After leaving beachside paradise at Tangalle we were driven to Yala National Park, and our accommodation at Chaaya Wild. One of the great things about travelling in Sri Lanka is just how affordable and easy it is to hire a driver. I think most people hire a driver for the duration of their trip, which is a great idea, but we just arranged one from point to point, usually as late as the day before we wanted to travel.

We were visiting the park to go on safari and hopefully catch a glimpse of the shy and endangered leopards that live in the park, as well as the elephants and other animals who inhabit the area. Being our tenth wedding anniversary we had decided once again to splurge on accommodation, the feelings of guilt at spending so much money when we are more used to budget backpacking was quickly overtaken by the joy of the experience. The accommodation is cabins set throughout the grounds, with signs dotted around warning you of animal encounters. After dark you are escorted between your cabin and the common areas by a torch wielding staff member, just in case which feels rather dangerous and exciting! We had visits from wild boars at dusk and a whole herd (is that what it is called?) of monkeys came for happy hour at the swimming pool. We enjoyed a late afternoon walk around the area, watching the staff playing cricket, seeing the local fishing community and wandering along the wild beach with its pounding waves. Sunsets were spent on the viewing deck with a sundowner.

ON SAFARI

We chose to go on our little safari at dusk one afternoon as that is the best time to view the animals (as well as early morning) and we wanted to make the most of the golden light. We had read that the park can turn into a bit of a circus at times with so many trucks full of guides and tourists chasing the animals. We hoped this would not be the case, and although there were a lot of trucks around we were really happy with our driver who tried to keep out of the big groups and was very respectful keeping his distance from the animals. We felt really lucky to spot a leopard sunning itself on the branch of a tree early on in our trip, although we really needed the binoculars provided to get a good view, and then were even more excited to see a majestic leopard sitting on the top of ‘leopard rock’ sunning himself for all to see later on. We were visited by lots of grand elephants with their babies, hyena, crocodiles, peacocks, deer, monkeys and lots of different birds.

Sadly, as we found out, Yala National Park was hit badly by the 2004 tsunami and 250 people died in the area. There is a memorial marking the fateful day on Patanangala Beach to remind visitors of the devastation. The locals have a theory that the animals had a kind sixth sense about the danger heading their way as there were none killed or harmed in the tsunami.

KATARAGAMA TEMPLE

Where there is water and nature, there is often mosquitos and as we had breakfast on our last day one of the waiters pointed to the white ‘stingoes’ on one of my bites and asked me if I had been to visit the local temple (the white chalky ointment looks very similar to the paste applied to worshippers by the temple priest). I laughed and told him it was ointment but as fate would have us he then told us about the nearby Kataragama Temple complex which we decided to visit on our way to the tea country.

Kataragamam Temple is a temple complex dedicated to Kataragama deviyo, the guardian deity of Sri Lanka, and one of the few religious sites in Sri Lanka that is visited by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. It is a collection of modest shrines, of which the one dedicated to Kataragama deviyo, is the most important. It was a wonderful place to people watch, wander and immerse yourself in the local culture. We enjoyed being blessed by the priest along with the masses and also having an impromptu tour of the mosque by one of the priests there.

Next stop tea country!