On safari in Yalla National Park, Sri Lanka

Commentary by David

After our trip to Singaraja Rain Forest, Anna and I traveled to see more nature. We traveled east to go on safari and see the elephants. Nadine again decided to do something different. Off we went again in the same taxi van. Nadine went with us as far as Matara where Mali, our maid, has a home. We met Mali there at her home and left Nadine there to spend the day. We spent another 3 hour ride on a road along the coast. When we got to the road leading to the Nature Reserve, we had a small lunch and got into a jeep. Like Singaraja we had a long ride to get to the park itself. Again lots of potholes, but the seats on the jeep were quite comfortable. The park had a single lane dirt road and we were one of about 150 jeeps in the park. The guide was quite good at spotting animals along the side of the road. However, we were not allowed to get out of the jeep and so there were times it was hard to see the animals. Then when an animal was spotted, there tended to be a traffic jam with jeeps jockeying to get a good look. To see the leopard there were at least 20 jeeps lined up two deep on a one lane dirt road. The diesel fumes got a bit over-powering at times.
We saw water buffalo, mongooses, an owl, deer, crocodiles, elephants, peacocks, and jungle fowl – the national bird of Sri Lanka. We also saw an orange spot that we told was a leopard. We saw bats, monkeys, lizards and wild pigs. In total we drove around for 3 hours and then a ride back. It was getting dark and there is a rule that jeeps cannot use headlights in the park. Driving in a jungle with large animals around on potholed dirt roads with no lights is an interesting experience.
Then another 3 hour drive back to the villa. About an hour into the drive, were we stopped by a cop. Upla, our guide, asked me to be sick because we were going too fast to get me back to my villa. After explaining to the cop that I was “sick”, the cop agreed to accept the 500 rupee fine there and then. So, the cop got his 500 rupees to put into his pocket and we continued on.
The night ended with picking up Nadine at Malis house and venturing back to our villa. What an experience..but I am glad that I could have this adventure while in Sri Lanka and not have to travel to Africa.