Yala National Park

We were waiting outside our hotel, ready for pick up at 4:30a.  Our safari vehicle was much like yesterdays, a truck with a row of seats set on top of the flatbed, giving us a view over the cabin of the truck. There were two other couples to pick up, then we'd book it to the park entrance to queue before it opened at 6a.  We had a fair warning, our guide Sulu saying, 'I'm going to hurry', and Pedro and I were getting a front row roller coaster experience.  The difference in a safari truck slowly driving on dirt roads versus smooth straight-shot highway was crazy.  We barely had time to snatch our bags and white knuckle the bar in front of us, but it made us laugh all the same.  At each stop, we enjoyed the starry skies with little light pollution, and I was able to quickly braid back the rats nest that was my hair from the ride.  

At 5:50a sharp, we were at the gates of Yala, third vehicle in line. Our guide Sulu took that time to go over the game plan, the rules, and set expectations.  Pedro had suggested this tour because of the way it operated, different from the other shorter ones.  We were meant to go off the beaten path, away from the large crowds of jeeps, where even if you see an animal, it may be surrounded by vehicles and scare the animals (no good for either of us). Of the five zones in Yala, only two were accessible by safari, zone one and zone five. Zone one sees about 200 jeeps a day, whereas zone five only allowed about 50.  Zone five also had a larger population of leopards.  We went into this knowing that seeing a leopard wasn't guaranteed, but a nice bonus along with seeing all the other animals and landscapes in the park. 

We entered at 6:00, and the jeeps kind of dispersed onto different paths but were connected through a group call in case someone spotted something. Not fifteen minutes in, we had such a call and Sulu high-tailed it to a small body of water where a leopard had been spotted. He managed to cut the engine to roll into the spot so we didn't make too much noise and we saw a leopard cross right behind us!  It was so fast, I don't think anyone was prepared, let alone got pictures.  After the thrill wore down, we moved on. 

We visited many different watering holes, seeing a few monitor lizards and a mongoose along the way.  Probably the most abundant animal was the water buffalo.

This place in particular had a few different species. I spotted buffalo, a grey heron, some wild boar, crocodiles, and eagles. It seemed a good place to stop for breakfast and enjoy the view, so our guide pulled out a tray with homemade Ceylon food and we set it on a bucket in the middle of the aisle for everyone to share. Just as he was explaining the difference dishes, he got another call about a leopard spotting.  'Hold the tray' was all the warning we got and he took off like a shot, the jeep jostling down the off-road path.  It was a miracle we kept the food on the tray, let alone in the vehicle.

We missed the leopard, but we stayed at that spot and ate our breakfast while staring intently at the bushes where the leopard may make another appearance.  We had appam (a sort of rice flour crepe) with spicy coconut curry and sweet onion filling, butter cake (a simple sweet vanilla cake), and bananas. Delicious!

Growing up familiar with gators, I felt like I was a bit better at spotting the crocs in the water. Though I'd never want to get as close, they're aggressive!

Beyond the animals, I really enjoyed the landscape. It was so different at each clearing.  Doesn't this remind you of pride rock from the Lion King??

All of the jeeps gathered near the beach for lunch.  It seemed like a sort of green zone, the one place where we were allowed to get out of the jeep to stretch.  Our guide had more traditional homemade food for lunch, various curries and rice, and we rested here for two hours.  We were provided with blankets and encouraged to nap after baking in the sun all morning, and I think all of us did at some point.  Before we left, I made sure to walk down to the water...Now I can say I've touched the Indian Ocean! 

After lunch, we got a good show of elephants (my favorite, can't get enough!!). This herd had just come out of the bushes to reapply their natural sunscreen in the form of a mud bath!

We got another leopard call shortly after and this time we got a full sighting! It crossed right in front of our jeep and into the shaded bushes.  Luckily I had my camera on high continuous shooting, so I basically got a frame-by-frame of its walk, but here's a few. 

We spotted a few more animals here and there and lastly has a sunset view of a mom and baby elephant having an afternoon drink.

We had to be out of the park by 6pm, but the park officials give the tours a 15 minute grace period to get to the gate.  At 6:05, our guide was speeding to the exit, asking for the time every few minutes.  We weren't the only ones racing to the exit, and the jeeps in front of us were spraying us with sand.  With how fast we were going again, all we could do was try to look down and away, one hand on our stuff and the other gripping the seats.  We made it at 6:14 and our guide got a good chuckle at our 'safari tans' from the orange dirt.

 

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel in Tissamaharama and took a four hour taxi back to Colombo.  It was a very smooth drive compared to our other travels as we took the highway along the coast. Our flight was delayed due to some bad storms, but we managed to make it to our connecting flight.  Pedro was very happy to be back in Scotland after three weeks, and I felt the same!