Sri Lanka day 3: Two safaris, thunder, lightning and communication problems

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Sri Lanka day 3 Two safaris, thunder, lightning and communication problems



After 3 1/2 hours sleep I didn't hear either of the alarms we had set but luckily Claire did and we were soon up and ready to be collected for our first sfari of the day. I had booked and paid for two safaris via Tripadvisor and we re due to be collected at 5:30am.

We tried and tried to explain this to Manuel (for he adopteth similar posturing to the character from Fawlty Towers) but he kept offering us tea and coffee and getting his mate to take us instead. He insisted on waiting for us at the end of the drive and kept telling us the jeep was late and asking 'jeep coming?'

By 5:40 we were getting agitated more with him than the fact that the jeep was late and called the number we'd been given. He couldn't understand me very well and so asked me to pass the phone to the hotel manager....how did he know he was there????

I handed the phone to Manuel and he told me the jeep was coming but it was ten minutes late but then tried to get me to go in his mate's jeep again... Even though we showed him the receipt saying I'd paid he still insisted we should go with his mate instead...

Thankfully our jeep did turn up and we managed to book lunch at the hotel for when we got back. And then we had some peace for a while.

A few kms up the road we entered Wilpattu National Park and bought our entrance visas. Our books say this is $30 so you worry that they may want payment in dollars as in other countries and we don't have any. We only have rupees and the mythical currency that Manuel has never heard of, good old British pounds. Luckily they only take payment in rupees but that raises the question as to why the guide books quote the prices in dollars...???

A guide jumped in the back of our jeep, introduced himself and then stayed with us. So now I'm worried there's foing to be a charge for this not optional extra and we haven't changed enough pounds yet to be incurring extra expenses. The good news is that there's only us on the jeep.

And we're off into the park, well after a slow paperwork process anyway, something they need to speed up if the park gets busier. Wilpattu is a lot quieter than other national parks and you can drive for miles without seeing another jeep. The dense vegetation does make seeing the animals more difficult but it's more of an authentic jungle experience.

So, Claire's main aim was to see a leopard and those are very elusive as you can imagine. I wanted to see a bear as I don't remeber ever seeing one in the wild before.

We hadn't gone far and an elephant was spotted hidden in the trees; great to see but not visible enough for a photo. Claire spotted a huge monitor lizard on a tree then we saw deer, mongoose, peacocks, egrets, more monitor lizards, water buffalo, eagles and wart hogs.

When we stoped at the rest area we wandered down to the edge of a lake and saw a crocodile not more than 30ft away gliding through the water. We managed to get photos and not get eaten so it was a double bonus!

Back at the rest area there were monkeys jumping through the trees including some youngsters so we stopped awhile to take pictures of them. Back onboard our driver seemed to spot more animals than our guide but the guide was very polite and kept asking 'shall we go now sir?' so he can be forgiven. We spotted very little from then on and even when you saw a few jeeps stopped as if there was something good it turned out to be a bird. I like birds and there were some fair size eagles but we want to see wildlife!

I need to have words with ants though. Yes you lot down there. Apart from one biting me yesterday there are more serious matters afoot. Why do they have to build anthills in the shape of wildlife? I've seen numerous animals that weren't today as some supposedly clever little twerps had built their houses in the shape of creatures. The little gits.

Afterthought.....why not build your houses in the shape of famous landmarks? Maybe if you had one shaped like the Taj Mahal, one as a Pyramid, one as BIG Ben etc you might attract some photographers yourselves? Have a think and get back to me....

Anyway, we saw another elephant buried in the bushes before queueing to get out and saying goodbye to our guide. He shook my hand, said goodbye and he was off with no demand for payment and no chance to give him a tip. I liked him a lot more for that.

Back at our accommodation Manuel was waiting for us. I gave our driver a tip and we went back into our room. Then the doorbell rang. Here we go again. This time we were being asked to pay for the safari....the one I'd booked and paid for. I was eventually put on the phone to the boss who didn't seem to undertstand and then said he was coming to the hotel.

So I got my receipts ready and a photo of my bank statement showing the money having gone out. And then suddenly everything is okay again. The boss isn't coming. We can grab a bit of sleep before lunch.

Lunch was very good actually, lots of dishes and plenty of it followed by watermelon and bananas for dessert. Apparently there are 20 different varieties of banana here and these were a very good start. 19 to go...

A bit more sleep and just after our alarms had gone off the doorbell rang again. 'You want go safari?' Yes, Manuel's mate was back. It only took about five minutes to explain things and when our jeep turned up he tried to sell us a safari in the morning instead. Oh deep joy.

So after checking we were on the right jeep we headed back to Wilpattu and didn't adopt a guide this time so it was just the two of us in the back of the jeep. On the way there Claire said there were some interesting clouds approaching....



And then there was thunder. And then there was torrential rain.

And we were off! The rain was coming at us from all sides and seeping through the roof. And the animals appeared to be taking shelter. But then what looked like a jackal appeared but had gone by the time we had our cameras ready.

There was lots of driving round in the rain with no animals sighted even when the rain subsided and lots more holes and water tobe driven through. We saw your basic safari animals that we'd seen earlier but nothing amazing until....

The word was going round, the jeeps were gathering and racing. The chase was on but what would it be? Would leopards and bears be as elusive as Northern Lights?

Well one of them will remain so for now as we eventually pulled up alongside a sloth bear. It was having a go at an anthill, something about reshaping the design hopefully...

It was a long bumpy drive back to Manuel and this time there was no issue over payment. We sat outside with some dumbass bugs and were given some coffee. What, you've never heard of dumbass bugs? Little things that fly in and then land upside down most of the time hence the name dumbass. Google it.

Dinner was very nice again and I think I managed to explain to Manuel and his mate what's happening in the morning....I think so anyway....

I think they've been trying to help us although the extra cost for the room is very annoying. Let's see what happens when it comes to paying!

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