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Published: December 22nd 2013
The gorgeous mountain town of Ella is known for its walks, so I was up bright and early to walk to Little Adam’s Peak. It is an easy walk, meandering through the tea plantations, until the last ten minutes, which is a steep trek up the very top. It’s all worth it when you get there, as there’s a lovely view over the hills, and it’s the perfect peaceful spot to start your day. I had it all to myself, so drank in the views. I was also very happy that I got up there so early, because not too long after I arrived the mist crept in.
I must’ve been feeling a little bit too pleased with myself, with my mind elsewhere, because as I was walking down the narrow pathway near to the summit I slipped on some gravel and managed a spectacular face plant, narrowly avoiding the edge and a bigger drop over the side. Although it wasn’t a terribly big drop off, about three or four metres, things could’ve been a lot worse than the scrapes and bruises I ended up with. So it was much more gingerly that I descended the rest of the way
back to my guesthouse for breakfast, passing some Tamil ladies on their way to work on the tea plantation. Enjoying breakfast and looking out at the mountains, I thought I could've looked at that view all day.
However Ella was only a short stopover, and soon I was on my way to Udawalawe National Park. I had booked into a very fancy hotel, making a departure from the little guesthouses I had been staying in. It must’ve been upmarket, with some giant cricket bats commemorating previous guests, the NZ and Sri Lankan cricket teams on the NZ tour of Sri Lanka last month. It certainly led to some interesting conversations over the next couple of days - way out of my depth given my knowledge of cricket!
I had a few hours to kill, so went for a wander through the town and discovered it was market day. Everything you could imagine was on sale. Vegetables, fish, spices, dried meat, clothes, lentils…..it was fascinting. Also nearby is the Elephant Transit House, a place where young wild elephants who are orphaned are rescued and cared for before being released back into the wild. Every three hours the elephants are
Wily old man
He asked if I had any money from my country, and as it happened I did. I got out some coins but then he spotted the notes. "Paper is good!" You're not wrong mister. Cheap pineapple became expensive pineapple!milk fed by hand, and the public can go in and view as well. As I wandered up the road I was again struck by how friendly everyone is. At the market one of the stall holders explained all the different spices he was selling, as I had been looking at his goods somewhat curiously. Others just smiled and waved.
The main event in these parts however is the Udawalawe National Park. So it was another very early start, 6.00 am pick up, for a jeep safari tour. I had assumed that I was buying a seat in the jeep, so was rather surprised to learn that the whole jeep was for me alone. Even then, there are only around 25 jeeps visiting the park each day, and while you're in the park, its size (nearly 310 square kilometres) we seemed to have it to ourselves for the most part.
It is a nice luxury to have what feels like a private tour, but also very expensive. First of all, the jeep tour cost $40US, then the entrance to the park another $30US. A guide joined us at the main entrance as we headed into the park, and
it was only after about or 10 minutes that he mentioned he was an unpaid volunteer. Rawi, the guide, told me he needs to work as an unpaid volunteer for 5 years until he will be hired as a Ranger, which is what he is really hoping to do. He's been working for 4 1/2 years so far, so 2014 will be the year! Rawi told me with surprise that some people don't take guides, while I on the other hand was surprised to realise that I had just hired him! So obviously he needed tips, as did the driver. Coming from a country where tipping means rounding up the dinner bill, and only then if you've had great service, I always find tipping very stressful. I'm happy to tip, but the big mystery is how much. It's only just dawned on me that tipping is a way of life here in Sri Lanka, and the entire guest house hasn't come out to wish me well on my journey but that I should've been tipping instead of waving.
Anyhow, I digress....the cost aside, the safari was fantastic. We came across around half a dozen different herds of elephants, which
Rawi says is very lucky. Sometimes you might only see 5 or 10 in a tour. We on the other hand, couldn't seem to shake them - it seemed that around every other corner there were more! I'm definitely not complaining. The elephants didn't seem to mind us too much, and we were incredibly close to them, although one elephant did try to take on a jeep in front of us at one point. Rawi told me that mostly they will leave us alone because we're bigger than they are, but if we'd come on foot it would be a different story.
Rawi told me lots about elephants I didn't know, which to be fair was nearly zilch. I had asked which was the male and learned that the male generally lives apart from the herd and the elephant in charge is the matriarch. Smart animals. They are quiet and slow in the mornings because they are tired, they never sleep at night. They eat around 200kg of vegetation every day, and drink around 150 litres of water. They also eat mud because of the minerals it contains. All of this is needed to give them the energy to
walk around 20 kms each day, not to mention keep their 5000kg bodies ticking over. Sadly the Sri Lankan elephant is now an endangered species, although many are still killed every year, mainly to protect locals' crops and property. Only a very small percentage of Sri Lankan elephants, about 5%!,(MISSING) have tusks, so they are not poached for ivory, but unfortunately there is still some poaching for their meat.
Getting a guide was definitely worth it. Rawi's eagle eyes spotted birds and animals that were completely invisible to me. We saw a jungle cat - both of us were quite excited and hoping it was a leopard (it wasn't), as well as birds of all description, deer, lizards, peacocks, the elephants of course, and even a crocodile. It was a fantastic morning, and I immediately I wanted to go again. However instead I came back to the hotel, very happy, and settled in to a relaxing afternoon by the pool in my upmarket resort hotel. Better make the most of it while I can!
"Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant;
The only harmless great thing."
John Donne
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Jackie
non-member comment
What a beautiful place and quite different from what I expected and I am not quite sure what that was anyway. What about a few photos of where you are staying. Did your face end up looking like your leg?