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One of the real joys of our trip, apart from meeting so many amazing Sri Lankans, was seeing so much wonderful wildlife, particularly the beautiful elephants. Sri Lanka is a great place to go on safari. It's a shame more people don't realize this. They tend to think only of Africa when they think "safari", but Sri Lanka is rich in wildlife. You won't see giraffes or lions, but you might, if you have a great guide like Jayantha, see elephants, wild boar, wild buffalo, jackals, mongoose, spotted deer, monitor lizards, wild cats, Star tortoises, grey langur monkeys, tocque macaques, elk, rabbits, three leopards, and innumerable bird species, including greater flamingos, Malabar pied hornbills, toucans, painted storks, Brahiminy Kites, hawk-eagles, fish-eagles, bee-eaters, pelicans, spoonbills, ibises, and on and on and on. I think we actually saw at least 75 bird species at Bundala, but I only marked down sixty in my Sri Lankan birds field guide. Bundala is a bird-watcher's paradise, and the day we went, we were the only ones around the park. The 2004 tsunami has greatly affected tourism, which is very unfortunate, because Sri Lanka is a fantastic place to visit. And if you're planning on viewing wildlife, take binoculars like we did! Not all guides have binoculars, which are an expensive luxury when you are still trying to pay off your Jeep. When we got to Colombo at the end of our trip, we Fedex-ed our binoculars to Jayantha back in Tissa (we have three more pairs at home.) If you do book his services in the future, maybe you can let us know if Fedex did their job and Jayantha got his package! :)

UPDATE August 2006: Jayantha received his binoculars! GO FEDEX, woo hoo! We just got a lovely letter from Jayantha, and apparently some of you have been taking my advice and using his services because of this website. Keep it up, people!

 

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What do you do while you wait for your Jeep to show up? You trade eyeware! Some of the scarier wildlife in Tissamaharama. Still pasty-white! Gordon looks a tad "Men in Black", no?

Enjoying the SunSinda balcony. Enjoying the sun after 27 straight days of rain in British Columbia. BLECH!

Jayantha, Gordon and Jayantha's wife. I'm very sorry I have forgotten her name, as I didn't write it down. She cooked us a fantastic multi-course Sri Lankan rice and curry meal. Delicious! Jayantha's sweet dog, known simple as "Puppy." They also own a nice little cat named "Pussy." Of course, I fell in love with Puppy and Pussy.
At just 5'7", I am an Amazon in Sri Lanka. Jayantha and I engage in a little Puppy-wrangling.
And now for some ELEPHANTS! These guys were just outside Yala National Park. We were quietly approaching them in the Jeep. The young elephant boys. They were standing there swaying, using their trunks to eat the grass, and also throw it on their backs.
Doing their little elephant dance. They were incredibly sweet, and yes, we were safe in the Jeep. Believe me, there were more than just three elephants in this field!

Jayantha sets Gordon up as elephant bait! We weren't inside the park boundaries, so we all got out of the Jeep for a bit, but Jayantha was carefully watching the elephant. Mr. Elephant wasn't quite as close to M Elelphant as he looks in this photo.

 I was ready to bolt for the Jeep at a moment's notice; just a leeetle bit tense. But it was very, very cool being photographed in front of a wild elephant. Remember, these guys are wild and can be dangerous. Jayantha was keeping a very close eye on us and the elephant.

We spent three days in this Jeep. I have never been so filthy dirty! Each day we went back to our hotel covered in a layer of reddish dirt. It infiltrated our eyes, our ears, our nostrils, our hair... every square inch of exposed skin was coated in good old Sri Lankan dirt. I learned too late that a white t-shirt is not suitable safari attire.Thank God for cheap laundry services! But it was all more fun than I can describe, and being able to hang out the sides to view and photograph wildlife was fabulous. At one point, I stood on the hood with Jayantha so that we could get a better look at a leopard. This 33-year-old Jeep, which was originally a police vehicle, takes an unspeakable amount of abuse, but somehow J keeps it running like the well-oiled machine it is.

We saw other tourists in fancy-schmancy vehicles with plush seats and rear windows, but believe me, they couldn't see the animals as well as we could! Their bums might have been more cushioned, but they weren't getting the full, dirt-up-your-nose safari experience. We were also happy just to have the two of us in the Jeep. We saw other vehicles like this with six people in the back, which meant they couldn't move around much to get a look at the animals from all sides.

Good-bye, sweet elephant of the woods. We miss you already.

 
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All photos and text copyright Natalie Rowe 2008 - Stealing brings bad karma. Don't make me set my lawyer-husband upon you!