One of the activities that attracted me to my G Adventure tour of Sri Lanka was that it visited Yala National Park. I love animals, always have. Let's just say this was an eventful 20 hours but not in ways I had anticipated.
Yala National Park comprises a strict nature reserve with a national park. With nearly 130,000 hectares of land comprised into five blocks, two blocks are open to the public. Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and then a national park in 1928. It is home to 44 varieties of mammals and 215 bird species. It lies in the SE of Sri Lanka with its coast on the Indian Ocean.
In the Tsunami of 2004 approximately 250 people in and around the park were lost but no animals that they know of, confirming the theory that animals can sense danger. Interesting....
So from the town of Ella we headed south to Yala. I was so excited as this was going to be one of the highlights of the tour although truth be told I knew nothing could compare to see the gathering of elephants in Kaudalla National Park. I think after dogs, elephants are my favourite animal. They are such amazing creatures.
My journal from these hours is a bit hazy and you will learn why...so this is will be mainly a picture story.
In the United Kingdom it's sheep that get herded along the roads, in Sri Lanka it's cows...
We came to a Buddhist Stupa which was beautiful.
Token dog photo - dogs that hang out at temples and shrines know they are on to a very good thing. That one has a pretty full belly. The only thing I worry about is their access to water on a hot day like this one was.
As beautiful as it was it was very hot out and I was anxious to get back into the air-conditioned van. I wasn't feeling 100% - nothing serious that prevented me from doing anything but not my usual self. The evening before I had enjoyed a delicious vegetable kottu (pieces of flat bread with veggies in a spicy sauce). Remember this, it's a clue!! :)
We arrived into Yala and had about half an hour to settle into our tents. Mine brought back memories of my tent in Kenya from 36 years before.
Feet on the table...how rude! Masai Mara, Kenya - October 1982. A trip to celebrate my 30th year.
Over thirty five years later, a few (a lot!) pounds heavier, lots of happiness and heartbreak later as happens in life but still as adventurous and nosy! It brought back such happy memories of that life-changing safari way back when. Back in the day when you saw animals and only one other van pulled up to watch because there weren't the hordes of tourists there are everywhere now. Oh dear, I sound like an old codger I know.
I spent a lot of time in that bed...little did I know. (no, not that way - behave! though that would have been way more fun!)
And off we go!!!
Hello Ms/Mr Mongoose!
Sometimes you are so busy looking for/at animals you forget to actually notice how beautiful the park was. Don't ask me what that sign is on the tree...
Water Buffalo
A male peacock strutting his stuff! Little did I know how much I would see and HEAR peacocks later on in the trip!
Yala is known for its leopards but sadly we never did see one. There was a sighting but by the time we got there (along with other jeeps) it was gone.
Monkeys fascinate me but disgust me too. They are cheeky but can be so mean as well. Fun fact: a "pet" monkey at a resort in Thailand bit me. I never told a soul... until now. Luckily I didn't die of rabies or any such thing.
Bee-eater
Not a very good picture of a Kingfisher. They are so beautiful.
Monitor lizard
We only saw one elephant fairly close up and one far away so makes me so grateful that we saw the elephants in Kaudalla park
Spotted deer
Now that's what you call relaxing!
What an exotic creature!!! Ha, ha.
This cute warthog came to say "hi" and "bye" just as we were on our way out of the park.
Time to head back for drinks and dinner. Sounds good to me!
Did I mention to get into the jeep you had to ascend and descend a short ladder but you had to step up to get onto it? Getting onto it at the camp there was a stool but getting off back at the camp there wasn't for some reason and I inadvertently stepped down on the right leg instead of the left and Thelma (my left knee replacement) did not like that one little bit. I think I would call it a "manual manipulation" of the knee - let's just say it bent further than it had ever acheived before. I yelped and limped back to my tent to lick my wounds until the dinner bell sounded.
We all sat at a long table drinking our Lion beer (which I developed a taste for - I am not a big beer drinker so prefer weak beer) and devoured delicious BBQ pork, chicken and vegetable kottu. We chatted and had a great time but I was not feeling right.
There was an optional (as in extra $$$) game drive the next morning and I raised my hand with most of the others when asked who wanted to go. By the end of the meal I told Sam, my guide that I had changed my mind and wasn't going to go. Wise decision!!!
By bedtime I was definitely not well and let's just say I got to know my bathroom very well all night long. It was the top end...not the bottom to put it delicately. Which is very unusual for me although I must say since I got my gallbladder out 14 years ago it has been more frequent... It was pretty much nonstop all night long and I felt dreadful. Needless to say no sleep...or breakfast for me.
About four of us stayed back and while the others relaxed and visited I lay on my bed feeling like I was going to die. Okay Laurie, a bit dramatic but you get the picture. Nothing worse than being ill on holiday. Luckily the game drive was a LONG one and they didn't get back until nearly noon. 5 hours out there with no bathroom. My bladder would not have liked that one little bit and me vomiting off the side of the jeep would have added such a nice touch to the trip for everyone else wouldn't it? The bitch in me was kind of relieved they didn't see a leopard though. They all came back covered in dust and sand so while they had showers I was able to rest for another hour.
I was so lucky to have two nurses on the tour who looked after me.
By the time we were ready to leave the nonstop vomiting had stopped and while I felt dreadful I was movable. I lay on the back row in our little bus all the way to Mirissa. I will probably never know what caused me to be so violently ill - was it a reaction to spice in the kottu and having it two days in a row was just too much? Just a bug? It couldn't have been food poisoning as no one else was ill. I have perused the recipe for kottu online and there is nothing I can see that I have reacted to before. Who knows.. I felt rough for the next day or two and missed the group visit to Galle. (don't worry I went there on my own on a local bus a few days later) but it gave me a chance to relax and enjoy the pool and ocean view from my room. I am grateful I got ill near the end of the trip and was able to rest in such a pretty setting. I was able to join in on our farewell dinner two days later but stuck to bland food.
Despite hanging out in the bathroom more than I intended I still loved my time in Yala.
Yala National Park comprises a strict nature reserve with a national park. With nearly 130,000 hectares of land comprised into five blocks, two blocks are open to the public. Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and then a national park in 1928. It is home to 44 varieties of mammals and 215 bird species. It lies in the SE of Sri Lanka with its coast on the Indian Ocean.
In the Tsunami of 2004 approximately 250 people in and around the park were lost but no animals that they know of, confirming the theory that animals can sense danger. Interesting....
So from the town of Ella we headed south to Yala. I was so excited as this was going to be one of the highlights of the tour although truth be told I knew nothing could compare to see the gathering of elephants in Kaudalla National Park. I think after dogs, elephants are my favourite animal. They are such amazing creatures.
My journal from these hours is a bit hazy and you will learn why...so this is will be mainly a picture story.
In the United Kingdom it's sheep that get herded along the roads, in Sri Lanka it's cows...
We came to a Buddhist Stupa which was beautiful.
Token dog photo - dogs that hang out at temples and shrines know they are on to a very good thing. That one has a pretty full belly. The only thing I worry about is their access to water on a hot day like this one was.
As beautiful as it was it was very hot out and I was anxious to get back into the air-conditioned van. I wasn't feeling 100% - nothing serious that prevented me from doing anything but not my usual self. The evening before I had enjoyed a delicious vegetable kottu (pieces of flat bread with veggies in a spicy sauce). Remember this, it's a clue!! :)
We arrived into Yala and had about half an hour to settle into our tents. Mine brought back memories of my tent in Kenya from 36 years before.
Feet on the table...how rude! Masai Mara, Kenya - October 1982. A trip to celebrate my 30th year.
Over thirty five years later, a few (a lot!) pounds heavier, lots of happiness and heartbreak later as happens in life but still as adventurous and nosy! It brought back such happy memories of that life-changing safari way back when. Back in the day when you saw animals and only one other van pulled up to watch because there weren't the hordes of tourists there are everywhere now. Oh dear, I sound like an old codger I know.
I spent a lot of time in that bed...little did I know. (no, not that way - behave! though that would have been way more fun!)
And off we go!!!
Hello Ms/Mr Mongoose!
Sometimes you are so busy looking for/at animals you forget to actually notice how beautiful the park was. Don't ask me what that sign is on the tree...
Water Buffalo
A male peacock strutting his stuff! Little did I know how much I would see and HEAR peacocks later on in the trip!
Yala is known for its leopards but sadly we never did see one. There was a sighting but by the time we got there (along with other jeeps) it was gone.
Monkeys fascinate me but disgust me too. They are cheeky but can be so mean as well. Fun fact: a "pet" monkey at a resort in Thailand bit me. I never told a soul... until now. Luckily I didn't die of rabies or any such thing.
Bee-eater
Not a very good picture of a Kingfisher. They are so beautiful.
Monitor lizard
We only saw one elephant fairly close up and one far away so makes me so grateful that we saw the elephants in Kaudalla park
Spotted deer
Now that's what you call relaxing!
What an exotic creature!!! Ha, ha.
This cute warthog came to say "hi" and "bye" just as we were on our way out of the park.
Time to head back for drinks and dinner. Sounds good to me!
Did I mention to get into the jeep you had to ascend and descend a short ladder but you had to step up to get onto it? Getting onto it at the camp there was a stool but getting off back at the camp there wasn't for some reason and I inadvertently stepped down on the right leg instead of the left and Thelma (my left knee replacement) did not like that one little bit. I think I would call it a "manual manipulation" of the knee - let's just say it bent further than it had ever acheived before. I yelped and limped back to my tent to lick my wounds until the dinner bell sounded.
We all sat at a long table drinking our Lion beer (which I developed a taste for - I am not a big beer drinker so prefer weak beer) and devoured delicious BBQ pork, chicken and vegetable kottu. We chatted and had a great time but I was not feeling right.
There was an optional (as in extra $$$) game drive the next morning and I raised my hand with most of the others when asked who wanted to go. By the end of the meal I told Sam, my guide that I had changed my mind and wasn't going to go. Wise decision!!!
By bedtime I was definitely not well and let's just say I got to know my bathroom very well all night long. It was the top end...not the bottom to put it delicately. Which is very unusual for me although I must say since I got my gallbladder out 14 years ago it has been more frequent... It was pretty much nonstop all night long and I felt dreadful. Needless to say no sleep...or breakfast for me.
About four of us stayed back and while the others relaxed and visited I lay on my bed feeling like I was going to die. Okay Laurie, a bit dramatic but you get the picture. Nothing worse than being ill on holiday. Luckily the game drive was a LONG one and they didn't get back until nearly noon. 5 hours out there with no bathroom. My bladder would not have liked that one little bit and me vomiting off the side of the jeep would have added such a nice touch to the trip for everyone else wouldn't it? The bitch in me was kind of relieved they didn't see a leopard though. They all came back covered in dust and sand so while they had showers I was able to rest for another hour.
I was so lucky to have two nurses on the tour who looked after me.
By the time we were ready to leave the nonstop vomiting had stopped and while I felt dreadful I was movable. I lay on the back row in our little bus all the way to Mirissa. I will probably never know what caused me to be so violently ill - was it a reaction to spice in the kottu and having it two days in a row was just too much? Just a bug? It couldn't have been food poisoning as no one else was ill. I have perused the recipe for kottu online and there is nothing I can see that I have reacted to before. Who knows.. I felt rough for the next day or two and missed the group visit to Galle. (don't worry I went there on my own on a local bus a few days later) but it gave me a chance to relax and enjoy the pool and ocean view from my room. I am grateful I got ill near the end of the trip and was able to rest in such a pretty setting. I was able to join in on our farewell dinner two days later but stuck to bland food.
Despite hanging out in the bathroom more than I intended I still loved my time in Yala.
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