Saturday 22nd – Monday 24th October 2022
Taking a safari is one of Sri Lanka’s “must do” attractions, so we had to experience it again. Having missed the children’s birthdays due to being abroad on business but with the school half term holiday following just over a week later, Steve took Monday 24th October holiday to give us a long weekend away – on safari. We booked glamping at Wild Ceylon Safaris in Yala and enjoyed four safaris in the company of friends from where we used to live; similar-aged kids to ours and a very easy going single mum.
Our regular driver Ishar drove us from Colombo through absolutely torrential rain, stopping at the highway services so that the children could enjoy pizza for breakfast as a birthday treat! Yala is in a dry zone where it still rains, but very much less, and sure enough we arrived with the heavy rain left half an hour prior and just drizzle for the remainder of the day. We were picked up by a friendly driver with what turned out to be a fantastic ranger, Kithu (or Keith!) and driven to the camp. The tents were spacious and in the middle of nowhere, reached by 4×4 as the terrain is completely unsuitable for normal cars; they would be beached with all four wheels in the air in no time!
Straight into lunch and then on our first afternoon safari. What do you want to see? Of course leopard. We were lucky, seeing two cubs at 17:30 and in a location near enough to the gate we had entered from to scamper out (“Hold on tight. It is time for a Ferrari Safari”, said Keith to the delight of the kids!) absolutely on the dot of the park closing time of 18:00. As written in a previous blog post, the fines can be high for lateness and the drivers and rangers risk being banned. Photography was very difficult for Steve, it getting dark, the view being obscured by foliage, and the rocking of the parked jeep on long travel suspension making it hard not to get blurred images (“PLEASE keep STILL!” was said a few times!), but the results were worth it and encapsulate the special occasion.
Keith was a walking encyclopaedia and we learned so much from him about animals, their hierarchies, territories and how energy is critically important to them as they have to spend it to eat (no going shopping), about eco systems, about symbiotic relationships and more. As well as his knowledge from being a research scientiest he has a charisma and approach that made our three days awesome, to say the least. He is also a skilled wildlife photographer, so Steve and he got on like a house on fire. Best of all was running an adults vs children quiz to focus the mind – and we have each retained so much more as a result. Emi especially amazed us with the science that she retained, so actually it was fair that the children beat the adults by a point each day! 🙂
A tasty dinner with chocolate cake to celebrate Misa and Emilka’s birthday under the stars was a nice touch from the very attentive staff. Sleep was easy – especially as we knew that the mobile phone alarm would be bleeping at 04:45am, in time to ensure we were wide awake and ready to leave camp at 05:30am. The bumpy drive to the park gate we were using took just over twenty minutes, so by the time entrance tickets were purchased it was 06:00am and time to go in. Every minute counted because as the sun climbs, so the whole setting changes and the early minutes are magical. We didn’t see leopard on this safari, but returned to camp for lunch still having been amazed by nature – and understanding what we had seen thanks to Keith. The plunge pool by our tent was super refreshing to jump in to stark naked (nobody to watch other than a monkey or two!) and then just enjoy the birdsong and sounds of the jungle before getting ready for lunch – and the afternoon safari to follow.
We were successful on this to see more leopard, again just before park closure and so with another Ferrari Safari to be out in time. This time it was two adult leopard courting each other before mating – and Keith was keen for Steve to capture everything as it isn’t seen very often and he wanted it for the park records. Each male has a territory of about 20 square miles whereas the females don’t, so to know who both partners were (identified by the spots on their foreheads) will help the rangers understand when in time they see a new cub. Photography was again very difficult for Steve, this time not only because of the low light and 4×4 rocking on its suspension but because other vehicles appeared out of nowhere, each intent on the best view. He ended up shooting ‘through’ another jeep in the gap between two passengers. No time to prepare for what was coming as the leopard would simply appear, like when looking down a pipe. Poor animals, never mind the rudeness between humans. The leopard ignored everyone completely, this being known as level 5 habituation.
Return to camp brought another dip in the plunge pool and after getting ready for dinner, hurricane lamps and an open fire under the stars to enjoy Steve’s G&Ts or something softer for the kids and I. A lovely end to the day, and another tasty dinner cooked for us; I love being looked after with no need to cook or wash up.
Monday morning saw us again being up early, this time as the very first vehicle in to the park at 06:00am. We were swiftly rewarded with a young leopard alternating between dozing on a fallen tree and lifting its head to take stock of a herd of deer that had not seen or smelled its presence. Breakfast was clearly in mind. The early morning solitude was amazing, and to see nature at play even more so. In the end, the leopard went hungry but it was a priviledge to see how he set himself up, and then the pounce and sprint from which the deer (which are faster) escaped. His energy expended (remember what was written above), it was time to go back to sleep. Our hunt for a sloth bear was unsuccessful, but it still gave us another enjoyable safari with lots of new information to learn from Keith. Lunch at the resort with a final plunge pool dip, and then it was time to pack our bags and head back to Colombo after three days of adventure.
We feel lucky experiencing all these wonderful days and making memories for life.
Rennie
