Tryst with the Lankan jungles

We woke up early on Day 5 of our trip- a large part of our entire Lankan trip was the way it was since we were making our way to the big cat jungles of South Sri Lanka. This meant we had to go over the mountains of the central province and descend into the lush green jungles. We began our journey out of Nuwara Eliya through some green winding roads. The curvy roads lead to one beautiful vista after another and we couldn't stop admiring the green beauty that surrounded us!

The green mountains were forever playing hide and seek amidst the dreamy clouds and the mist peeled off we saw unending rolling green mountains all the way into the horizon. Ella was a beauty of a small sleepy hollow amidst these hills and we almost sighed to the fact that we had chosen not to halt the night here. But even as Prana, Manoj & I were saying that, Mr AJ was electric with excitement and was focused on getting to the jungles at the earliest! His anticipation was palpable and we all gently laughed about how committed he was to his nature hunt and wildlife photography. Meanwhile we saw more waterfalls that seemed to descend from the heavens.

The Ravana Falls is one of the most beautiful falls you will see, it flows from high up in 3 different levels and some restaurants right on the edge of the falls make it an ideal stop over in the drive to Tissa from Nuwara Eliya. We decided to walk about a KM to the falls:

We got some amazing pics and moved on before the tourist crowds could gather.

Our driver clicked this pic of the 4 of us, I should get this on a frame at home soon. Somehow since we got back from this vacation life has been tough- dad was sick fr a while. then things at work are heating up and there has been no time to pause and reflect back on this trip. As I am blogging now, am feeling happy to again relive those days! :)

Many more misty clearances and we couldn't stop clicking pics through this journey!! :)

Once we came into the flat lands we decided to stop at the Mlesna tea center. Not only did we pick up plenty of tea here, but we also ate some amazing tea cake with some vanilla & cinnamon tea :))

The cake was simply too yummm...it didn't take us long to polish the plate!! :D

By the time we set off from this tea center I had jammed my finger at a door and after a bit of fussing around we set off. By then our driver was clucking at us saying how we had delayed our journey into the jungle. So at a slightly faster pace we headed to Tissa- we were staying at a lovely hotel Priyankara right outside the Yala jungles. The staff were very helpful and ensured we got a couple of good rooms.
Next day we had to leave very early in the morning so we could get a morning safari. We hadn't booked the safari itself until we reached the hotel- they helped us arrange all of it and though we had a rickety vehicle we were happy with the arrangements and signed up for the jungle 'package'. These safari's are not for the faint hearted- tourism is very entrenched here and hence they charge horrible amounts of money for the safari experience and camping in the jungle is also exorbitant. But the place is naturally endowed and you are bound to see plenty of wildlife.
Our first safari was hardly fruitful- we just saw plenty of peacocks and monitor lizards. the place seemed to be crawling with them!!

The monitor lizards are not something I am fond of. House lizards freak me out so these guys I was staying as far away from as possible!!

By now AJ was already getting a bit impatient. The driver was trying to keep up our spirits by promising another safari round later that day. For now we (not AJ) decided to have something to eat and get ourselves refreshed a bit. The jungles were hot and humid- even for someone who was coming from Chennai this was a tad tough to handle. The dust from the 300+ jeeps didn't help make us feel any more comfortable wither. But then I guess none of us were there for the pleasantry...we were on a mission and that was to sight a big cat.
The break was good, apparently our jeep had a suspension issue -so the driver got to fix it while we had our breakfast. One thing I forgot to mention is beware of the drivers. When they plan the package with you they promise a 'spotter'. Later at the gate our driver tried telling us the sanctuary was too crowded and no spotters available. Now a safari with just the driver trying to spot animals will be futile. So we haggled with him and got ourselves a spotter- when we went up to the authorities at the entrance spotter s were very much available unlike what he's said!
During the break we got to know our spotter better. He told us about the sloth bear and cubs he had sighted the day before! :)  Our food break was by the beach

And the heat was really getting to us, Manoj was trying to make Prana feel better about the safari- but then honestly whatever we had seen so far we could have sighted in Nagarhole too- which is like 100 KMS from where these guys live! :)

AJ was off chasing some white bellied sea eagles which were hovering over this place, however no shot was forthcoming so he gave up and came back all red from his running around. Meanwhile our vehicle was ready and we were off on our next safari. This time there was so much traffic in the park it was not funny! I almost felt like I was back to Sholinganallur Signal in Chennai!! :(

Even as we stood at one of the junctions there was a buzz about the place, soon everyone was chanting about a lone tusker that was headed our way. When we checked with the driver on how we woud ever make way for it in this traffic he also panicked and trying honking his way out!! It was chaos everywhere and the tusker was in the midst of the jeeps by now!!

 The Elephant seemed in a good mood, but he started probing the vehicles for any food that he could get his trunk on. He even playfully tugged at some of the folks in the jeep. By now it was mayhem wihtin most of the vehicles including ours. AJ and the driver were screaming out loud. Manoj n Prana also were psyched about this close encounter. The elephant made its way across the path

Once he had crossed over slowly the jeeps started pulling out and some semblance of order returned. The elephant gave us one look of contempt and amusement before walking off. I still think we got really lucky to have caught this guy in a good playful mood. For all the revving, shouting and honking that happened that day, this beast could have turned violent and it was a thought I didn't want to dwelve on for too long!! <Shudder>

Once he was off we were back on our track of looking for the leopards. Our next sighting was that of a golden jackal.

This guy was cool as a cucumber, he ran for some 5 mins along the track all the while sniffing the ground. Don't know if he was onto something or not but he made our time in the jungle more interesting. Soon he went into the bushes and we started on our safari yet again

As we got near the elephant rock this time our driver got a call. He suddenly picked up speed and wouldn't stop no matter what we said! Soon we also realized he must heard of a leopard sighting and help our breath! I was the first one to spot it lying peacefully on a tree..everyone else was busy looking on the track. We were one of the first ones to see it and very soon many other jeeps started pulling up.

Very soon this guy woke up from his slumber and despite everyone's best efforts he had 'spotted' us :)

 And yet he was sitting there half asleep wondering if it was worth the effort to lose his precious perch. Soon he sat up and started cleaning/preening himself. Before the other jeeps arrived he seemed blissfully unaware of his surroundings and that 'at ease' mode made him seem all the more majestic!

 Once aware of the increasing number of jeeps, he turned his back to us for a min or two before sliding down the tree and disappearing into the jungle again

When he was gone there was this silence amidst us, none of us could believe this time we had spent in the dusty, hot and humid trail of the big cat, that we had actually SEEN one!! :) Wow! It was too good to be true. In my case, with no camera in hand I was just admiring how good this creature actually looked- somehow I had expected the leopard to be smaller than the one we had sighted. And the grace of the animal as he sprang awake and slided down the tree left a lasting impression in my mind. The driver too seemed in a happy stupor and only after 15-20 mins did we all realize we were standing there with no animal in sight and hence started the jeep again. Now we saw some Kingfishers, Bee eaters, Hoopoes and many other birds.

Late evening we decided to call it a day and that's when we realize we were ravenously hungry!! By the time we got back to the hotel and grabbed something to eat my stomach really started to hurt! :( The pain just got worse as the night progressed and by midnight we were heading to a hospital in the vicinity- there really were very few. SO finally got admitted in a government hospital - they gave me some painkiller shots and the pain subsided. Finaly I dozed off even as Prana/Manoj & AJ kept turns to get me some stuff to eat and keep me company. So our 3rd day in the jungle was spent in and out of the hospital....thankfully the worst was behind me and we were cleared by the doctor to continue to the Galle beaches. I was ultra careful with my diet and activities after this harrowing experience! :(