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.

Visiting the Rainforest in Sri Lanka

written by David

One of the places I wanted to make sure we visited in Sri Lanka was the Singaraja Rain Forest park. It seemed to be an opportunity for adventure-- just the right mix of new sites and scenery. After reading the information about the park, Nadine decided that it was indeed the perfect adventure—for Anna and I. She was afraid of the leeches and decided to spend the day doing the far more dangerous adventure of shoping.
So Anna and I visited the park on the third day we were in Sri Lanka.. To get there, we went north via taxi (van) from Galle for about 66 kilometers which is not far, but because the road wound through the mountains, so it took three hours. The traffic situation is not like driving down Interstate 94 in Minnesota. The road is single lane traffic and due to slow moving trucks, little three wheel vehicles (tuk-tuks) and the occasional tractor, it was at times teeth-clenching when the van was passing a tuk-tuk and a truck was coming from the other direction.
“We’re going to die”, Anna muttered more than once.
“Yes we are” I said in my best calm father voice, “ but not today. “
Despite the thrill of the ride, the drive there was quite nice. Wonderfully lush green scenery of jungle, rice paddies, tea plantations. It was the perfect eye -feast after living in the desert for 5 months. Once we got to the entrance of the park, the road became more pothole than road so we had to switch to riding in a tuk-tuk. The driver was quite good, but I was glad I did not have a bad back. We eventually got to the park and we were off on our trek.
Vinny, the guide, wanted to make sure we saw everything so he lead us at a brisk pace. Although we were in a rain forest, the trail was packed dirt and quite easy to walk on. I had read there was not too much wildlife to be seen, but I was a bit surprised at the lack of bird noise. Initially, the biggest animals we saw were foot-long lizard and some large millipedes. Later on we saw a 6 foot snake and a couple of monkeys.
We crossed a river and to a visitor center where Anna discovered her first leech. It had been on her for a bit and when she pried it off, her ankle bled quite a bit. By the end of our walk, she totaled 21 leeches. I found 2 leeches, but later in the van, Anna noticed that I had blood all over my shirt. I had had a leech on my inside elbow and at sometime dislodged it and the blood got onto my shirt. I also had one on my ankle I didn’t know about and the bite later became a bit infected. Nadine had made the right decision not to travel with us.
At the visitor center we were joined by two couples of Russians. After travelling with them for abit, and finding them a bit noisy, I think the Russians have replaced the Americans as “ugly” travelers. Anna described them as “wussies”. Needless to say, we weren’t impressed.
We didn’t really have a destination in mind so Vinny suggested the 5 waterfall walk and we blithely agreed. Up the mountains we went. Gone was the packed path and we wandered through a trail made of rocks and tree roots. This trek could have been a real ankle twister and of course, not having the ADA handicapped accessible law, there were no handrails. Occasionally, there were steps cut into the hill, but they were few and far between.
At the top of one difficult hill climb, Anna paid me a nice.
“Hey look Dad, you outlasted the 20 something Russians.”
The most awesome part of the trip was viewing the water falls- one beauty after another. We had to wade streams and climb over boulders to get to them, but we were rewarded with incredible sights and sounds of water. The last one had a wonderful pond and I went swimming – a great way to cool down after our sweaty 3 hour hike.
Now it was time to start back and it being the rain forest of course it started to rain – a warm soaking rain for our last hour of walk. We got to the restaurant and had a nice meal of soup and sandwich.
We had one last adventure while returning to the van. It was now getting dark and we were driving down a mountain road with huge potholes in a tuk tuk that had a headlight about as strong as a large flashlight. Once back into the van, the drive back to our villa was downhill and our driver was passing vehicles in the dark with not much idea what was coming around the bend. At one time he was passing and he turned off his lights to see if there were headlights coming from the other direction. We passed a tractor and the headlight he was using was a flashlight. Thankfully, we arrived safely. And as I thought, this was not the day we were fated to die. Nadine was happy to see our leech scarred bodies returning tired but happy.

Sri Lanka for the holidays

We had fabulous time in the country of Sri Lanka ( below India). Here are a few of the highlights:
A. We enjoyed having Anna with us this year. This photo, taken on a boat cruise of nearby islands, shows that we were happy almost all of the time.
B. Sri Lanka is primarily Buddist. It was interesting to tour the different temples.
C. Anna and David enjoyed a tour of a rainforest area one day.
D. David at one with
E. Another fabulous sunset...or was it sunrise? Both were glorious and delightful to watch over the Indian ocean.
F. Surfin Sri Lanka style. Anna picked up this new hobby quite quickly. Thankfully she has her fathers athletic ability.
G. This is the family of our main, Mali. It was a great treat to meet them. Lovely people.
H. Mali and I and her two daughters touring a Budfist temple.

And to think I missed this while I was in Dubai last year

• View Photolight of dubai

An Emirati man has been arrested after an undercover cop spotted him at a Dubai mall wearing nothing but his underwear and a pair of shoes, UAE daily newspaper Gulf News reported on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old, who works for a government department, was one of five arrested over the Eid weekend after the pulling the prank at the vast Dubai Mall, the report added.

“The man who was wearing his white cotton underwear was naked on the top,” Lt Colonel Ahmad Humaid Al Merri, director of the Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, was quoted as saying by Gulf News.

“The five accused are facing charges of indecent behaviour in public. The mall is used by families, women and children and such improper behaviour is unacceptable,” he added.

The defendants, who were apparently sober and not under the influence of any drugs, said the prank was just for fun, but Al Merri said their excuse was unacceptable, the report claimed.

“The men were not bailed out by us and they are still under arrest and their case is now being handled by the public prosecutor,” Al Merri said.

What did you do on your vacation?

Images may be subject to copyright.

Hi Charlie
(and other blog readers)
It seems the more I promise to keep up my blog this year, the harder it is to actually do it! Part of the problem is that we aren't really doing that much new this year so we don't have a lot of exciting things to tell you.
You probably would yawn to hear our normal lives...wake up at 530 am, in school by 7 am, teach and work throughout the day until about 5 pm (or 6 depending on the day), then comehome, feed the cat, eat, watch TV, look at each other and say how tired we are, go to bed by 9 pm and start all over again the next day. (there doesn't that make an exciting blog post!)
Seriously, we just finished a 5 day "Staycation" where we were on holiday from work, but didn't leave the country.
Here are the things we accomplished
1) Took 26 other teachers on an excursion to Failaka Island which is an island about 20 miles off the coast of Kuwait. We have been there before, but it was fun to show new eyes one of Kuwait's most unique tourist sites.
2) Went to breakfast with my breakfast besties. We always enjoy our Friday morning breakfast. We solve world problems, (and also greater issues at school), talk of world conquest and other smart things. It's a delightful way to spend time in real conversation.
3)I did make it into school one day to work.I had great visions of just how much I would get done, but somehow that didn't happen. Oh well, what I did accomplish was productive.
4) Spent one entire day on the couch watching movies, reading,napping. Just what the doctor ordered.
5) We did have one great unplanned adventure. We ventured out with our eclectic friend KMc and our new friend ER to what was supposed to be the "dhow graveyard"...a collection of unused and forgotten old dhow boats. However, when we arrived we found that most of the boats had already been buried...or sold...or sunk or something. We did manage to have a good time with the limited amount we saw and also found a real genuine dhow craftsman.
6) We spent a lovely dinner and relaxing evening with the person I work the most with (RP the Athletic Director,)his wife SL and our favorite Super Superintendent. We enjoyed dinner at an authentic Kuwaiti restaurant (one of two in the city) and proceeded to talk very smartly with very little conversation centering around work. It was a pleasure.


So it was a great , restful time. This is one of the last Eids that will be celebrated in the school year at AIS in a long time . The holidays of Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr move up the calendar 11 days each year. I am happy that we made it the best we could.


As soon as I figure out how to add pictures on this blog with my ipad (still challenged) I will have a show and tell.

Trying to make it all work out

My apologies for the changing face of this blog. I am trying to get it to have a unified face without screwing with it too much. I have responded to a request for larger photos
(thanks Uncle Doug) but I am not sure if they are coming across clear enough. Oh well, just pretend that you're seeing it through the dust of Kuwait!
 

In the hour of prayer

While down at my favorite Kuwait hangout Aka the Friday market,we experienced something different even for someone who isn't new anymore.
We were walking to the exit and the call to prayer went off. Suddenly all these men came rushing to place their rugs down and pray. We were actually caught in the middle of an outdoor prayer area. It was a very different experience. We certainly didn't want to offend anyone and we certainly didn't want to cause any problems. So we kept on walking ... But first we snapped a couple of pictures to capture the experience.( I think God will forgive us)
Maybe they were praying for us!