Ancient ruins and Blue Magpies

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Sigiriya fort, also known as Lion Rock is probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. It is essentially a giant rock and on the top lie ruins of a Buddhist monastery that was used up until the 14th century.

I don't normally visit places like this on my travels however with Cohan being quite the history buff I thought he would appreciate Sigiriya.

We decided to stay at a place called Lakmini Lodge which was a convenient 15min walk from the rock itself, I don't think I would recommend Lakmini Lodge, it was nice enough, though there was a real vibe they didn't really want us there, perhaps they are just over annoying backpackers...

The price to actually climb Lion rock is quite steep, ruffly 30NZD, but I will say it is well worth it despite the crowds, I heavily recommend going as soon as it opens to avoid as many people as possible. The view from the top is spectacular and the real bonus for me was spotting the Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, an endemic bird I had given up all hope of seeing.

We only had two nights at Sigiriya so the next day it was back off to Negombo.

Now the main bird I had wanted to see in Sri Lanka was the endemic Blue Magpie, but unfortunately it was only found in a few small patches of forest down south. So like a true birder for our last full day I booked us a car to take us three hours south to the last proper patch of rainforest in Sri Lanka, Sinharaja.

The car left at 6am and arrived at around 9am, not the ideal time for bird watching but it would have to do. Sinharaja is stinking hot and unbelievably humid, though the amount of wildlife that can be viewed is incredible compared to other rainforests I have visited. Only a few hundred meters in we already had great views of Purple Faced langur, the only monkey on the trip I hadn't got a decent photograph of. As for birds and reptiles we were spoilt, three species of snake and some really nice endemic birds including Sri Lanka Frogmouth and Brown-capped babbler. The majority of these were spotted by our mandatory guide and we couldn't have asked for a better guide, he had eyes like a hawk and specifically took us to a reliable spot for Blue Magpie. We waited around the area for a while but with time ticking by and a storm on the horizon we decided it was best to start heading back, feeling very disappointed on the walk back our guide suddenly stopped as if he had heard something, we stood there in silence for a minute until he said "wait here" then went running back to where we had just come from. One minute later he appeared from around the corner signalling for us to follow him. So like an embarrassing moment from an Animal Planet docco we went running off through the rainforest like true adventures! We then came to a small group of birdwatchers with there cameras all pointed at the same bush, as I slowly got closer I finally saw it, Blue Magpie!!! What an amazing bird, I can easily say the nicest bird I have ever seen.

So all in all it was a perfect end to our time in Sri Lanka.

Next stop Malaysia!

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Comments

[Kelly]

Just ask Kelly what endemic means and she'll tell you all about it!

[Ananda]

Travel Guide
There is a travel guide explaining everything about sigiriya. if enyone interested u can check it. www.travellersmasterguide.lk