Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Fringed by the Indian Ocean

 Yala National Park is home to a wide range of wild animals. 

We stayed for 3 nights in our own little jungle chalet within this national park.

Grey Langur monkeys danced on our rooftop, 

wild Boar grunted around the veranda,

 and a large male elephant was seen lurking in the bushes when we left the chalet to take an early morning safari. 

We loved the little green Bee-eaters flitting around in the bushes, 

along with this handsome Jerdon's baza with his crested tuft of black feathers,  

and this Brahminy kite.

How discreetly these snoozing young Indian Scops owls blend in with their host tree.

This handsome Painted Stork is searching around for frogs and lizards, but has a listing of 'near threatened'. 
The variety of wild fowl and bird life in Sri Lanka is quite spectacular, it must surely be paradise for any serious bird spotters. 

It is early morning, all looks tranquil and peaceful within this pastoral scene, but rather ominously we have just spotted two very large crocodiles lying in the reeds close by.
Suddenly our Ranger zooms off down a track - perhaps he has been notified of something on his radio!

What a special find! a cute reclusive Sloth bear. However, my initial excitement is tempered by concerns for this lovely little bear as there are no more than 500 of them left in the wild. Although insects, ants, and termites make up their staple diet, they also need the nuts and fruits that they find in the tropical forests, and these as we know, are being destroyed at an alarming rate. 
The mother bear carries her young cubs on her back until they are 9 months old, but Sloth bears, including their young are excellent tree climbers should they need protection from predators. 
Suddenly our driver is off again - the ride is fast and bumpy - we all hold on tight.

We have found a very relaxed, beautiful, large leopard sleeping in a Weera tree.  

Let's leave him sleeping peacefully - it is still early in the morning, and our breakfast awaits.
*****
This is my final post from Sri Lanka - a teardrop shaped volcanic island set in the Indian Ocean and home to a very diverse range of animals and plant life. 

The Golden Shower Tree - Cassia fistula
 We saw a huge variety of vegetables and different fruits, many of which were completely unknown to us. We gained the impression that anything sown in Sri Lanka's rich volcanic ground flourishes.

huge Jack fruits
Many different types of nuts and spices grow in Sri Lanka.

 nutmegs still dressed in their lacy mantles of mace - these three were found simply lying around on the ground at our feet

Brugmansia suaveolens

Flowers that I grow in my garden that require my

 tender, loving, care, grow like weeds in Sri Lanka. 

Dig a 20ft shaft through the volcanic soil and stone, and you might find moonstones.

Dig a deeper mine and you could be rewarded with Rubies, Amethysts, Garnets or cornflower coloured Sapphires.

A cute baby Asian elephant

Sri Lankan stilt fisherman
සමුගැනීමේ ශ්රී ලංකා

This beautiful script is Sinhala and the translation reads - 'farewell Sri Lanka'

Wildlife Observed in Sri Lanka

The first disconcerting creature that I saw as I climbed aboard our small boat for a journey through the Mangrove Swamp was a particularly large water monitor slinking around the vegetation at the waters edge! 

The imagination works overtime within the low light levels, and even an innocent log can appear to resemble something of a more sinister nature.

High up in the canopy there were lots of very large fruit bats flying around - pteropus giganteus, commonly known as flying foxes, with a wingspan of 120 cm.

Leaving the Mangroves firmly behind us, we headed off down the river to visit the home of a family sponsored by our travel agent. They demonstrated how they make rope from the coconut fibres, and then showed us the many things that they are able to create from the coconut shells - spoons, dishes, hair slides etc. They kindly offered us a cup of refreshing Ceylon tea together with slices of pineapple and some of their home grown bananas - their sweet little daughter entertained us too. 

On another occasion we had a very early morning jeep ride across Bundala Bird Sanctuary, which rather pleasingly ended with us having breakfast overlooking the sea. Whilst travelling through Bundala we quickly realised that a bird sanctuary is not simply a domain for birds and water-fowl!

Mugger crocodile 
The quality of my bird photos leaves much to be desired, the camera lens is not powerful enough to capture distant birds

 The Lesser Adjutant is a very large bird and listed as an endangered species. He was busy gobbling up the newly hatched young of the Black-winged stilt, who incubate their eggs on the ground. The adults were attacking him as violently as they could, but he took no notice at all of their futile attempts to drive him away. 

Black-headed Ibis

Rose-ringed Parakeet (female) 

Yellow-wattled lapwing,

and this very strange looking bird - Indian Great stone-curlew. Curiously his legs are bent forward whilst resting - I wondered if he had been injured, but apparently this is normal. The beak is covered in soil because it feeds on invertebrates from under the ground.

Black-winged stilt 

Common Myna bird

Purple heron

Little Egret

Grey Heron

Macaque eating prickly pears for breakfast

Now its time for our breakfast overlooking the sea, but with the company of a friendly Star tortoise

 Next time 'mainly mammals' 

Sri Lanka

"I want you to understand that the island of Ceylon is, for its size, the finest island in the world - from its streams come Rubies, Sapphires, Topaz, Amethyst, and Garnets."

Marco Polo 1292 A.D.

******

Many who visit Sri Lanka arrive in Colombo via sea or air, and my advice is to move on as quickly as you can. 

Go to the Cultural Triangle. 

Rankot Vihara in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa - the fourth largest dagoba (stupa) in Sri Lanka. A stupa is a Buddhist commemorative monument usually housing sacred relics associated with Lord Buddha. Its association is similar to that of reliquaries found in Christian churches.

Remains of the Royal Palace
The ruins of Polonnaruwa are considered the highlight of the cultural triangle. The city was the centrepiece of the Sinhalese kingdom established by King Vijayabahu l, who ousted the invading Cholas in AD 1077.

Visit the hill country in Kandy, whose verdant slopes are busy with tea pickers.

Scale mountain tops

    then visit the jungle where Marianne North the intrepid British Victorian Botanical artist came to paint the flora in 1876. If you wish to know more about her then visit a post I wrote about her here. 

 Enjoy the cloud forests,

and the coastline fringed by the Indian Ocean.

Coastal stilt/stick fisherman
Sri Lanka's southern coast was a scene of devastation when it was struck by the Tsunami in 2004 - it is estimated that over 36,000 people lost their lives.

Go to the spice gardens to see the newly cut cinnamon bark air-drying on rope made using the fibre from the local coconut trees. 

 Sri Lanka produces 90% of the worlds cinnamon from the Cinnamomum verum tree which is native to Sri Lanka and considered to yield the finest cinnamon in the world. The rolled bark keeps its scent and flavour for many, many years.

Abutilon (pictum or tigers eye?)
Enjoy seeing exotic flowers

flowers that I nurture with care grow like weeds in Sri Lanka,

Ixora coccinea 

and what about the birds - this little Bee-eater is exquisite.

Then gaze in wonderment at some of the worlds biggest fruit.
These Jack fruit strangely grow straight out of the trunk of the tree, but you need a strong arm just to carry one of these fruits home.
Sri Lanka is smaller than Ireland, but has 26 national parks and 8 UNESCO heritage sites, all of which are representative of Sri Lanka's unique natural and historical diversity.

Next time - animals in Sri Lanka