Day 8 & 9 - Down the mountains & wild elephants

We said goodbye to our Very British hotel with a morning of driving ahead down the mountains. We soon noticed the different landscape of vegetable plots terraced all over the slopes. Pradeep explained that the climate is best up this high for growing veges all year round. They have had some ice in the highest peak once but it must be pretty much frost free and very fertile. This area produces veges for all Sri Lanka.

Along the very winding road with the usual cows, dogs, people, tuk tuks, buses etc to navigate (again we were so grateful for Pradeep and his skill at the wheel) we saw some fabulous scenery and waterfalls. So very green and lush even in the dry season. I'm not sure I would be happy to be on the road in the monsoon though.

We arrived at our next stop in the south,Tissamaharama, and again were met with smiles, cool drinks and an awesome view of the lake across a double swimming pool. We had a free afternoon so the kids were soon in the pool. It was a welcome break and the next morning we had a very relaxed start and another swim before heading off to see some wildlife at the Yala National Park.

Our ride was a tiered set of seats on the back of a 4WD, pretty high up and open sided. These vehicles are everywhere in Tissa and while we were waiting for ours to collect us we had many offers from others. It's a quiet time of year so business is a bit slow (which is good for us if not for the locals!). Our driver looked about 18 and drove faster and more erratically than we've have become used to. With no seatbeats and his desire to get us to the park in record time it was a pretty wild ride. He would hit the brakes and skid into each speed bump on the dirt track leading to the park. He mistimed one which sent us all flying into the air. I was in the highest seat in the back and ended up with a fairly large lump on my head from slamming into the cross bar. Big ouch! When we stopped to get tickets, Pradeep had some quiet but stern words with the driver so the rest of the drive was a bit more controlled!! Pradeep also worked some magic on my head with some baby lotion he got from the small at the entrance (go figure) and the bump was more bearable half an hour later.

The park is a huge area right on the coast and is crisscrossed with dirt tracks for the vehicles. We charged about the place (holding on more tightly) and stopped each time a local bird or beast was spotted. Pradeep was the best spotter and when we did a count up at dinner of all the animals and birds we saw it was around 26. We didn't manage to find the elusive leopard despite the best effort of our driver who I think chased after the other 4WDs in hope they were on the trail. We were incredibly lucky though to come across wild elephants right next to the road. Just wonderful! One was quite small and was playing in some water being very silly. He seemed to realise we were there and came out onto the road for a look.

We stopped by the beach where we saw the remains of a hotel that was destroyed in the tsunami. A lot of people at the park lost their lives and the park itself was cleared by the wave. The animals didnt suffer too badly as they'd sensed the tsunami well ahead of time and headed inland. Make you wonder about how clever we humans really are. We could see a fishing village further up the beach which had been built.

We had to be out of the park by 6pm so it was another wild ride back to the gate. Once we were back on the sealed road I think the driver was keen to get back as he drove flat out and overtook everything (clear road or not). Needless to say we were all relieved to get our feet on the ground back at the hotel. Not a big tip for the driver this time!

We had time for a last swim before a good nights sleep in preparation for the last day of travelling for a while.

Sarah

• The safari because we got to see animals we did not even know existed.
• The waterfalls that we got to see on the way to our new hotel.
• The safari because wild elefants walked right infront of the jeep
• The pool because there is a spa and an extremely deep pool.
• Having lasagne for dinner for the 1st time in a while.

Dan

• The waterfall because i'd never seen one before
• The vegetable Gardens because they were massive
• The safari because we saw a bird that was critically endangered
• The safari because the elephant was so close
• The pool because it had a spa

Rich

Best thing was the safari

For a long time I thought the best thing was getting onto a straight road! The long stomach churning ride through the mountain roads almost had me reproducing my breakfast on several occasions and was only slightly alleviated by spectacular views!

Arriving at the hotel I thought it unlikely much would beat the view from the deck over the lake. Spectacular!

However the safari did accomplish this (although the blow to head, for both Rob and I, from a poorly negotiated bump on the track may have affected our judgement, I think we both saw plenty of stars and tweeting birds!!!!)

The reserve itself was a maze of driving tracks. The jeeps weren't allowed to stray from these paths although on several of the one way tracks we simply drove in reverse instead to avoid being fined!!! It was great to see so much wildlife in its natural environment, even from a little more distance, crocodiles, lizards, birds, elephants, buffaloes, deer, boar and peacocks to name a few. What made the trip was a couple of very close encounters with some elephants. Speeding round a corner we came across a medium sized elephant casually eating some tree branches we pulled up just centimetres from her which was a real thrill. Just yards away a baby elephant was "horsing" around in the lake and then came right up to the vehicle to say hello! Then, just before we left we came face to face with a very large male elephant. Simply awe inspiring.