7th to 9th April, 2023

Seven o’clock in the morning saw us heading off to Gampaha to collect Misa’s girlfriend Thilini, and then carrying on to Wilpattu for a weekend of camping and safari in the company of our friends Cecile, Theo and Eva.  A journey of approximately 140 miles /220 km that took about five hours of driving time.  It was when we reached our destination and stepped out in to the searing heat that we appreciated the effective air conditioning though as this was to be the last such luxury for 48 hours!

We were based at a tented safari camp where the beds were comfy, the food wholesome and tasty and the service willingly delivered but this was not the five star glamping that we had previously enjoyed at Jetwing Yala Camping or Dolphin Beach before that.  After a roasting hot and dusty day on safari though it might as well have been; a nice cool shower, change of clothes and comfy chair in the breeze of the open-sided communal lounge was the perfect way to relax.  Steve took a bottle of Pimms that went down very nicely with lemonade, slices of Chinese white cucumber and ice!

We were very surprised to find a relative absence of other safari vehicles, especially as it was Easter weekend and tourism is starting to pick up.  The truth is though that there were very few visitors and we spent most of the time on our own; just the occasional other Jeep or a brief congregation of half a dozen of them at common places to sight Leopard or Sloth Bear – the two most highly prized sightings. 

A comedy moment was watching a heavily laden Toyota HiAce minivan become completely beached on the sandy track.  How on earth it was ever let in to the reserve is beyond us.  Our driver tried to pull it out but the canvas webbing tie-down strap that was all they had as a tow rope kept snapping and getting shorter!  Eventually, they were pulled free by another Jeep, presumably with a stronger tow rope.  We didn’t see it happen as our driver was frustated by their ineptitude and left them to it.

We didn’t see as much wildlife – both animals and birds – as Steve did when he previously visited Wilpattu, this being because of the different season.  It was still a joy though to be out in nature and experiencing what we did with my mum before her return home to Czech.

A buffalo had the final say on the trip, resolutely stood in front of another Jeep and then our two Jeeps behind, all trying to get to the exit gate a good few miles away in time!  Eventually, it let the first Jeep past and then blocked us before moseying off to a water hole!

The drive back to Gampaha and Colombo was both long and quiet after all the energy that we’d spent but we couldn’t have had a more enjoyable long weekend together.

Rennie