Udawalawe

We had a busy day, and a bit of luck, on our trip to Udawalawe, and its eponymous 131,00-hectare national park.

A quick stop at the scenic Ravana Waterfall turned exciting when a monkey grabbed a packet of biscuits from a tourist and proceeded to open it and start eating. The imbecilic tourist got closer and closer to have her photo taken with it, then tried to grab a biscuit back from the monkey. It was only intervention from our guide that saved her from likely injury, as she clearly wanted to keep tormenting the creature.

We then visited Buduruwagala, an archaeological site containing a fifteen metre high Buddha statue carved into a huge rock face, and dating from the seventh or eighth century. The Buddha is accompanied by six other statues, and there are extensive other ruins in the complex.

This took some time, and we had a long drive in front of us. We were due to go on a safari in the national park that afternoon but it became obvious that, even driving extra-suicidally, we wouldn’t make it. This was our good fortune, though, as it rained all afternoon but was warm, still and clear for the rescheduled event the following morning.

And what an event it was. Plenty of elephants - and plenty of Jeeps watching them, it must be said, spotted deer, water buffalo and come quite beautiful birds. We hadn’t even reached the national park when we stopped to look at some incredible painted storks.

After the safari we visited the Elephant Transit Park, where sick or orphaned elephants are helped to transition to life in the wild. We had great seats, right near the feeding and amongst a bunch of pre-schoolers.

The elephants were sent to the feeding station in groups and the smaller ones given some milk but only enough that they will still be hungry and therefore seek out more food. It was exciting to watch not only the feeding but the jostling for spots as the bigger animals literally threw their weight around to get at the juiciest snacks. The viewing area was absolutely packed and it was good think of the support provided by the entrance fees for such a worthy cause.

From Udawalawe we head south to the coast and thence to Bentota, our final stop on this trip.Read more