First of all, I will introduce myself. I am Sankatha Pieris Bamunuge a newbie here and an amateur photographer. Doing photography for the last 10 years as a hobby and think I know about a thing or two about it now (Anyway it is for you guys to decide whether it is yes or no). I love nature and all the things about it and my photographs are based heavily on wildlife and nature.

Having said that, I got this golden opportunity to join another four guys who planned a three-day trip to Yala through my brother-in-law. Thanks to Anton, who was the chief in organizing this, everything went brilliant. I am adding a link to his trip report, which explains all bits and bobs of booking a bungalow to getting a good driver and a tracker and focusing on what I have done to get the results/wild life photographs and some tips and tricks I learned during the trip. Again, comments and criticism is always welcome and the pros are welcome to correct me if I am wrong.

I was shooting with a Nikon D300S and a Sigma 50-500mm APO DG OS ultra zoon lens mounted on it. This combination is heavy so be prepared to sacrifice some energy to handheld it if you have similar gear. Take a good night sleep and always start fresh. I believe this opens your brain for creativity. I did mention handheld and yes I was not mistaken. You are not allowed to walk or step outside the vehicle when you are inside Yala. So your angles are very limited and I am not quite sure you can have the flexibility of shooting by having your gear on a tripod or a monopod. I did have a monopod but never used it and neither the flash.

Since you have limited space it is better if you can lower your members for about two per vehicle (I am obviously talking about a typically Safari jeep here) and also advisable if you hire a vehicle with two rows of seats placed vertically alongside the body rather than typical seat placing of a normal passenger van. This will help you to change sides quickly to capture the moments and less crowded makes it easy. Why I said two instead of one is because you both can hunt for scenes on both sides of the road so chances of missing some is less.

We had about 6 traveling in our jeep at one time and I almost gave up some times because of the rush. When you spot an animal everybody jumps over to see it. But if you are in wild life photography take your chances rather than rushing at once. Rushing and peeping out will scare animals away (specially leopards) and ruin shots worth millions.

Also make sure you use a lens with Optical Stabilization to reduce camera shake (In Nikon terms this is called VR or vibration reduction and in Sigma terms this is called OS or Optical Stabilization. Canons fans are welcome to share their gear). I honestly think you can handheld big lenses like a one I used and capture great shots if you have VR/Optical Stabilization or you have your arms worked out next to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I had my camera set for a high-speed continuous shooting mode with a high speed CF card. This always gave me the ability to capture the quick two or three shots I needed especially in bird photography.

When you are framing birds on flight or on the sky and if you are using a telephoto/ultra zoom lens, never reach your object with a fully stretched out lens. You will miss the bird when you try to find it in you viewfinder. Zoom it out to a comfortable position where you can see the bird, then zoom in while following the bird through the viewfinder. Your lens also may auto focus fast by using this technique. I use about 250mm first and zoom out to 400mm or more if needed. Again, please feel free to comment or share your own techniques and tips.

Birds in action

Flight

Fight

Another flight

But I should be honest and say that I went insane over shooting leopards on the continuous shooting mode. This also made some unnecessary camera shake.

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Always make sure you use a good, reliable and a high-speed memory card when you do continuous shooting and never use a cheap card because the card may corrupt. It has happened to me once I was on a trip on bird photography. Remember, these may be opportunities once in a lifetime. So minimize the number of mistakes you can make.

I have used Programmed (P) and Shutter Priority (S) with different manually adjusted ISO Speed settings and never Auto. My camera does not do auto. Never use it and be creative. There is a lot you can do with variable ISO settings and manual white balancing. Most of the times I used 6-7K white balance settings to pump that red out from the sky and low tones for blue. Also I shoot RAW. There are lots of reasons why I do that but will not talk about it here. Jump into Youtube and you will find all pros and cons if you really need to.

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Sunset at Yala

I had a fully charges backup battery during the three days but managed with only one. But a backup battery is always advisable because sometimes your battery can drain fast due to various shooting modes and coditions. I just switched off my camera when I am not using it so think it may also saved some life of it during the trip. We carried a fully charged UPS (supposed to be fully charged at least) but never used it. Remember, most bungalows in Yala do not have power outlets or electricity.

Finally on finishing touches, I have done some slight post processing in Adobe Lightroom and some little cropping in some photographs to get the framing correct. Some guys debate over cropping but I did not have many options here in framing because of the limited shooting space I had to frame the shot. I share the rest of the images here and will write more trip reports in the future. As I said, comments and criticism is always welcome.

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Yala – The rest

Wilpattu has always been on our wish list, more so after reading Nihal de Silva’s The Road to Elephant Pass. Even though the park was reopened in 2009, we were not able to go that way due to many constraints. The wish finally became a reality only in December 2012.

We booked the two chalets at Palpatha, about 14 km away from the park entrance. As per our usual modus operandi, Palpatha came up when I was searching Google for accomodation around Wilpattu and I liked their web site  They responded promptly to emails, usually with a phone call too. Charges were Rs 5000/- per head per day full board and we had our reservations made in no time.

We left Colombo very early and our first stop was at Anawilundawa. There weren’t many birds but was a great place to break journey.

Reflections

First day to O/Ls

“Choon paan!”

Waiting

“Elephant tree!”

Our next pit stop was at Nawadankulama. The tank was quite full as the area has had some rain.

Nawadankulama tank

Nawadankulama tank

A lotus in full bloom

The road to Puttalam and from there to Palpatha was a dream to drive!

Palpatha is an eco type place. It has two chalets and a tent.

Our first view of Palpatha. This is the dining area

Andara chalet – where we stayed. This can accommodate 3 and has an attached toilet

The shower is separate – one can have a bath under the sky and it is heavenly to do so in the night!

The place is solar powered and the chalets have light bulbs. But as the shower doesn’t, you need to take a lamp!! I just loved that

Inside the shower

The night lights

Andara chalet in the night

Our friends were in the Kumbuk chalet and that can easily take three if needed. That has an attached bathroom

Kumbuk chalet

Inside Kumbuk chalet

The dining area is separate and is easily accessible. The food is typically Sri Lankan and mouth watering. It was so good that it had the three males in our group behaving as they had been starving all this time!

The dining area

Breakfast, before the starving attacked it!

Under the tamarind tr

The perfect place to chilax – so lovely in the night with only the starry sky above you

The Siymabala tent

The staff at Palpatha were courteous and attentive and went out of their way to make our stay a memorable one.

Palpatha has a nature trail, which we explored with Bandu (the general everybody at Palpatha!) the first day. Although it is supposed to have many birds we only saw a few. However the other creatures made up for that in large measures

Blue glassy tigers

Balancing act – crimson dropwing

A lyme butterfly

“Aren’t you gone yet?”

The only bird I managed to snap

Glorious and superb….

The Land of Villus

We were pretty excited as it was our first visit to the famed Wilpattu park and we left Palpatha at 5.30 a.m. the next day so as not to miss a single moment. Our food for the day was packed by Palpatha, each nicely in separate carriers too!

It was freeeeeeeeeezing and we were shivering by the time we reached Wilpattu just before 6 a.m. Formalities done, we set off for a day in the park having told our tracker Jagath that we wanted “to see any life form and not only the leopard. If we did not see the leopard that was fine too.”

In to the wild, through the mist…..

The “thaniya” that charged at us through the mist! And this was about 15 minutes into the park too!

“පර්සි බැඳි වැව”

Ghostly trees – effects of a slow shutter and a moving vehicle

A changeable hawk eagle with its mongoose breakfast

A sambar having a slow munch

I simply loved the tree lined roads……

Through the tree lined roads……..

….. on to the villus

There are many animal moments to watch if one does a slow drive and look around.

Any thing for a photo

“To go in or not, that is the question!”

A morning dip to start the day

Reed paintings at Nelum Wila

Thaniya at Panikka Wila

Best foot forwards….

Lords of the skies

“Where are these flies?”

Take off – Pacific golden plover

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At this stage our driver got a call of a leopard sighting at Panikka Villa. To turn back without going to Kudiramalai??? It was a tough call but we decided to go on as planned…..

“Who goes there?”

Road to Mannar……

Impermanence

A sand bathing chest nut headed bee-eater

“Come on Cus, this is good!”

A little green beeeater sun and sand bathing

The Portugal Bay from Kudiramali Point

Kudiramalai point

Camouflaged!

The beach at Thambapanni

We had lunch at one of the camping sites. After lunch we headed back towards Panikka wila, hoping that we might just be lucky!

Looking for food

Recycling

The pachyderm we saw in the morning had finished eating and was just coming out of the willu and we stopped to watch…..

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We left him to his own devices and reversed back and went around the trees in search of the leopard….. And…. there he was – looking lovely yet sleepy.

Panthera pardus kotiya – love his scientific name!

Sleepy head!

Don’t you just feel like patting his head?

Ok, since you have been waiting…

… let me roll over!!!

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“Care to tickle my tummy?”

And then he just looked right at me ……..

“Got it?”

“Ok, that is it. I need to sleep!”

My last shot of the beauty, exactly 1 hour after the first

Our gamble paid off – we saw Wilpattu in all its glory and had 1 full hour with the leopard, undisturbed! What more can one ask for?

Tree paintings with my cam

Returning home next day we went to Wilandagoda, the area supposed to be where Prince Saliya hid to get away from his father’s wrath. It is a complex of cave temples and ruins, well worth a visit. The turn off is around the 27th kilometer post on the Anuradhapura – Puttalam road, towards Pahala Puliyankulama.

Some of the ruins

The old image house

Balum gala – the rock looks like a face!

One of the many ponds

At Saliya pokuna at Wilandagoda

Along the way……

I spent the last few days of December at Yala as usual. We experienced more rain this time around (22-28th Dec) compared to last few years similar time, but no complains. We had a few very good sightings, but nothing to beat this bull elephant episode. Hope these selected photos and my little captions tell the story. This lasted for about twenty minutes.

You smell so good

Am I out of reach??

Nope, but not even a mouthful

mmm….. You are so tasty

I think I will feast on you

Let me put you down first

Looks like I.. I should try harder

Haaaaaddderrrrr …

Tough nut.. eh!

Let’s see about that

I’ll get ya from the other side

Eeeyaaa…… go down you *&%$#

OK – you are tough

One Last Try

Yerrrahhhh..

hmmmm…….

OK, you win..

I give up… May be I was mistaken – perhaps you are too sour

We started the trip by 4.30am by 2 4X4 from Colombo. But due to heavy rain on last few days we got news as many roads were under water but we just went ahead with our plan decided not to have a route plan. We had everything for three but we carried drinking water and things need for a BBQ dinner.

See the flood line.. near the Puttalam area

Drive was around 6 hours and since morning less vehicles so we travelled quickly. Around 10am we arrived the park main entrance and our hired safari jeep from Priya Safari services and it was in good condition. Were it was able to accommodate 10 of us very easily and we spend some time in the main gate chatting some trackers.. Every one said many areas are full of water so animals may be less.. But I pray for the jungle lord let me see the leopard ( he didn’t hear it).

Due to the rains most of the small ponds are flooded and seen many streams around the areas.

Full or green….

Off we go in to the jungle…

Managed to see some few animals way to bungalow

Baby crocodile hiding behind a bush..

Peacock enjoying the view after a rain

A kingfisher

Didn’t realize the depth of the pool…

Enjoying freedom

The wilderness is amazing at rainy season as we can see the greenish everywhere. And food is available and all the animals enjoy it. Arrived at Pannikiwila and bad time it was raining again.

There for nothing can be done so waited for the caretaker to prepare the lunch and while it’s being prepared every one took a nap to get ready for evening safari.

Food was great and off we go for the safari…rain was stopped but can’t be sure so we had to hurry. Travelled a lot but it was too bad less animals I have ever seen in a wild area.

One of the amazing site which I saw was this.. he was having mothers milk in the route which we traveled. (I just remembered my 1 ½ old son and wife).

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A crocodile having a sun bath after a long rain

Observe “sil” until next meal

What a marvelous view from the front lobby

Full night it rained but we had a BBQ dinner inside the bungalow as there was much space available for this inside. Got up next morning and sun was shining bright after many days. We start our next journey to Kudiramalai point from bungalow around 8am.

Rain has stopped but the roads were muddy and some “Vilu” areas were flooded but we managed to cross them without issues.

Diya Kawa rest before next dive

Diya Kawa rest before next dive

Heard of Deer’s enjoying the freedom

Heard of elephants having a meal. After checking the photo we found there are 3 small baby elephants protected by their moms

Rain dance by peacock

This is what made of Kudiramalai point. Once sea bed raised from the sea level millions of years ago due to some geological change. Area is full of sea bed remains such as sea shells ect..

Kudiramalai point

Left over of the Kuweni’s palace. This place is around 10Km from the beach

Wild boars and deer

Panikiwilla Bungalow

Waiting for the next target

Rain has affected the natural life of every creature. Diya Kawa trying to dry up himself by the low sunlight

On the way back it started rain again and it was very heavy.. we went to have a bath in the beach even with the heavy rain. Then back to the bungalow and as we were waiting there in noon due to rain but evening also no luck going out and evening safari also washed away. So looks like the rain god not agreeing with us and we have left the morning safari turn and came back to Colombo

Like a camouflage

Jackal…he just walk in front of our vehicles about 700m..

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The gang who visit with me

Breakdown way back. Overheating due to a damage to the radiator from a root

පිළියන්දලින් රාත්රී 11 ට පමන පිටත්වූ අප උදෑසන 9 පමණ වන විට පොතුවිල් මුහුදු මහා විහාරයට ලඟා වුනෙමු. කුමන පිවිසුමට ලඟාවන විට දහවල් 12 පමණ විය. එතැනින් දිවා ආහාරය ගත් අප අපේ පළමු දින නවාතැන වූ කුඹුක්කන් ඔය හෙරලිගස් ආර බලා පිටත් වුනෙමු. කුමන පිවිසුමෙන් ඇතුල්වූ අප බාගුර පිටිය, කුමන විල්ලුව, මඩමතොට පසු කරමින් 23 පමණ දුර ගෙවා හෙරලිගස් ආරට ලඟා වුනෙමු. රාත්රී ආහාරය පිළියෙල කර දණක් පමන කුඹුක්කන් ඔය ජලයේ බැස ඇතිවන තුරු නා ගතිමු.

Pothuwil Muhudu Maha Viharaya

Kumana Park Entrance

Kumana shallow lake (Villuwa)

Elephant

Kumbukkan Oya

Kumbukkan Oya

1st Day Camp site – Heraligas Ara Camp site

1st Day Camp site – Heraligas Ara Camp site

පසුදින වනොද්යානයේ විවිධ ස්ථාන නැරඹීමට ගියෙමු. දුටුවන්ගේ නෙතට කඳුලක් නන්වන දසුනක් වූයේ බඹරගස්තලාව පුදබිමේ සැත්පෙන බුදුපිළිම වහන්සේට නිදන් හොරුන් විසින් කරතිබූ හානිය දුටු විටය.

එදින අපගේ නවාතැන වූයේ මෝය කට කඳවුරු බිමයි.

Jeep Crossing the River

Landscape

Crossing the lake to go to Bambaragasthalawa

Gal kema

Bambaragasthalawa Buddha statue

2nd Day Camp site(Moya kata)

Kumbukkan oya at Moya kata

තෙවන දින ඔකඳ දේවාලය කුඩුම්බිගල ආරණ්ය සේනාසනය හා අවට සංචාරය කල අපගේ නවාතැන වුයේ කුඩුම්බිගල වැව අසල විශාල ගල් තලාවයි. මෙම ස්ථානයේ ලැගුම් ගැනීමට අවසර ලබාගැනීමට අවශ්ය නොවේ. අවශ්යකනම් කුඩුම්බිගල විශ්රාම ශාලාවේ ලැගුම් ගැනීමට පුලුවන

Yoda Lipa

Our Vehicle

Kudimbigala Natural Buddha statue

One and only Cylindrical pagoda in Sri lanka (Kudimbigala Aakasa chaythya) Same as Baranesa Isipathana Migadaya

3rd Day Night stay in around the Rock at Kudimbigala Lake

departure from Kudimbigala Lake

Jone mama,s House in Panama

Elephant at Lahugala Lake

සිව්වන දින කුඩුම්බිගලින් පිටත්වූ අප කොළඹට පැමිනෙන විට රාත්‍රී 8 පමණ විය

අප සමග එක්වූ මංජු මෙවැනි සඳහා ඉතා අත්දැකීම් බහුල පුද්ගලයෙකි. විෂේශයෙන් කැබිලිත්ත දේවාලයට යන ගමන් සඳහා විශාල අත්දැකීමක් ඔහු සතුය. 0770694475 දුරකථනයට කතාකර ඔහුගේ සහයෝගය ලබාගත හැක

The journey was stared on a evening of a busy Friday (15TH February 2013), from Colombo around 10:30pm. We reached the Kandy city by 1:00am and had a snack and started travelling towards Matale road and then to the Daha ata Wanguwa- Hasalaka.

We reached Wasgamuwa Park at 5.45am and began a morning safari. As we planned our jeep came loaded with our breakfast which we in the river bank of Mahaweli River inside the park.

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As we entered it was obsrved by all of us how the dry zone changes after the rainy season. The flora and fauna looked so fresh and green all over. Pits which are usually filled up with mud, were overflowing with water.

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For me the sight was an absolute miracle as we were expecting to see the typical dry land full of dust.

The bungalow was located inside the jungle about 13 Kms. The setting of the bungalow is a heavenly place for a nature lover. The elevated bungalow faces to the Mahaweli River from on side, where you get to see animals especially elephants arrive at the river bank during the day. You may stay at your balcony(Wawul Abey) and gaze out to the river banks and in to the jungle for many miles as the bungalow is built in two stories.

View of the river from the bungalow

View of the river from the bungalow

Travelling on a the morning in a jungle (in the dry zone) which had heavy rains couple of weeks ago, is a unique and a breath taking experience. You may figure out the same by looking at below two pics

Watch how the dry zone has changed…

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We had two safaries after the morning one. One in the evening and another one in the following day morning

Famouse Wasgamuwa wild elephants

However, travelling was not so easy as the roads were se muddy and a four wheel tractor had to come for our rescue few times

The journey was too hard at times…

We left the bungalow after Sunday’s breakfast with lunch packed to have on the way. The route we took to Dambulla offered us with breath taking places with beautiful fresh water streams. We stopped by a stream and had lunch close to Dambulla.

This is where we had our lunch on our way back to Colombo

We reached Colombo at 8pm.

The key take home memory out of this trip is that we realize how the dry zone changes with the heavy rains and the beauty of it !

කැබලිත්ත සියඹලාව දේවාලය හාස්කම් වලින් පිරුණු ස්ථානයක් ලෙස බොහෝ දෙනාගේ පිළිගැනීමයි. පුරාවෘත්තයන්ට හා ජනප්රවවාදයට අනුව ඉන්දියාවේ සිට පැමිණි ස්කන්ධ කුමාර හෙවත්, කතරගම දෙවියන් ලංකාවේ නතර වීමට තීරණය කල බැවින්, එතුමන් පැම්ණි රන් ඔරුව ගල් කල බවත්, එම ස්ථානය රන් ඔරුගල නමින් හඳුන්වන බවත් සඳහන් වේ. ලංකාවට පැමිණි එතුමන්ට මුලින්ම ඔකඳ නම් ස්ථානයේදී ද්රගවිඩ ජාතිකයකු මුණගැසුනු බවත්, ඔහුගෙන් තමාට නවතින්නට තැනක් සාදාදෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටිබවත්, ද්රටවිඩ ජාතිකයා එය ප්ර්තික්ෂේප කල බවත්, සඳහන් වේ. ඉන්පසු සිංහල ජාතිකයෙකු මුණගැසුනු බවත් ඔහුගෙන් එම ඉල්ලීම කල විට, ඔහු මඩමෙතොට නම් ස්ථානයේ තාවකාලික නවාතැනක් සාදා දුන් බවත් සඳහන් වේ.

පසුව එතුමන් කැබලිත්ත තමාගේ ස්ථීර වාසස්ථානය ලෙස තෝරා ගත් බවත්, මහජනයාගේ දුක්ගැනවිලි, කන්නලව් වලට ඇහුන්කන් දීම සඳහා හා පුදපූජා ලබා ගැනීමට කතරගම තෝරාගත් බවත් සඳහන් වේ.

කැබලිත්තට යාම සඳහා ප්රශධාන පිවිසුම් 4 ක් ඇත.

1. පොතුවිල්, පානම, කුමණ, හරහා. පොතුවිල් සිට පානමට 17km ක්ද, පානම සිට කුමණ පිවිසුමට 17km ක්ද,කුමණ පිවිසුමේ සිට මඩමතොටට 22km ක්ද, එතැන් සිට 34km ක්ද ඇත.
2. යාල කළාප අංක 1, කළාප අංක 2, හරහා පැමිණ කුඹුක්කන් ඔය තරණය කිරීමෙන් පසු කුමණ හරහා පැමිණෙන මාර්ගය ඔස්සේ. යාල පිවිසුමේ සිට මැණික් ගඟ අසලට 18km පමණද, එතැන් සිට කුඹුක්කන් ඔය අසලට 36km පමණ දුර ඇත. එතැනින් කුමණින් පිවිසෙන මාර්ගය ඔස්සේ 33km පමණද ඇත.
3. කතරගම බුත්තල මාර්ගයේ ගල්ගේ පිවිසුමෙන් යාල වනෝද්යාිනය හරහා. ගල්ගේ පිවිසුමෙ සිට 30 km පමණ.
4. මොණරාගල, කොටියාගල හරහා 32km පමණ.

මෙයින් අංක 1,2, හා 3 මාර්ග හරහා කැබලිත්තට පිවිසෙන්නේ නම් වන ජීවී දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් අවසර ලබා ගත යුතුය.

කොටියාගල හරහා පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් එසේ අවසර ලබා ගැනීමක් අවශ්ය නොවේ. වැඩිම පිරිසක් පැමිණෙන්නේ මෙම මාර්ගය ඔස්සේය. නමුත් මෙය අනවසර මාර්ගයකි.
අංක1,2,හා 3 මාර්ග ඔස්සේ පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් ජීප් රථ පමණක් භාවිතා කලයුතුය. 4WD හා Winch එක හොඳින් ක්රි යාකරිත්වයේ තිබිය යුතුයි.

කොටියාගල මාර්ගයේ පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් ටැක්ටර් හෝ ජීප් රථ භාවිතාකල හැක. මෙම සෑම මාර්ගයක්ම අති දුෂ්කර මාර්ග වේ. ඔබ කැබලිත්තට පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් පලපුරුදු අයෙකුගේ සේවය ලබාගත යුතුය. මස් මාංශ අනුභවයෙන් තොරව දින 21 පමණ පේවී පැමිණිමෙන් අරමුණු හා බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුවේයයි බොහෝ දෙනාගේ අදහසයි.

Painted stork in Lunugam wehera park

Weheragala reservoir

Sea Bathing in Arugam bay

Ran orugala (1st Day Camp Site Here)

රන් ඔරුගල වෙරළ තීරය නැගෙනහිර පිහිටි දර්ශනීය වෙරළ තීරයකි.(නෑමට හෝ පිහිනීමට සුදුසු නොවේ). එක් පසකින් සයුරද අනෙක් පසින් කුමණ වැවද පිහිටා ඇත. අපගේ පළමු දින නවාතැන වූයේ මෙම වෙරළ තීරයයි. මෙම ස්ථානයට පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් උදය හෝ සවස් කාලයේ පැමිණිය යුතුය. දහවල් කාලයට අධික රස්නය නිසා වැලි රත්වී ඇත් බැවින් මෙම ස්ථානයේ සංචාරයට අපහසුය. කඳවුරු තනා මෙම ස්ථානයේ නැවතීමට අවසර ලබාගැනීමට අවශ්ය නොවේ.

Kudimbigala

At Lahugala lake

Crocodile

crested serpent eagle

Deer	Kumana Lake

Elephant at Kumana lake

Crossing the Water Stream

hawk eagle

On the Way

Cramping on the way

Gal Amuna (Kumbukkan Oya)

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

මඩ හා ජල දුර්ග වලින් ගහන මෙම මාර්ගයේ රථ ධාවනය තරමක් අසීරු කටයුත්තකි.නවීන මොටර් රථ මෙම මාර්ගයට එතරම් සුදුසු නොවේ.එම රථවල ඇති Electronic පරිපථ හා Electronic Sensor වලට ජලයෙන් හානී සිදුවී ඔබ ගමන්ගන්න රථය ක්රි යාවිරහිත වීමට පුලුවන. මෙම මාර්ගයේ පසුකිරීමට අපහසුම ස්ථාන වන්නෙ කලුකුරිඤ්ඤන් ආරු සහ අලකොල ආරයි. මෙම ඡායාරූපවලින් පෙන්වන්නේ අප කලුකුරිඤ්ඤන් ආරු පසුකල අයුරුයි.

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

Crossing the Kalukuringhan Aru

2nd Day Camp Site near the Alakola Ara

Crossing the Alakola Ara

අධික ජල මට්ටම නිසා අපට අලකොල ආරෙන් අපගේ රථ එගොඩ කිරීමට නොහැකි විය. අපගේ දෙවන දින රාත්රීග නවාතැන වූයේ මෙම ස්ථානයයි.

පසු දින එතැන් සිට 13km පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි අපගේ ගමනාන්තය බලා පාගමනින් ගමන් ආරම්භ කලෙමු. එදින අපගේ නවාතැන වූයේ කැබලිත්ත කඳවුරු බිමයි.

Crossing the Alakola Ara

3rd Day Camp site at Kabelittha

Crossing the Kumbukkan Oya at Kabelittha

Bhodi Tree Near the Kabelittha

With oblation (Pooja Watti)

Kabelittha Siyambalawa Dewalaya

කතරගම දෙවියන් උදෙසා පූජාව පවත්වමින්

Very Large tamarind Tree(යෝද සියඹලා ගස)

උදෑසන පිබිදුනු අප දෙවියන් උදෙසා මුරුතැන් දානය සහ අනෙකුත් පූජා භාණ්ඩ සකස් කිරීමෙන් පසු, පලමුව කඳවුරු බිමට ආසන්නයේ ඇති බෝධීන් වහන්සේ වෙත ගොස් පුදපූජා පැවත්වීමූ. ඉන්පසු අධික වෙහෙසක් ගෙන කුඹුක්කන් ඔය තරණය කිරීමට අපට සිදුවිය. ජලය එතරම් නොගැඹුරු වුවත් අධික සැඩ පහර නිසා එගොඩවීම අපහසු විය. පසුව අප ගඟ හරහා කඹයක් යෙදීමෙන් පසු කඹය ආධාරයෙන් එගොඩ විය.

ඉන් පසු ඊට ආසන්නයේ ඇති අනෙක් බෝධීන් වහන්සේ වෙත ගොස් පුදපූජා පැවත්වීමූ. පසුව අප කැබලිත්ත සියඹලාව දේවාලය වෙත ගොස් පුදපූජා පැවත්වීමූ. මෙම ගමනේදීද අපගේ ගමනේ නඩේගුරා, මගපෙන්වන්න, හා ජීප් රථ රියදුරා වූයේ මංජුය.

Peace in the country means that we can explore it at will and that was what took us to Mannar. Out of bounds until recently, exploring Mannar was an unforgettable experience as the area is steeped in both history and culture.

After a lovely lunch at Four Tees, the first day had us exploring Mannar. The Fort and some birding at the Vankalai Sanctuary was all what we could manage.

Mannar Fort – Fort was in very poor state compared to the other Forts of the same period

Memories are sacred…… – Click Image to Enlarge

A bit of history – the tomb stone of Mr Pierre de Salve, the Chief of Mannar

Click Image to Enlarge

Mannar lagoon from the Ramparts of the Fort

And the wild ponies of Mannar, no longer wild! – “Now do YOU also have to creep in?”

Vankalai was great for birding and we spent a quiet evening watching the feathered visitors……

Crab plovers, all in a row

Northern shovellers

Adam’s Bridge or Rama Setu of the Ramayana fame was our planned destination for the next day. There are 16 islets, 8 of which belong to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Navy operates a boat service that allows one to land on one of these – namely Island No 2. These islands are home to a whole heap of migrant shore birds and some would even build nests in these islands.

The next day saw us at the SLNS Gajaba by 6.30 am!! It was the perfect day for a trip to the Dancing Islets

The pier at SLNS Gajaba

Sunrise – as seen from the water jet

To the deep blue seas…..

මුහුද දෙබෑ කරන……….

The ride was great and it took us almost 1 hour to reach the Adam’s Bridge.

Adam’s Bridge – crossed by Adam, Rama and Hanuman…… among others!

Getting closer………..

And closer……….

……. And finally on Island No 2 of the Adam’s Bridge!

It was an amazing place – water all around with strips of sand in between. The salt water ponds in the islets are so shallow that one can walk across….. and walk on …….. and on…….

The place was almost surreal…………..

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Despite the absence of trees, the landscape was truly amazing!

What the sea has washed ashore . Plastic, plastic and more plastic

The islets are the perfect place for two painters to create their masterpieces – the waves and the winds! The many patterns on the land were breathtaking.

Work of the masters – waves and the winds

Work of the masters – waves and the winds

What the usual inhabitants leave behind……

The place was home for many shore birds and one needs to take extra care when walking as the slightest movement could disturb them.

We first met these plovers…….

And then these gulls, watching the waves….

And then………

Caspian terns and brown headed gulls

Greater crested terns – jam packed!

No landing space

අපි යන්න යමු………………..

There were many other birds on the islet…..

Ruddy turnstones

Brown headed gull

Sanderlings ???? Not sure of the ID

Eurasian curlew

Waking around the islet is an amazing experience as the terrain and the landscape changes subtly.

The landscape in another part of the islet

Apparently made by a turtle

Although there were only a few plants, what was there was beautiful……. and the colours, amazing.

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It was almost like being on another planet!!!

Me, on the Dancing Islet No 2

And one last look………

Dancing islet No 2 – A heaven with only sand, water, and wind …..

On the way back, we also visited the Talaimannar pier. The usual tours by the Navy to the Dancing Islets start from there.

A halted journey…..

The evening saw us birding again at Vankalai…..

Garganeys having a great time!

We made sure that we were at the Mannar causeway in time for one of the most spectacular shows on earth….

Thallady bridge – a stark reminder of what it was………

Park Map

We, two groups on two vehicles, met at a road side night shop near Negombo at around 3.45 am. Six of us were on Prasanna’s Mitsubishi jeep, started from Nugegoda and went to Negombo while Theshantha started from Kiribathgoda, picked up 3 others and came to Negombo in his Toyota Double cab. We had a tea there and set off towards Puttalam.

This was my maiden tour to wilpattu, so as Ashan’s and many others of our crew. We checked the road conditions to Kudiramale from the park on the previous day and found out that the roads are flooded. Then Theshantha suggested we could take the Old Mannar road to reach Pomparippu and Kudiramale. He had checked the water level of the Kala Oya causeway from the Navy check point and had received the word OK.

We reached Puttalam around 6.00 am and proceeded towards Eluwankulam along the Old Mannar road.

Sun rises to the old Mannar road

The Old Mannar road is under renovation

We reached the Kala Oya cause way by 7.00 am and saw something utterly disheartening. The causeway was about 2 feet under the water. Gates at the Rajanganaya reservoir had opened during the previous night making the Kala Oya flowing furiously blocking our way. The water level and the current were too much that we didn’t want to take any risk.

Kala Oya causeway flooded blocking our way

The water flow over the causeway

Kala oya was flowing furiously

So the day had broken with a great disappointment to us making us to turn back. Theshantha then suggested going to Gange Wadiya (ගඟේ වාඩිය) to have breakfast and we returned towards Eluwankulam

A roadside scenery

We turned towards Gange Wadiya and went along the dusty gravel road. The sun was burning though still it was just passed 8 in the morning. We reached the ගඟේ වාඩිය fishing village and were stunned by the awesome view of the Puttalam lagoon. We went a little further passing the village and reached a dead end where a small jetty is constructed with large tyres. We had our breakfast there enjoying the beautiful lagoon

Gange Wadiya

The awesome view of Puttalam lagoon

Puttalam lagoon

The jetty

The jetty

It was sizzling hot when we left ගඟේ වාඩිය and reached the Old Mannar road once again. We turned off to a gravel road branching to left to reach Thabbowa, skipping Puttalam. The road went through the villages passing a couple of small lakes and plenty of paddy fields.

Splash….

Washing the vehicle on the move

Along the Thabbowa lake

Scenic Thabbowa

We had to buy some rations we had missed and had to fill the tanks, so we continued to Nochchiyagama town and then went to the park entrance. Then we went straight to the Manawila bungalow which is 37 km into the park

At the park entrance

Coppersmith Barbet

A ruined statue at the park entrance. wonder how it came here

සිවුරු හොරා

Serpent Eagle

Crested Hawk Eagle

BUterflies on the road

Butterfly infested road – there were millions of them

Roadside decoracted with Kokmota

A jumbo enjoying the aftrenoon snack

Didn’t see a lot of them

Grey Heron

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Landscape

Jungle Fowl

View from Manawila bungalow

The evening safari was started around 4 pm. All the villus were full to the brim and the roads were muddy and some parts were with extremely soft sand. It was very difficult to tackle the terrain. Theshantha’s Hilux was suffering with a malfunctioning front differential, meaning he had power going only to the rear wheels.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Portrait

Sharp Eyes

Happily through the water

Though Theshantha’s driving skills were exceptional tackling the mud and water, the double cab found it difficult to cope up with the soft sand along some parts of the roads with its normal road tyres, so we had to abandon the double cab on a road side till we come back. We all got in to Prasanna’s jeep and continued the rest of the safari, not for so long before we spotted one of the Panikkawila Leopard cubs lying on the road side. There were 3 or 4 other vehicles observing it and we too turned off the engine and enjoyed the beautiful creature lying just about 10 meters away from us.

The first sight

I’m ignoring you people

After a couple of minutes other vehicles decided to move on as they had to reach the park entrance before the nightfall and the leopard was refusing to turn its head towards us. We waited another couple of minutes patiently hoping for it to turn the head, but had no luck. Then we too decided to leave and just as Prasanna was to start the engine a yellow head with black spots emerged out of the jungle…! It was the other Panikkawila leopard cub.

Here comes the second one

It had a careful look at us for about minute or so before deciding to continue along the road. We started the jeep and slowly went in reverse following the big lovely cat, enjoying its elegant beauty. He was checking constantly if we were getting too close and we too were careful to maintain a safe distance from him.

මගේ ගමන මම යනවා මගේ පාඩුවේ…

My favorite shot

the look

The foot prints

After he disappeared into the jungle we returned to see if the other one was still there. It was still there and for our utmost joy he had turned towards the road letting us see him fully..! He gave quite a show on the white sands. While watching it we saw 3 wounds around its neck, two of them were just scratches while one was a little deep cut, seemed like a wild boar attack.

Oh no these guys have come again…

See the wounds around teh neck

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I’m a cute kitty

Sleepy head

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The best pose

Just before he went off

After spending more than 45 minutes in the company of leopards, we turned back and came to the place where we left the double cab, picked it up and headed to the bungalow where we had a lovely time chatting under the starry skies, overlooking the villu bathing moonlight.

The sunset

Where we left the cab

A beautiful end to a wonderful day

Next day morning was a bright and beautiful one with some breathtaking views of the villu. We left for a short morning safari session after walking around the Villu in front of the bungalow.

Morning at Manawila

Manawila

No, not a crocodile

I’m the boss

Hunting

Since we were on a short session, our trekker took us towards Panikkawila once again.

Serpent Eagle

Deer

on the top

wow

While we were driving slowly along the Panikka wila admiring the beauty of the lake, one of our guys pointed at something which made us stop immediately. It was a leopard trying to hide behind a bush just a couple of feet away from us..! Both the leopard and we were excited because of this sudden and unexpected meeting and we realized we might have blocked its way to have some water. So we backed off and stop the vehicle out of its sight and waited hoping it will come out of the jungle. But the leopard was not ready to get out of the jungle and stayed inside. We noticed a monkey on the tallest tree of that jungle patch shouting non-stop alarming its mates regarding the presence of the leopard. We waited for some time and decided to return to the bungalow for the breakfast.

හොර කොටියා

Leopard warning system

Lesser Whisteling Ducks

Theshantha’s happy ride

Beautiful kokmota

A bark gekko at the bungalow

Our next plan was to visit a rarely visited ruins site called “Galge Viharaya” inside the park. But we got to know that this road was in severe condition and then we revised the plan to visit “Ochchappu Kallu” ruins. Ochchappu kallu road was in very bad condition too but the hard core off road experience was great.

On the way the Ochchappu Kallu

Yeppeeeee I’m born to do this…

Tackling the hard road

Though Theshantha drove with some exceptional off road skills and the brave Toyota fought hard having only two wheel drive, the road condition became severe that in the end the double cab got stuck in the mud. Prasanna pulled it out with his jeep a couple of times and it seemed like the last 2 km of the trail is getting even worse. So, we had to give up the visit to the ruins and then decided to go towards the Kokmote bungalow and have a dip in the river Modaragam Aru.

and then it stuck

Helping out

Pulling out once again

Modaragam Aru was not having a high water level but was flowing rapidly, where we had a nice cool dip refreshing ourselves until Prasanna’s Mitsubishi decided to fire up itself..! When we heard the sudden call of our tracker and went to see what it is about, the jeep was on fire. The hard run through mud and water had damaged some wires and caused the fire. We managed to recover the vehicle without much damage to it.

Then we had lunch and left towards the park entrance enjoying some wild life on the way back.

On the way back

Lesser Adjutent

The water level

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Painted Stork

A jumbo

A happy meal

ගොළු කිරලා

Crested Haws Eagle

සෙබඩ

Tails crossed…

We were extremely happy with the time we had when to complete everything, a bear showed up on the roadside. It was a big one and was inside the jungle, digging a termite mount searching for food (I guess). But it was almost 6 pm and very dark inside the jungle, only Ashan managed to get one clear capture of the bear.

The bear. Only Ashan had a clear capture

We came out of the park around 7pm extremely happily with sightings of the big trio – leopard-bear-elephant, some awesome off road experience and some quality time spent together.

Thank you for reading.

This was one of my dreams and even though I have been to Yala many more times I couldn’t achieve this until this time. This time we planned it well ahead and booked the bungalows for accommodation and got 2 jeeps arranged through our usual safari driver Ruwan Malli (one of Sugathe’s drivers).

Day 1 we left around 8AM in the morning by our personal vehicles and reached Tissa by 2PM with several stops on our way. We parked our cars at Sugathe’s home and started the journey to Warahana bungalow by our usual Safari jeep (even though it’s a Land Rover it is not suitable for Block 2). Warahana is at the border of Manik Ganga and so we decided to go to the bungalow after a round of safari. Since it was raining until the previous day, the park was very greenish and there was no dust at all. Since it was a weekday we met only 3 local parties out of 40, 50 jeeps on that evening. There were a lot of foreigners and there was no rush like during a long week end.

While we were driving on Yala main road we could see a leopard walking leisurely on the road at about 200m in the front. There were no any other jeep and we slowly followed him for some time.

Searching…

Should I cross the road or go straight?

Walking in to the jungle…

Walking in to the jungle…

Then he crossed the road and hid in the jungle. After a good safari finally we came to the bungalow by 7pm. We stayed that night in Warahana and went to sleep dreaming the next day Block II adventure.

Next day early morning we got up with enthusiasm and prepared for the great adventure. But it took some time to start the journey. Because Ruwan Mall i(Our Safari driver) had to return his jeep and bring 2 jeeps which were arranged for block II trip. Initially our plan was to drop us at Warahana bungalow on 1st day evening and return the jeep; so that he could come next day early morning with 2 jeeps. Since Warahana is far away (1 to 1.5 hours) from the entrance he didn’t have enough time to return the jeep on day 1 evening. Once 2 jeeps reached the bungalow we all got in to jeeps and started the journey.

We drove towards the ‘පරණ ගං තොටුපොල’ to cross the Manik Ganga. On our way we were lucky enough to see another leopard on the road. After experiencing that we reached to the Parana Thotupola. I have been to this place many a times but never crossed the river from here.

Ohhh…he is coming

Keeping an eye on us…. – Click Image to Enlarge

Each jeep had 2 persons including the driver who came for support in any emergency. First they walked and crossed the river to decide the depth and then decided whether to cross the river or not. (if not we had to use Warahana bridge to cross the Manik Ganga)

පරණ ගං තොටුපොල

1….2….3……………

In the middle….

Unfortunately the 2nd jeep was stuck in the middle of the river. Our journey was stuck at the very beginning. Now what to do???

First jeep had to winch the second jeep and it took about 15, 20 minutes for both the jeeps to cross the river.

Stuck in the middle…now what…?

Helping each other in need

Helping each other in need

That’s why it is mandatory to have 2 jeeps at least

Finally…

After that we offered our gratitude to God Ayyanayaka and started the journey. We were the first group after 2 week to enter to Block II according to our tracker.

For you to keep in mind…

Gratitude to God Ayyanayaka

We couldn’t go even 10 minutes, again there was a huge mud pit in front of us. We again had to winch our jeeps.

Obstacles

Struggling to get through the mud

Our next obstacle was ‘Katupila Ara’. But it was not bad as we thought

Crossing Katupila Ara

Katupila Ara

Block II is significantly different to Block I; In block II most of the areas are meadow lands with ‘මලිත්තන්’ trees. The reason is in ancient history during Magama Kingdom this areas was a huge paddy field. Because of that this area is called ‘‍යාල වෙල’ today.

Meadow Lands

‍යාල වෙල

Animal diversity also has a significant difference. We could see hundreds of wild buffaloes in each herd and 200 – 300 of dears in each herd. But not like in block I, they are not used to vehicles and they run away when they hear the noise of the vehicles.

Watching us coming… – Click Image to Enlarge

Running like mad – Click Image to Enlarge

Without any major obstacle we could come up to the ‘පොත්තන කලපුව’. Due to the heavy rain during the last couple of days and closed river mouth we could not cross the jeeps from the usual jeep track. We had to go around the lagoon to find a suitable place to cross it. After additional 20 minutes of drive we could find a place to cross the ‘පොත්තන ආර’. After that the road was terrible.

‘Poththana’ lagoon

Who are you to disturb the peaceful life here???

Scared!

Waiting for the next yummy meal…

Then we came to an area called ‘ගජබාව’. I guess it is part of ‘පිලින්නාව කලපුව’ (I’m not sure the names, pls correct me if im wrong). Drivers got down from jeeps and walked to the lagoon to test the water level and to find a suitable place to cross the lagoon.

Unfortunately the water level was more than 3 feet and it was wider about 50m to 100m. Even though it was riskier than other obstacles which we crossed, our experienced driver Rathnayake was ready to cross that. But tracker was reluctant to take that challenge due to 2 reasons. One is it was wider and if we get stuck in the middle there would be no way to winch our jeeps. Other reason is the time was around 2pm and if something happens we cannot come back by 6pm.

According to the drivers and trackers it was only 3km – 5km to Kumbukkan Oya from there. Even though it was very sad we decided to obey the rules and stop our journey from there and return.

Our Safari Machines

Our Safari Machines

Rathnayake & Tracker

Lunch

We made it…

On our way back we came to a place called ‘ගණ දේවාලය’ which is at ‘මහිරාව’. That is the place where you can find the 3 hot water wells. This is not on the main road. You have to go towards the sea side to reach this place. The significance of this sacred place is those who come in පාද යාත්‍රා make offerings to this place. (කැලේ වැටිල තියන මුව අං තට්ටු එකතු කරගෙන ඇවිත් මේ දේවාලයට පූජා කරනව) Since we could not go to Kuda Kabiliththa Dewalaya we decided to do our offerings here.

Nice and calm…

Preparing the offerings

හදුන් කූරු පත්තු කරන අලුත්ම විදිහ

Ready to pay gratitude to god

Thankful to god!

දේවාලය

Coming back; crossing Katupila Ara

Ohhhhh…..

Trying to prevent the jeep turning upside down!

Common….

.	Faces say it all

Although we were mentally prepared to end our journey there; we were able to see a very rare sighting in block I. It was as I published in the forum some time back – a leopard carrying a dead rabbit which was still bleeding on Yala main road. It was priceless and it was the fist time I saw a leopard carrying its hunt.

Priceless… – Click Image to Enlarge

With all these enthusiasm, by 7pm we came to the Ondajjee bungalow and Sunil – the bungalow keeper for the last 5, 6 years – prepared ginger tea for us. It was very refreshing. Ondajjee also is a very nice place; where you could see Katharagama mountain range with ‘වැඩහිටි කන්ද’ clearly in a distance and there was a herd of about 50 dears relaxing in front of the bungalow until the next day morning. The entire night was filled with different noises of different animals – specially the sound of crocodiles playing in the lake.

Unfortunately we could hear the sound of a gunshot by some anonymous huntsman as well

Shouting loudly… – Click Image to Enlarge

‘වැඩහිටි කන්ද’ mountain range at a distance from Ondajjee bungalow

Always Majestic – Click Image to Enlarge

Looking for a hunt

Yala is a place where you will never be fed-up. After one of my long awaiting dreams coming true we came back home. Thank you so much for reading my experience until the last word. Hope you all gather some knowledge and enjoyed a lot.

This was a sudden decision taken before two days and we left Gampaha around 5.00am and came to Southern highway via Kottawa.

It’s 6.10 am on southern Highway

From Pinnaduwa outlet we came to Udugama and reached Kanneliya Mount Resort around 08.30 am. After a quick breakfast we walked towards the park entrance, which is only 300 meters away. Vishan, our guide was waiting for us.

On the way to Kanneliya entrance

On the way to Kanneliya entrance

We visited following places

1. Cave 2. Anagimala waterfall 3. Giant Creeper 4. Narangas Ella 5. Navada Tree

Entire hike is 14 KM and approximate time is 7 hrs.

Forest Department Dormitory

Entrance to forest

Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard(පිනුම් කටුස්සා)

Wal Midi(වල් මිදි )

Giant Spider

We turned from main trail towards the cave. This cave is the natural habitat for certain frogs and bats. I am clueless about them and they were named by Vishan, our guide.

Entrance to the cave

වක රැලි මැඩිය

සයගිලි මැඩියා (සයගිලි = six fingers)

කිරි වවුලා

Turn off to Anagimala fall

Observation center at turn off to Anagimala fall

Anagimala fall

Giant Creeper (යෝධ පුස්වැල)

Thereafter we walked further along the main trail towards the next destination, Narangas Ella. On the way our guide Vishan suddenly spotted a Green Vine Snake (ඇහෑටුල්ලා ) aiming at a lizard

Just caught

Vishan held the snake to capture some closer views which I didn’t like, but couldn’t resist

Gulp………… Gulp…………….

Last bit

Then we set off towards Narangas Ella where we had to cross several streams.

Bandura(බාඳුරා)

Had to across many streams(Nanikitta Dola)

Finally came to Narangas Ella

Narangas Ella

We spent about half an hour at Narangas Ella enjoying the cool and calm surroundings and headed back on the same route.

Thalkossa in crystal clear water at base pool

Prawns

On our way back we turned towards the Nawada Tree, the final destination. This tree is 250 years old with a circumference of 16.5 feet.

On the way to Nawada Tree

Giant Nawada Tree

Then we came to the resort and after lunch proceeded to Duli Ella. It’s 26 KM from Kanneliya through Hiniduma, Thawalama and Neluwa. Duli Ella consists of three parts and you can easily climb as there are concrete stairs all the way up to the top.

Lower part of the fall

Middle part of the fall

Upper part of the fall

Base Pool of the upper part

Next day morning we left Kanneliya mount resort and on our way to Pinnaduwa entrance of Southern Highway, turned at Amalgama junction and drove another 6 KM to reach another vital place, Hiyare conservation centre.

This is an animal hospital conducted by a group of dedicated volunteers, who are doing an exceptional job, in collaboration with the Wild life department. One must personally visit this place to observe the commitment of these volunteers, doing their best yet with the limited resources.

They provide medical treatment for injured wild animals. These animals are treated, rehabilitated and released back into the wild. This place is also shelter for several baby animals who have lost their parents. These animals are looked after until they become fit enough to release to the wild.

Hiyare tank

Conservation Project

There were few birds with burnt legs and feathers following electrocution while they were trying to perch on road side power lines.

This poor eagle will be a permanent resident at Hiyare. Both legs were burnt, cannot move

Another victim of electrocution with Minor injuries

Can you hear the cry of this yelling monkey

About to release, leg wounds are healed

Adult porcupine awaiting release

Still under treatment with minor injuries

There were few orphaned baby animals who had lost their parents.

Please find my mother

Cute baby ‘Mee minna’

This bat was brought by a villager, found fallen along the road

This baby porcupine was very playful

When we came out there were two Giant squirrels.

Had already hacked off half of a jack fruit

There is a plant nursery at the corner of the same premises, maintained by Wild life department. Most of them are medicinal plants and we got few plants free of charge.

Plant Nursery

This place needs some help from people who are concerned about the well being of wild

animals. They will certainly do a better job with some assistance from public.

Kataragama CTB bus left Pettah sharp at 12.00 mid night, keeping our hopes alive to be at the entrance as early as possible. It was bit of a burden to reserve the seats in the bus, however it helped us to have a comfortable journey. A sleepless night for me as I had the duty of picking up some guys on the way. We got down at Tissa by 6.30 next morning & the jeep was there with just a couple of minutes delay. After buying the breakfast from a nearby bakery, we managed to reach Palatupana entrance by 7.15 on Saturday morning.

It was the start of a long awaited safari in one of the best NPs in the island. Guys enjoyed the freshness in the morning capturing almost everything on cameras. Very busy Eurasian Spoonbill couple gave us the welcome, allowing me to mark one of my target birds in the checklist.

Eurasian Spoonbill couple – busy with the breakfast

It didn’t take much time for the watchful tracker & the driver to introduce the first leopard to the eagerly waiting eyes, which was on alert for a pray on a rock.

Could hardly see the 1st one

Some painted storks & Green Bee-eaters gave us a nice time at the park, where there was not much of a crowd luckily to disturb the nature.

Watchful as always

Indian Darter

Stork painted by nature

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Green Bee- eater

Great thick-knee

We came to Warahana campsite at around 11.30 in the morning expecting to prepare some fast food, since the lunch parcels ordered from outside got late until that evening.

Warahana camp site is a small cottage situated right next to river Manik in Yala block-02 about 30km away from Palatupana entrance.

There you do not need to bother about a shelter & other basic requirements. An open area, kitchen & a separate toilet are there which is extremely worth for the money paid.

The notice board just before the bridge that links block 1 & 2

Everybody had a bath in the river Manik which flows gently by the campsite. The evening safari began around 3 pm after a rest to recover from the sleepless night.

The timing was absolutely perfect & a leopard was by the jeep track just after passing the Warahana junction. Initially it was around 10m away from the jeep & slowly had his-own walk along the path as if there is nobody nearby. The guys were over the moon to meet a leopard so early in that evening.

The second leopard in its proud walk

He stopped by a waterhole where there was a floating carcass of a buffalo being eaten by the crocodiles. The tracker suggested that, this buffalo might have been attacked last night by the big cat & now the pray is enjoyed by the crocs. The leopard walked here & there by the pond with anger allowing us to take some memorable clicks & disappeared among the thorny bushes of Yala forest.

The jeep moved forward along the dusty tracks in search of various fauna in this wonderful dry land. The guys were extremely motivated with the sight of the first one & kept closely watching for many more cats among the dry bushes.

After about one hour, the driver got a message of another cat resting on a tree. There was a huge traffic when we reached there & the cat was resting on a Palu tree about 80m away from the road. He got up after about 10minutes & slowly got down from the tree & disappeared in the thick forest.

The third was found on a tree

The driver predicted that he might come to a waterhole which was about 200m away from the tree if we can wait for some time. The jeep was stopped by the water body & the crew eagerly waited with cameras set, expecting the killer to cross the road. Boys enjoyed each & every second of hunting a leopard far away from the noisy city & the busy office work. It was of course a wonderful evening, free from the rest of the world.

Finally the alarm calls of spotted deer at the nearby forest patch gave us some hope.

Just as the veteran driver predicted, the big one crossed the road about 100m away from us. We remained as we were by the water body, expecting the animal to appear in front of our cameras in another 2, 3 minutes’ walk through the forest. The eyes & the cameras were all focused to the waterhole to capture the beauty the leopard through the fading light in the dusk.

About 5 minutes passed but unfortunately no leopard found by the pond.

The driver suddenly realized that he might have walked towards a rock on the other direction. He energized the jeep & start moving towards the rock.

Realizing us the beauty of leopard tracking, the giant killer appeared from the forest by the rock allowing me to take this portrait.

Just a couple of meters away

Initially he was just 5m away from us & slowly got in to the road & moved letting us follow the suit.

The pride of Yala

He finally got on to the rock smelling here & there giving us enough chances to capture its beauty.

Smelling for enemies

Couldn’t ask for anything more

So photogenic

In the evening, we enjoyed the calmness of Yala around some lakes like Buthawa, Heenwewa & Darshana wewa observing the nests of black headed ibis, pelicans, open bills etc.

The day-01 was full of great encounters of leopard & elephants. Probably we became the luckiest team to come across 3 leopards at Yala on that day, with enough time & freedom to enjoy the art of leopard tracking from 2 experts. Guys had a brief review of that day after the dinner & went to sleep early.

 The second day-

Everybody got up around 3.45 in the morning & prepared the breakfast. Cooking with firewood was manageable having a couple of chefs in the group, though we expected it to be very tough. The meal was ready by 6.00 with boiled gram & a dhal curry for bread. We left the camp site around 6.00 a m. Since we had seen enough leopards & elephants in day -1, everybody’s expectation was to see a sloth bear to complete the “Big-3” at Yala.

Again it was perfect timing & we saw a stationary jeep by Warahana junction & people inside were looking out for something among the bushes. It was a well grown male sloth bear in search of ants. The team was extremely happy to notice a bear so early on that day. He was very busy about 10minutes with the breakfast allowing no clear visibility among the bushes.

Sloth Bear

Looking for ants

Finally he came to the open area by the road & started walking slowly towards Warahana. We left him after abt 20minutes letting him walk towards Manik river.

Lonely walk

Just after 10-15 minutes we noticed another leopard by the road just like the previous day. This is the fourth leopard we came across. He too walked in front of us for some time & disappeared in the forest suddenly. Again the driver who has a very sound knowledge about the surroundings said that there is a waterhole nearby & he might come there for water.

The jeep stopped by the pond that spreads about 100m away from us. In a couple of minutes an unexpected elephant was slowly moving towards the water-body crossing the road. It was the same elephant who was there eating “Beru” on the other day. The elephant started his routing of uprooting Beru bushes, washing them well in the water & eating.

After about 10 minutes, on the background about 100m away from the giant body, the much expected leopard appeared among the bushes coming for water. It was a rare scene for me which I came across for the first time.

Background

We observed both the elephant & the leopard for about 30 minutes.

We found some elephants on the way to Sifuddeen campsite where we had the breakfast at.

After the lunch, I was packing the baggage in the jeep with a friend & noticed an unannounced visitor to the campsite. It was a sloth bear just about 30m away walking towards us. The tracker announced us to be calm & quite so that only the camera shutters made some noise. He searched for some ants by the campsite as if there is no one looking at him. Finally disappeared into the thick forest of Yala block-02.

Unannounced stranger

Harmony

Loneliness

Innocence of the forest

That was the end of a very fruitful safari to Ruhuna NP & let me thank the guys joined & especially to the two experts, tracker & the driver.

Finally let me conclude with a word. We-nature lovers love Yala a lot, since it is the best place to see leopards in Sri Lanka. But Yala is not all about leopards. There are plenty more things to enjoy there. It is very rich of birds offering endless pleasure to bird watchers & photographers. It also consists of probably the largest number of water bodies in a national park in the country providing life for many aquatic birds & other fauna & of course many more things to admire about this wonderful land.

So let’s seek & enjoy the endless diversity of Yala, not just leopards.

Map 1 – click image to enlarge

Map 2 – Click image to enlarge

It was a period of mixed weather and I had been away from temples and Archeology sites for a while so decided to have a small tour around Padiyathalawa and Maha oya region on a weekend. Visiting archeology sites and temples is not an easy task since there are many issues lately that cause significant problems and it’s essential to win the trust of the head priests these days otherwise you would be labeled as a “Nidan hora” and be arrested by the 119 squad. Despite all the barriers I decided continue on my quest so on a Saturday I headed towards Padiyathalawa and took a bus towards Wahawa to start things off.

Though the main objective of the day was to visit the infamous hot water springs of Wahawa I did manage to visit two more places on the same road. My first stop was at Holike RMV which is now a modified temple with very few ruins around. Out of those I came across a Korawak stone and some steps leading towards a “Budu geya” in ruins. And also there were few pillars around been re arranged as a fence. Next stop was at Dorakumbura junction where I had to get down and walk towards Wahawa hot water springs. The walk towards Wahawa hot water springs was not a joyful walk at all because of the extreme heat and humid conditions plus the road been under construction was not helping the cause at all. After 2Km I reached the ancient temple of Wahawa where few pillars can be found and not so far from it there were few monoliths with remnants of a pagoda. A very special monolith in the shape of a creeper was also observed, according to legend it is said that it was used as a towel hanger for the royal members (Magama kingdom) who had a bath from the nearby hot spring. Though there were few hot water springs in the surrounding area I only could visit 4 of them. The main spring was pumping out water at a height of 7 feet with immense pressure and is an ideal place for a bath. Local villages use the water from these springs for their cultivations in a well-planned manner.

pillars re arranged at Holike

a lamp at holike

ancient steps at holike

Wahawa ancient temple

an ancient sthupa with a unique pillar

and it meets the ground

the high pressure hot water pipe

feeding the paddy fields

hot water wells everywhere

bubbling

a hot water well

Hela gala very tempting

posing

Next I had to walk back towards Dorakumbura junction to continue towards Loonubokka to visit Nagiri Len viharaya and it was a walk in hot and humid conditions and if a local villager didn’t volunteer to take me there I would be still walking. So if you are using public transport the best thing is to first visit Nagiri temple. This peaceful temple is an archeological site with few drip ledge caves with inscriptions which is located at the base of Hela gala. The chief monk is very kind and will treat you well as he can. He did volunteer to show me around too. The main Nagiri lena is been modified and is used for meditation purpose. The cold nature in the cave feels like a blessing in these heated up conditions. There were plenty of ruins scattered around the main cave too. This cave hermitage is said to be once occupied by “Rahathan Thero’s” during the forgotten past and later modified by king Saddathissa. Next we took a foot path towards the hill to explore two more caves and one with the flat roof is the place where locals observe Sil. The chief monk said he could arrange meditation facilities for the he people who seek a peaceful location at one of these caves. These are the contact numbers of the chief monk 0635683239/0723794301

the main cave at nagiri len viharaya

the head priest showing around

the largest karaduwa in ampara district

contribute to a nobel cause – Click to enlarge

ruins at nagiri len viharaya

inside was very cool

drip ledge cave

the cave for observing sil

the view from the cave

From Loonubokka I somehow got a lift to Padiyathalawa where I took a bus towards Maha oya and soon after getting off at Maha oya I walked towards Bollegama RMV which is located right in front of the hospital. This ancient temple which is now a modified place is said to be done by king Saddathissa. Currently only few ruins pilled together in a corner serves as evidence about it’s past. Next I got together with one of my friends from Maha oya hospital and headed 2km on Aralaganvila road and visited the famous hot water springs of Maha oya and I did check in on each and every well to feel the temperature difference

Quote

Wrapped in legends of its origin and their mythical healing powers of its water the seven hot water springs of Mahaoya is a magnet to the travelers, who had been flocking to Ampara with the end of the thirty year war. 

Located about 2km off Mahaoya town, the springs are said to be one of the hottest springs of all the hot springs in Sri Lanka. The temperature of the hottest well is about 56C .

Each spring is enclosed by a stone wall to form seven individual wells, which in turn are covered by a wall to provide privacy to those who bathe. The size of each well varies. The bottom of the well is formed of quartz, sand and gravel and thus the water is clear and not muddy. The temperature of each well varies and due to its mineral composition the water is said to cure skin ailments and arthritis.

The best time to visit is either early in the morning or late evening when the sun goes down as it is quiet and sounds of the night give a calming effect. A ticketing counter at the entrance issues tickets and provide the visitors with buckets for a nominal fee and the visitors would be advised to use the water sparsely so that the springs will flow for posterity. Furthermore the use of soap should be avoided in order to reduce the pollution of the spring water. 

image house at bollagala RMV

pagoda at bollagama RMV

decorated bo tree at bollagama RMV

ruins at bollegama

ruins at bollagama RMV

bubbling

Maha oya hot water wells

Passing the hot water wells and heading further towards Unuwaturabubula will take one towards a junction with a black board directing towards Veheragala hermitage which can be reached by any vehicle. This was once covered with dense forest but now the place is a fully functional place with many monks meditating in the drip ledge caves. This is a peaceful and serene hermitage and is a worthy place to visit. We also noted a fleet of steps on the opposite hill leading towards an ancient pagoda

Quote

Deep in Mahaoya close to the hot water wells is an ancient monastery of the second century BC, which had been the abode of meditating monks even few decades ago.

The ruins of the ancient monastery spread across nearly 10 acres and had been savaged at various times in search of treasures and building material. The two stupas at the bottom of the rock plateau had been ravaged to a pile of rocks. Stone tablets made are found in site broken while the stone door frame had been stolen by relic hunters.  Closer to the stupa are the remain of a building including a moonstone or a sandakadapahana, six stone pillars,  entrance steps, stairway and the Korawakgal or stone balustrades.  Inside the building boundaries are stone seats, a stone sink and a replica of the Lord Buddha’s feet, the only remaining monuments within the monastery boundaries. 

Scattered over the grounds are more ruins of buildings and stupas with stone tablets for offerings. The drip ledged caves of the monastery had been separated into rooms with brick walls and each cave has an inscription detailing the donation done by local nobles. The three reservoirs found nearby had been the water source for the temple and for irrigation yet they too lay ruined today. 

However the temple was given a fresh breath of life when it was converted to a meditating monastery nearly four decades back by a leading meditating master and was the meditation retreat of late Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera during the early years of his life.  However the monastery was damaged by a hurricane nearly two decades ago and is yet to be revived to life while the new temple built nearly one mile away was built in his memory and serves the village around.

After visiting Veheragala we rushed towards Maduru oya reservoir on the new tar mac which was laid through the Maduru oya park. The sun setting on the greenish back drop of the savanna was one sight I will never ever forget. After about riding 19Km from Maha oya we reached the dam of Maduru oya to enjoy the magnificent colour patterns at the backdrop of the reservoir which were set up by the setting sun to end an eventful day. On the way back to Maha oya we were charged by a wild jumbo which scared our bowels out.

Veheragala

note the drip ledge

another cave

inside it

steps on the near by rocky hill

view from the top

kema	inscription

wow

Dusk at maduru oya

towards narakamulla

dusk at its best

coloruful

beauty of evening sky

Day 2 I decided to get back towards Padiyathalawa and on the way try and visit all the known ancient temple between Maha oya and Padiyathalawa though the rain decided to add on to my troubles.

First place of interest was Harasgala hermitage where I had to take a left hand turn from the A5 main road and travel few hundred meters to reach it. There is a huge drip ledge caved image house which had been recently modified and also there are two more drip ledge caves in the vicinity which I couldn’t visit due to the bad weather conditions. Also it is said that the view from the top of the cave is panoramic but yet again the rain didn’t allow me to venture on.

image house at harasgala

cave at harasgala hermitage

inside the cave image house

newly built

cave at harasgala hermitage

plaster

katarama

the bell

From Harasgala in pouring rain I headed towards Serankada. Right on the side of the road there is a Makara thorana at the entrance of the temple. After meeting the head priest I fell in to a chat for about 1 hour until the rain seized off. This temple was done by king Dutugemunu and now only few scattered ruins of a moon stones and few guard stones can be seen around. There is a mini museum which has a statue, a guard stone, Yanthra stone, Chatra stone and few other ruins as exhibits. After spending more than 2 hours I decided to leave the place and head back towards Padiyathalawa.

Pagoda at serankada

part of the makara thorana

moon stone at serankada

chatra gala at serankada

broken statue at serankada rmv

history buried at serankada

guard stone

few pillars

Just before Padiyathalawa I took a turn to the right and continued for 4km’s until I reached Navinna temple. Here also the temple had been modified and only few ruins could be found around. I came across a guard stone, korawak stone, moos stone, few altars and few pillars.

pagoda at navinna rmv

altar at Navinna rmv

pa dovanaya

steps at navinna rmv

My last stop was a Padiyathalawa and not even 1 Km away from Padiyathalawa bus stand there is a historically important place called Padiyadora. Just before reaching the Dethis maha bodhiya one will come across Padiyadora ancient temple where a ruined pagoda, few pillars and a fallen statue can be found. The Dethis maha bodhiya is a very famous and a significant landmark in the whole area. It is said that the bo maluwa was decorated with gems along ago and hence the name Padiyadora was given. There is a small archeology hut where you can get some information from those guys. Please be mindful to wear suitable attire at this important religious place. After worshiping the bo tree I headed back towards Padiyathalawa and took a bus via Bibila to Monaragala to end my quest.

dethis maha bodhiya at padiyadora

fallen statue at padiyadora

ruins at padiyadora bo tree

remnants of a building

the pagoda

Please note most of these places were done by King Saddathissa and if you need more information I can email you few images taken from Ellawala Medananda thero’s book.

Thanks for reading.

The map – Click to Enlarge

Nuwaragala the fortress on top of a rock in the deep forest of elephant country was once a dream, nevertheless just like many other dreams this one also came true. After getting guidance from Priyanjan who had been there last year, I got together with my friend Dumidu and decided to give it a try. Though it was raining elsewhere and drizzling on and off at Maha oya we went ahead with our plans.
So on a hot and humid day early morning we reached Akuloba Lake where we met Wimalasiri who was our guide for the day. He then took us on his bike towards his home where we were greeted with a cup of tea. From Wimalasiris home we had to walk about 2Km’s towards their “Chena Wadiya” where we rested for about half an hour until Wimalasiri came back with a gun and two more Civil defense guys called Sudu banda and Mahinda. They also brought few mouthwatering water melons which we didn’t forget to taste before setting foot towards the jungle. We did call the officer in charge and got all three soldiers released so they could guide us with no obstacles.

Destination as seen from akuloba lake

towards danigala and wahawa

wow	starting the 7Km walk

pesticides used without proper protection

hut view

mode of transport

did you see the foot prints

From Akuloba chena we started creeping towards the forest which was more than a savanna type one than a dense dry zone forest. After about 1Km we reached a road which leads towards the rock which was bulldozed during the war for military purposes (this starts from 32^nd mile post Aranthalawa camp as I can recall) and one could easily get to the base of the rock via this road with a normal bike or a 4WD (not the ornamental ones). We did come across few CT-100 bikes which were using the jungle route to transport the milk from their cattle who feed at the base of the rock at few instances. Next 2.5Km was along this said path and because it was a path through savanna land we felt the heat to the maximum, which forced us to have some breaks and taste few watermelons to satisfy our fluid loss.

entering elephant country

more to go

elephants dung were found all over

reaching the base

treasure hunting continues

entering the path

When we reached the base of the rock it was around 10.30am and the surrounding scenery at this point was something spectacular. We were suddenly surrounded by mountains on all four sides and we felt like been trapped in an isolated grass patch in middle of nowhere. The initial part of the climb was through a typical dry zone forest patch which showed signs of heavy elephant activity. From the beginning onwards we were walking on an ancient chariot path build by King Sadhdhatissa to get to the top of the rock. Rock plates which were placed on the road and the rocky wall does exist all the way though it had been washed away at many places. Not so far away from the beginning we had to climb uphill through a notoriously tall and evil mana patch which drained our fitness mentally and physically. At around 12.30pm we reached the top of the mountain and my friend fell flat on the rock feeling extremely dehydrated. All of our water stock and watermelons couldn’t rehydrate his 100Kg body. So after about 30 minutes he got up determined to walk towards the heavenly pool in search of a miracle.

ancient rock plated road

the major obstacle

drainage system

on the way scenery towards Ulhitiya

out of the mana and time for a rest

evidence from the past

ancient steps

tempitiya lake and barons cap seen far away behind narakamulla range

note the elephant has rubbed its back

my favourite

lakes at akuloba

Rambaken oya reservoir

finally at the top

mallathugala

Rambaken oya zoomed

plenty of peaks

The pond itself is a master piece and located on the edge of the rock with a stunning view towards Rambaken oya. This was surely a royal threat to our tired souls and my friend got a new life after having a dip in this pond which was 5 and a half feet deep with floating elephant dung and hundreds of toads who were jumping over our heads. It was miraculous, we recovered our lost strength within seconds and we didn’t feel like getting out of the pond at all. While we were having a dip Wimalasiri and Mahinda took off to go in search of drinking water from the only known spring on top of Nuwaragala and it took them almost 1 hour to return back. After refreshing ourselves with some fresh water, we had some hoppers for lunch before starting to snap around.

From where we were the eastern cost, Pulukunawa side, Mangalagama, Ethabandi gala, and other mountains of Nuwaragala reserve could be easily seen brushing their shoulders together. Through a small gap the newly built Rambakan oya reservoir also could be seen. The best view was towards Padiyathalawa and Maduru oya reservoir including Omanugala and Thoppigala regions. We also did spot Akuloba and Borapola lakes. Nuwaragala is said to be a fortress which was never completed and the ruins at the summit are suggestive of it.

70 X 80 heavenly pond

wow it was like amurthaya

enjoying a dip

part of friars hood could be seen

Ethbendagala

Kokagala

the pond on the edge

aranthalawa and pulukunawa

Ethbendagala and mallutugala

laid long ago

Ethbendagala full view

towards batticaloa

the eastern ocean

rock view

beautiful scenery

maduru oya reservoir

through the bushes

towards ulhitiya reservoir

the rain never reached us – Click to enlarge

the savana in middle of the mountain belt

After snapping around we descended towards the huge cave which once even had a brick wall with pillars and it been on the slope of the rock produced some stunning scenery. There is a long inscription just below the drip ledge saying it was done by king Saddathissa and his son Lajjathissa who offered this to the clergy. So it is believed that this unfinished fortress was later converted in to a monastery complex.

steep drop from the cave

cave view

team spirit

wow

splendid view

what a place to rest

pano from the cave

view towards padiyathalawa

wow again

this is what idiots have done

inscription

note the groove on the ground which once harbored a wall

towards Namal oya forest

trying to imitate saradiel

another view from the cave

elephants do come to this cave

couldnt resist clicking around

if i could fly

Akuloba area

After having a chat while enjoying the panoramic view from the cave we began our descend through the hazardous Mana patch and reached the base, to find a mini stream to wash off the fur of mana. Since it was turning dark and the Elephants start to roam out of the deep forest, we had to rush back towards the village. Somehow we had walked roughly 14Km’s for the day and that plus the difficulties faced with the humidity and Mana we were feeling exhausted. At such a time a fresh “Pani Dodam” (2 glasses) drink which Wimalasiri’s wife offered to us was the medicine we needed for a speedy recovery. After thanking our newly met friends and offering something for their service which they provided, we decided to head back towards Maha Oya. After reaching the hospital of Maha oya, I had a clean wash and continued 150 Km’s in a bus standing all the way to Monaragala and that was the most difficult part of the day for me and my legs.

Quote

Believed to be the hideout of Prince Saddatissa during his time of rancor with his brother the great King of Sri Lanka King Dutugamunu, Nuwaragala according to prominent archeologist Ellawala Medhananda Thera was a monastery built by King LajjaThissa, who ruled the country 119-109 BC. 

A stone paved pathway with a width of nearly 20 feet leads to the top of the mountain and to a large drip ledged cave, which can comfortably house nearly 150 people. The cave has been partitioned with brick walls and had had a plastered and decorated interior but the walls and the inner plaster is in ruins today.

Further uphill is a pond, an eternal water source to the creatures of the wild today, but would have been initially built to cater hundreds of arhant monks, who whiled away in meditation. The ruins of monastery spread in and around Nuwaragala as witness to the prosperity of monastery during the first century BC. One of the most prominent among is the ruins is a statue house, which would have been built nearly three hundred years after the initial construction of the monastery. 

According to some archeologists Nuwaragala could have been the Girinuwara, the famed city of Prince Giri Abaya, the partner of Princess Soma, the sister of King Kawanthissa. Sinhala historical chronicles Datuwansa records Prince DutuGamunu visiting the site with a Minister named Dava. A confrontation between the uncle and nephew broke up the kingdom and Prince Giri Abaya eventually left to SeruNuwara abandoning his mountain fortress.

Today this mountain fortress turned monastery is in the homeland of a Vedda community, who lives in and around Pollebedda, few miles away from Nuwaragala, in a well-known vedda village immortalized in Dr. Spittel’s books

Omanugala peak

plenty of mondanocks

descending along the ancient path

the ancient rocky road leading to the summit

at last ground zero

interesting shape of Pettigala

getting back

they were everywhere

after a 4km walk this was are temporary resting place

hmm rolling dung(please dont squash them)

didnt have to use them

good bye nuwaragala

Thanks for reading!

It has been few days after we met at Cargills, I received a call from Sujeewa with an invitation for a trip to Wilpattu National Park on the following weekend which I could not resist. There was an uncertainty in my mind about the trip due to the weather condition when I receive second confirmation call from him just two days before the event. I didn’t want to make a fuss about the weather, so everything was arranged and scheduled to start on Friday night.

It was around 12.45 AM, when Sujeewa, Harsha and Pujitha came to my place. We started again just after everything loaded. Our last crew member Aravinda was waiting for us in Chilaw. Wind was heavy and sometimes it rained a lot though we had no clue what was going on. We reached Aravindas’ place with minor difficulties on the road (Few trees were fallen in to the Negombo road). When we got down at Aravindas place, we noticed the strength of the blowing wind. Even undergrowth was bent due to the strong wind. After enjoying refreshment from Aravindas’ place got everything packed and back on the road to Wilpattu.

We have reached Senevis – Our good old jeep owner – place around 5:30 AM as expected. After shifting load from Car to Jeep, it was time to start safari with a drizzle surrounding us. Soon it started to rain and the disappointment was all over our faces though the spirit was still holding on. We had to spend almost 45 minutes in front of the park office to get a tracker. It was Mr. Jayawardana, an old fellow which bought us kind of more disappointment due to bad experience we had before with old chaps. However, a moment later we managed to start our journey and were heading toward the park entrance.

First wildlife sighting was a Barking Deer which are commonly seen in the first scratch of the park entrance. They are very shy and quick. There was no trace of it before I could put my hand on the camera.

A Gray Heron looking for breakfast

Roads inside Wilpattu National Park

An Emerald Dove

Indian Pond Heron

Malabar Hornbills (male & female)

They have left only footprints

We had to come to the resting place of the park which is Kumbuk Wila, to have our breakfast without many sightings. Effort to keep the place clean by the Friends of Wilpattu seems working; the place was much cleaner than before. I m sorry I could not take any photographs of the place to share with you all.

It was just before finishing out breakfast with Pujithas’ genuine fish Abul Thiyal, we received an information about a sighting at Kuruttupandi. Our tracker wanted to give it a try so we got back in to the jeep. There were no signs of wildlife when we first got there but the keen eye of Senevi has spotted a leopard on the far side bank. Shortly it has disappeared in to the forest.

Leopard on the far side bank of the Kuruttupandi Villu

We decided to cycle around the place hoping it will come to the road & we were lucky!

It was coming straight at us

Watchful

Eye to eye

It went pass us and went in to the wood so that we went toward Panikkar Villu. Panikkar Villu was making glorious landscapes with Kokmota and the purple flower – which I don’t know the name – bloomed. I always wanted to shoot something in between them. Lucky one was a Black Headed Ibis.

Black headed Ibis

Black Headed Ibis

It was getting late and started to rain again so we decided to go to the camp site and prepare lunch. It was around three in the evening when we started our second session of the day after a delicious lunch prepared mainly by Aravinda with our side supports.

For the third time of the day we saw the same leopard few yards away from the place we saw it in the morning. This time it was inside the forest patch. We spent long time with it and fed up.

Cat eyes

Eyes on the lookout

Up or down

Blend with the nature

It was time to head back to the camp site. On our way back we saw our fourth leopard sighting of the day.

No it isn’t the leopard

Here I am… Catch me if you can..

It was a chilly night at the camp. We gathered around a camp fire for the dinner and had a long chat together. Mr. Jayawardhana shared his experience with us and how those old rangers work hard to keep wildlife parks in the state we see them today. Finally leaving all our disappointments, he has become a great assert to our trip and who is a walking library about Wilpattu National Park. There was no road he hasn’t been on the foot in Wilpattu.

We were supposed to wake up at five in the morning to prepare Kiribath for the breakfast. Busy morning schedule kept us at the camp site longer than we expected. Finally we managed to pack Kiribath and Lunumiris and started morning session around 6.30. The leopard which we saw previous evening was at the same place again.

Would you like to play..?

Who cares for them

Bye byee photo maniacs

Not far from the leopard sight we saw this peafowl making beautiful scenery on a villu ground.

Attractive… (Indian Peafowl)

I love those backgrounds (Indian Peafowl)

We have seen few Kingfishers at Nelumvila, I was only interested of capturing the Common Kingfisher. There were few Wooly necked Storks, who made no interest in my mind. However, on the way to Panikkar Vllu we saw a lizard that I haven’t seen before (Thanks to Vattern photographer Mr. Keerthi who has spotted and photographing it).

The common but not so common (Common Kingfisher)

I m not a lizard expert. Can someone help us here?

There was nothing much in Panikkar Villu or Thalawila area. The bird life was significantly low. On the way back to the camp site we saw three jackals, only two were captured.

Jackals

At the camp site, while others were busy in preparing lunch I escaped to look around to find some macros.

Restless Demon

A beautiful flower much like Bovitiya

Oriental Scarlet

A Monkey Puzzle after a long time

Blue Sprite

After having noodles for the lunch, we cleaned up the camp site and packed everything back to the jeep. From the start of our evening it was giving us opportunities. Not many but more than enough. There was a Hawk Eagle flying among trees with a pray and a Brown Fish Owl.

A Hawk Eagle with its pray (looks like a Junglefowl)

Brown Fish Owl

Brown Fish Owl (remind me a sense from the Legend of the Guardians)

We were following a Sea Eagle when we came across the final leopard of the day at Kudapathessa. We spent almost the whole evening with him.

Finally you guys came to see me

I m busy though

I can spend some time performing to you

Drink or not..

Shows over, get out now

Finally we decided to leave the leopard alone and try to find a bear around Maradamaduwa. There were no bear sightings but this proud looking Serpent Eagle was on a try by the road.

Serpent Eagle

Just before we reached the main gate, two huge elephants were come from the wood and they were blocking our path. They spent about 45 minutes blocking our way out. It was around 7 PM when they left the road in to the wood so that we could get out of the park.

The Road Block

We thanked our tracker and the safari jeep owner and left Wilpattu with lot of exiting memories.

Thanks for reading.

About 2 weeks ago my friend Yasa invited me to join for a trip to Lunugamvehera NP as he has planned a trip to go with some of his relations and friend from 5th July till 7th July.

Usually when Yasa invites me for these kinds of trips, I somehow managed to join him keeping aside all my busy schedules.

Since he was planning to leave Colombo bit early, he asked me and one of our friend to stay overnight at his place.We started our journey from Palawatta, Battaramulla at about 4.30 in the morning on Friday the 5th The crew was three on his KIA Sorento (me, Yasa and our good old pal Upali) and his brother (Lakshman) joined us at the Kottawa Express-way entrance on his Toyota Hilux 4WD with 2 of our friends (Prasanna & Romesh) and uncle Yasa mama. Both vehicles were packed with rations and goods for two night stay.

We arrived in Kolombageara around 8.00 am and had a good breakfast and drove straight to Tanamalvilla via Udawalawa. On our way we did some shopping for Veggies and fruits from the road-side shops.

Yum…..yum…….. Breakfast (String hoppers, Bread, fish curry, dhal, pollsambol & potato curry)

Around 10.00am we reached Tanamalvilla junction and had to ask directions to the park from few guys as it was our first trip to Lunugamvehera NP and no one knew how to get to the park office.

We came to the park office within very short time since it was an about 1Km towards Lunugamvehera from Tanamalvilla town.

Map of Lunugamvehera National Park. (Veheragala Bungalow inside the red circle)

Kalu Paalama on Kirindi oya at the Entrance

The Veheragala bungalow is built on the bunt of Veheragala Reservoir and is very closed to the east boundary of the park and Sella-Katharagama so our tracker Dinesh suggest us that he will take us through another road to go to the bungalow without crossing the “Kalu Paalama” as that road has not been used for quite some time. So we had to travel about 6Km towards Wellavaya on the main road to enter to this road. (This road was the earlier access road to Wild Elephant Re-habilitation area).

It was about 18 -20 Km’s from the turn-off on Tanamalvilla – Wellawaya main road to the Veheragala Bungalow through this road and was going by the side of the main canal from Veheragala Tank to Lunugamvehera Tank.

It took almost 2 hours to cover this stretch.

Veheragala Bungalow

Tank & bunt…….. From the bungalow (building on the right is the work office and quarters of the Reservoir maintenance staff of Dept. of Irrigation)

Since it was mid day we didn’t see much of animals on our way to the bungalow. Around 1.30pm we reached the bungalow and had to change our meal plan from Rice & Curry to Bread and Chicken Curry taken from Colombo (cooked and deep-freeze) as we couldn’t wait till rice gets cooked.

There was a heavy breeze from the tank side and after lunch most of the guys took a quick nap till around 3.30pm for our 1st park round.

At around 3.30pm we set out for our 1st park round and drove along the same canal road as there are only few roads within the park. There we saw many White bellied sea eagles, Serpent eagles, Hawk and Crested Hawk eagles.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Serpent Eagle

White bellied Sea Eagle

Also there were lots of water birds too……

We saw few lone elephants but they were very scared of vehicles and people and no sooner they see us runs to the tick jungle.

We reached the Bungalow at around 6.30pm and had a quick dip in the canal and had some bottled refreshments and had a chit-chat till the dinner was ready.

I got up bit early the next day to ask the bungalow keeper to make some tea before the morning round and saw a lone bull elephant just loafing around on the bunt right in front of the bungalow.

I quickly woke-up the rest of the guys to show the elephant since it was the only elephant we saw and was not scared to people.

There we took some good shots of the sun-rise.

After morning tea we set out for the morning round and started from the bunt side towards Veheragala ruins

Same bull elephant from the bottom of the bunt

Veheragala Sthupa…..

We reached the bungalow at around 9.30 am and had breakfast and had a chit-chat till lunch and few of us went towards the spill-way which joins Manik ganga looking for good photo opportunities.

Mini water fall and erosion on the spill-way

A serpent eagle waiting patiently……..

As part of our crowd (Lakshman, Yasa mama and Romesh) was leaving to Colombo the same afternoon we start our evening round bit early since we had to come to the main entrance to drop them off.

On our way to the main entrance, we saw this beautiful fishing owl and some other birds of pray

After saying goodbye to our friends we drove back to the bungalow for our last night and saw the first herd of elephants. There was about 12-15 elephants with a newly born. But couldn’t capture a clear shot as it was bit dark and didn’t want to use flash.

Some of the photographs taken during the trip

Painted Stork planning for the night

Veheragala Reservoir from the Bungalow

Oh……… deer

Malabar pied Hornbill…….. Night park……

The night passed with a pack of cards and some refreshments and since it was our last night the four of us had a long chit-chat till bit late in the night.

The next day morning round was our last leg of the trip and did a quick round and left the park around 9.30 am and reached Colombo 2.00 pm after stopping for tea and lunch.

Thank you for reading

We started at 5.00 am from Gampaha and reached Puttalam rest house by 8.00 am and had our breakfast.

Puttalam lagoon and wind power mill

From Puttalam it was a relaxing drive along A12 and passing Wilpattu we turned left at Nochchiyagama towards Oyamaduwa and reached Thanthirimale temple. This road is narrow and curvy but well paved.
When the Sri Maha Bodi was brought from India by Buddhist nun Sangamitta, the pot containing the sapling was kept at Thanthirimale for one night. It is believed that there was one branch separately grew from the pot and it was planted at Thanthirimale.

We climbed (apparently ran) the rock and it was boiling, under scorching sun.

Thanthirimale Rock

Top of the rock

The Bo tree at the top of the rock

Reclining statue

From Thanthirimale we drove another 10 KM to meet A14 Medawatchchiya/Mannar road at Gajasinghapura. Then we came to Madu junction and turned right and drove another 10 KM to reach Madu church. The road was in great shape all the way up to the church.

Turnoff from A14 to Madu

Madu Church

Surroundings are very peaceful

Mannar railway line under construction

From Madu we came to Murukkan along A14 and turned left to reach Seelawathura. From there we drove another 5 KM on a gravel road to reach Dorick House, the colonial bungalow which was built in 1804, the residence of the first Governor of Sri Lanka, Sir Fedrick North.

Ruins of Dorick House

Dorick tower seen at a distance

This house was built near Silawathura beach and some of the walls were seen fallen on to the beach.

Inside the house

Fallen parts of the building