youngsters which was infuriating as we hadn't had any success!
Still we had breakfast on a beach which was another paradicial location, overlooking a quiet ocean, huge rock formation and back into the wilderness of the National Park. We had free food aswell, boiled eggs, jam sarnies, and a banana, lovely little beach picnic!
After the safari, we went back to the hotel where we had a dip in the pool and washed off following the obscene amount of dust we all had on us! A small bakery van shortly turned up at our hotel (where a wedding reception was taking place and Tracy and the other tourists were appreciating all the spectacular dresses being worn by the little girls and bride), and we feasted on omelette, chicken and spicy veg sarnies and jam-sugary pastries for a total of 45p! I spilt a coke being a retard and Tracy debated buying a Sri Lankan top which the woman said took her three months to make which me and Jack joked heavily about! If it took her three months then how the hell did she make the rest? She's have to be about 100 years old and worked 24-7!
I got stuck into some more woodapples whilst we waited for Roshan to have a curry. On the way to Ella we stopped at Rawana waterfall, ate corn on the cob and got snarled at by monkeys before feeding some! The landscape high up in these hills was fabulous, and it was so cold compared to an hour away on the Southern coast!
In Ella, we agreed to an ayurvedic massage for the next day, and learnt not to judge a book by its cover as the old saying goes. Our hotel didn't look great, but it was superb! Breathtaking views, good service, nice rooms and me and Jack had a lovely four poster bed with views out from the balcony. Love was in the air!
Sweet and sour chicken for tea and more soft drinks....I honestly can't control myself. Do you think there's give up soft drink courses like there is for smoking?
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