BENGALTIGERS
Any wildlife lovers know that the Bengal Tigers of India are the largest big cats of the world. Most big cat lovers also consider them to be the most beautiful of the feline species. When considering the depressing fall in tiger numbers in the world, it is difficult not to feel deeply pessimistic over the fate of tigers. From over 150,000 in the 1900s, Indian tigers are now reduced to no more than 3200 and even that number may be an exaggeration. Different conservation groups see the situation differently.
So let's consider the beauty of the tiger and not its probable sad fate (to exist only in zoos of the world). Probably everyone has seen pictures of this wonderful creature with its white and orange coloration background encircles with black stripes. We learned that the stripe patterns on the tiger's face are as individual as our fingerprints, making it easy for researchers to identify each tiger they are studying.
The intensely orange eyes are totally compelling and hypnotic. The round ears lined with black fur on the front view and the black spots with white centers as seen from the back add to the tiger's attractive appearance.
These cats really are quite large: the adult males average between 9 and 10 feet in length, including the tail; females range from 8 to 8.5 ft. in length. Males weigh an average of 520 lbs. and females reach 310 lbs. Tiber cubs weigh only 2 lbs. at birth and are both deaf and blind up to three weeks. They stay with their mothers from 18 mos to 3 years, gaining weight and size, as well as learning to hunt for themselves. A tiger's roar can be heard at a distance of almost 2 miles away. So they have big voices as well.
Unlike lions, tigers do not live in prides; they are solitary creatures except for females with cubs. As long as her cubs are dependent on her, the female will not come into heat again. Males are very territorial and will not tolerate another male in their domains which can be quite large –from 20 to 100 miles. Females can overlap male territories without dispute and some females will allow others in their smaller territories. When a female lives even partially within a male's territory, she will be considered by him as part of his harem and he will defend her from other interloping males.
When the males leave their mothers, they must strike out and find a territory unoccupied by another adult male. Females often remain in the same areas with their mothers. Even though India now has 23 tiger preserves, it is clear that the burgeoning human populations around the
parks and preserves make each one capable of sustaining only a few males; yet it takes at least 250 tigers in an area to allow for genetic diversity and, thus, thriving tigers. So even if poaching were not the problem that it is, tiger populations will and do suffer from decreased territory availability. So despite the efforts of many different governmental and independent tiger preservation organizations, it appears dismally true that the ultimate fate of wild tigers is not very optimistic.
BandhavgarhNationalPark
As mentioned above, Micki and Dan had already enjoyed a great tiger sighting experience before Lois and Kay joined them in Khajuraho. We went first to one of the most famous the tiger reserves, Bandhavgarh National Park, about 350 miles from Delhi to the south. It is a very large preserve and is very well managed on behalf of the tiger. Of course, it is also a huge tourist draw and is an important source of foreign “investment” in the local economies of India.
Bandhavgarh National Park is 268 square miles but the tiger reserve in it is only 41 square miles. It is said that this reserve has the highest density of tigers in all India: 4.77 tigers per square mile. The old saying used to be that “If you go to other parks to see tigers, you are lucky if you see one. If you go Bandhavgarh you are unlucky if you don't see one.” And we did see tigers here, but we had closer encounters at the other reserve we visited; but more on that later. This park is named after a hillock inside it that is called “Brother's Fort” in English (Bandhavgarh in Hindi). The hill's name comes from a legend which says that the Hindu Lord Rama gave the hill to his brother, Lakshmana so he could keep an eye on Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for him. Seems rather appropriate since we were headed for Sri Lanka after our time in this park and the other one we visited.
In this park are 37 species of mammal, including the tiger, leopard, Indian wolf, several deer species, the wild bison (gaur), monkeys, wild boar, mongoose and many other kinds of smaller animals. There are an estimated 250 birds species and we found that we had seen almost all of them according to our bird lists. There are 70 butterfly species and a number of reptiles as well. However, we were mainly looking for larger mammals and birds so we probably overlooked butterflies and smaller critters in our anxiousness to find a tiger.
There is much forested land in this park and not as much open grassland as we had expected from pictures we had seen before arriving. There are rocky outcroppings on which we kept anticipating spotting tigers or leopards but never did. Our safari rides in the mornings started at
6:30 AM (which meant we had arisen much earlier to get to the gate at that time) and ended promptly at 10:30 AM when the park was closed to visitors. It reopened again at 3:00 PM when we would get another chance to see a tiger. That ride would end promptly at 6:30 PM The driver and guide are held responsible if they are late and are fined about 4-5000 rupees for each infraction (and that is a lot of money to these folks). If they are guilty of three late arrivals, they are suspended from driving and guiding for three weeks. Further infractions can result in bigger fines, longer suspensions, and finally permanent expulsion from the park. That of course would be devastating to these people whose livelihoods depend on the 9 months the park is open during a year. So we would often find ourselves racing back to the gate bouncing along the rough sandy roads as the driver rushed to be on time. Rather like a roller-coaster ride with a little bit of a ship tossing in hurricane force winds mixed with it! Fun and exciting too.
We had three brief glimpses of tigers in this park so we would definitely fit into the “lucky” crowd in the official accumulated statistics. The first big fellow we saw was near the entrance in the afternoon we arrived. It is pretty probable that we would have missed him had not our driver noticed several jeeps pulled up just outside the park. He drove down to see what was going on and then we saw him! He was about 10 feet from the road lying in the tall grasses under some bamboo and trees. He blended so well with his surroundings that he was difficult to see. He was flat out on his side so that the most salient of his features was an enormous paw with the pads exposed. One eye would open lazily to watch if the trucks dared move closer and then it would close again. Even partially hidden he was absolutely beautiful!
All four of us were hopeful that seeing him was a sign unto us that we would see others during our stay in Bandhavgarh. And we did! But still just quick looks at quickly vanishing tigers. We saw our second tiger as a result of a jeep jam. Our driver drove up behind about 20 cars piled up at every angle waiting to see a female tiger cross the road. It was only an accident that we arrived before the crossing had already taken place. Just after we arrived, the tigress dashed across the road in front the first vehicle and disappeared so rapidly that it was hard to believe we had actually seen her. The space between the car and the brush on the side of the road she was approaching to our eyes appeared about a foot wide, so far away were we from her crossing point. But again, we were counted among the positive statistics.
The third tiger we saw in this park was even further away, actually out of the confines of the park! How our driver and guide spotted her through the hurricane fencing, across a wide grass field, and then through deep underbrush just in front of some trees, we will never comprehend. But with powerful binoculars we saw her tawny & black-striped body slipping between the bushes, playing hide and seek with our over-anxious eyes. There was no chance to get a picture of her
at such a distance but we all drank in the view eagerly and desperately. She was a very large tigress and our guide believed that she had cubs so we waited some while to see if they would follow her. However, she must have told them to stay put because they never appeared to our “wondering eyes” nor did she return the way she had crossed. But there was no denying that we had definitely seen our third tiger (4th for Dan & Micki).
The four safari rides we took in Bandhavgarh were successful by other measures as well because we did see several of the park's mammalian and avian residents. One of the birds we observed was the Brown Fish Owl who is quite large, dark brown in color, with large yellow eyes.
Again, our guide's ability to spot things that were invisible to our eyes was remarkable. This bird was roosting in the dense part of a tree's foliage way back in deep shadow. Once we were oriented as to his whereabouts, we could all see him very well with the binoculars and the clicking cameras. We all enjoy observing birds very much but we are not really serious birders not a single life list among us.
Other creatures we saw included the gaur (wild bison of India,), several deer species like the tiger's favorite prey the chital (the spotted deer) and the sambar (largest of the deer species).
The gaur is a huge animal which is only preyed upon by tigers and crocodiles; adults are simply too powerful for smaller predators like leopards or wild dogs though these have been known to attack unguarded calves or sick mature animals. The gaur is now listed as an endangered
species in India and is extinct in Sri Lanka. The adults can weigh between 2200 and 4400 lbs., so only elephants and rhinos are larger. They have formidable horns, up to 31 inches long, but are not aggressive unless disturbed. They graze through the forests in the mornings and evenings and hide away in the deeper woods during the day. Their near-black and shiny coats provide surprisingly excellent camouflage among the trees.
Our guides assured us that the rarest animal we saw in Bandhavgarh was neither the tiger nor the gaur; it was the very elusive jungle cat. Right after our last tiger sighting as we were hurrying out of the park, we rounded a curve and there in the tall golden grasses beside the road we saw the jungle cat! He was as surprised as we but did not rush away. He just moved on his way with some deliberation.
The jungle cat is a tawny grey to yellowish grey flecked with black hairs and dark bars on his hind legs. Though they are the largest of the wild cat species, they are much smaller than tigers, leopards, or jaguars. The are from 22 to 37 inches in length without including the tail which measures from 8 to 12 inches and stand about 14 inches at the shoulder. They weigh anywhere from 7 to 26 pounds and have slender faces with golden-yellow eyes and large, rounded ears. However, there most amazing characteristic is their ability to climb down a tree as easily as they climb up it, with their heads facing downward. This feat can be performed because their front
and hind claws are of equal length. “Our” jungle cat, however, did not turn into Count Dracula before our very eyes. He stayed on the ground.
We also saw three species of mongoose, an attractive little weasel-like creature who is very quick on his feet, wild boar, and Indian gazelles.
There are many birds of prey in the Indian forests with some of them presenting eagle-like fierceness and others looking more like vultures. We actually did most of the varieties and the photographers had regular challenges in achieving shots that showed their many different plumages, sizes, and flying styles. We saw more owl species during the runs as well as the wonderfully colorful bee-eaters and sunbirds that fill the niche our hummingbirds occupy. Everything we saw, large or small, dull in color or wildly technicolored, fierce or shy, numerous or elusive, was delightful to our eyes and compelling to our camera lenses.
Ruddy mongoose
A SIDE NOTE
Since our travels typically include some unusual hotel accommodations, I cannot leave Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve without mentioning our strange experience at the Bandhav Vilas! We can start with the fact the facility was far off the main road and a long drive from the gates of the National Park. When we arrived, it was obvious we had been expected to arrive much earlier, but thanks to our driver who kept getting lost, we were quite late for lunch (about 3 PM). We were registered quickly and sat down to eat in an attractive outside dining area. Remember, we had not yet seen in our individual villas.
It was a strange feeling indeed that came over us as we sat at the table and gradually realized that a crowd of hotel staff was forming around us. The manager, the desk clerk, the chef and all his minions including waiters and cooks stood at a distance from us and watched our every bite of food, waiting anxiously to see if we needed anything to enhance our enjoyment of the meal. It was rather unsettling to be under such close observation and we spoke quietly among ourselves and smiled nervously if we happened to meet one of the staff's eyes. Occasionally, the silliness of the situation overcame us and we would titter and chuckle, only to produce nervous agitation in the surrounding group of people!
Indian Scops Owl
What a relief when we were finally taken to our villas all the way to the rear of the grounds of the hotel. Micki, wanting a remote and quiet setting for our stay, had asked for the farthest villas available and her request was certainly granted.
Our villas were adjacent to one another and we were ready for a little rest before going on a bird walk in the area with an experienced birder. That was to take place around 6 PM, so we went inside and checked out the accommodations before some relaxation. We agreed to meet at the appointed hour in the lobby. The villas were comfortable but not particularly plush however, more than adequate.
When we started out for the lobby, we realized that we had a pretty good hike from our place to the lobby that was fine with us since we all like to walk. But when we arrived at the meeting place, we realized that we were the only guests in the entire complex! So it had not really been necessary to request an isolated set of villas to achieve quietness and privacy. The joke was on us for sure.
The “birdman of Bandhav Vilas” was good at finding birds and we saw many interesting species, again including my favorite the owls. We saw a tiny Spotted Owlet living in a large knothole and blending very well into his environment as he sat on his front porch. His eyes were paler yellow than most owls and his eyebrow were outlined in white feathers which made them look huge. He was only 8 inches high but his coloring made him very striking: upper parts are grey-brown heavily spotted with white and the underparts are white streaked with brown. When startled, he bobs his head and stares straight out at the offender.
When we returned to dinner after our walk and a cooling shower, we were confronted again with the odd experience of being the only guests at the hotel. Once more, all the workers seemed to congregate around us, constantly hovering to make sure we had everything we needed or wanted. The chef was particularly concerned that we were pleased with our meals, that nothing was too spicy or too bland. His nervous attention made us feel that his employment might be on some trial basis. Again, it was pretty uncomfortable for everyone, made more so by the fact that their English wasn't really fluent enough for us to carry on reasonable conversations so there was a lot of South Indian head bobbing and smiling going on (until we felt like the Spotted Owlet disturbed in his knothole abode).
This situation went on all the three days we stayed at the Vilas! No other guests appeared until the last day when we were leaving. We were relieved to see others arrive because it took the
attention off us and by now we had to have become very boring to the hotel's staff as well. And we had worried how this place stayed open with many more staff members than visitors!
Even with all the peculiarity of our hotel, we would all insist that our visit to Bandhavgarh National Park was a real success! Three tigers and a jungle cat sighting were terrific and fulfilled our purpose for visiting India completely. And we also enjoyed the several walks we took in and around the Vilas both with our bird guide and by ourselves. If only we could have left India with a more optimistic feeling about the ultimate fate of tigers there, it would have been an almost perfect visit.
KanhaNationalPark
Our trip itinerary stated that the drive between Bandhavgarh and Kanha would be about 5 hours. By now, we knew better than to believe that estimate. Our driver was totally challenged when it came to time calculations. Plus he got himself lost so many times that there was no way he could keep any sort of preset schedule. And he was true to form on this drive we were never confident that we would reach Kanha because he kept driving down strange, empty sandy roads and then looking totally confused about where he was. He would stop and ask people directions and even though we couldn't understand what he was asking or what the answer was, we knew he continued to be perplexed.
He finally had to call the Singinawa Jungle Lodge to get final directions so we could finally arrive at our destination late as usual. But arrive we did and found ourselves being hurriedly seated for a late lunch again. This meal was a buffet and we had choices of Indian and Nepalese foods. The dining room was lovely and we were so relieved there were several other people enjoying lunch as well.
Though this place was reasonably populated and a little more upscale than the Vilas we had just left, we still had very peculiar experiences in Singinawa, but more about that later. First we must explore the marvelous Kanha National Park and Tiger Reserve. This Reserve had been selected for us because there is a general belief that if you are not lucky enough to see a tiger at Bandhavgarh, you will surely see one here! Well, we had seen tigers in the first spot and Micki and Dan had seen one in Ranthambore without us as well. So we figured we could be pretty relaxed about this visit.
At 411 square miles, Kanha is the largest national park and tiger reserve in central India. Besides having a stable population of tigers, the park is also renown for other inhabitants too sloth bears, dhole (wild dogs) and barasingha ( hard ground swamp deer). It also has an abundance of
the “usual suspects” like chital, sambur, barking and mouse deer, wild boar, gaur, jackal and fox. Another very rare creature in this bark is the 4-horned antelope, the only one in the world actually. Besides, its conservation of tigers, the park has had excellent success in bringing the barasingha deer back from almost certain extinction and it now hosts a stable herd. This moderate-sized deer is adapted to live in swampy areas and will swim and browse on watery plants. It also lives on banks of lakes and can graze on grasses and leaves which grow on land rather than in the water.
The park boasts a varied terrain including sal forests (a large deciduous tree) and bamboo forests as well as grassy meadows and steep ravines. The meadow areas exist because the land had been cleared in years past by village farmers who formerly inhabited the areas. When the villages were relocated from the confines of the park, their farmlands became these meadows which have been very useful to the animals of Kanha NP. There are 200 flowering plants within the park and 22 species of mammals as well as 170 bird species. So we had plenty of things to search for besides the tigers.
Kanha also has a very specific time schedule for safari rides and its drivers and guides are as careful about their arrival and departure times as those in Bandhavgarh. This park is open from 6:30 AM To 12 noon and then reopens at 3 PM until 6 PM Both parks are closed during the rainy season from July 1 to October 15. This period is a quiet time for the animals and other creatures who live there. Much of the reproductive activities take place during the time when there is very little human interference in the natural cycles.
One extra, and much appreciated, service Kanha provides visitors is the chance to view tigers from elephant backs. Though both Bandhavgarh and Kanha use elephants for tracking animals, checking for signs of poaching, looking for injured or sick animals and patrolling boundaries, only Kanha will allow its elephant patrols to call guides and drivers in the park when tigers are spotted so that they can bring the park visitors to the area. Then aluminum ladders are leaned against the elephants and the tourists climb up into the howdahs atop the creature's back two to an elephant. This is a special treat and allows closer observation of tigers than in Bandhavgarh.
As a matter of fact, our two most wonderful tiger sightings occurred in Kanha while we were atop the very tall Asian elephants (nearly 12 feet high where we sat). In the wild, the tigers don't fear the elephants nor do the elephants worry about the nearness of tigers, so they are the perfect beasts to search for the sleeping tigers (which they let lie) and then bring visitors to the tiger's “bedroom.” We drove over many a sandy and gullied road before our guide got the call that the elephant patrol had come upon a slumbering tigress, not 50 yards off the road but completely hidden in the underbrush.
Our driver raced to Center Point in the park where we got our tickets to permit us to climb aboard. Then he drove even faster to the rendezvous spot where we happily climbed the rickety extension ladders which were only leaning on the elephant's side and piled into the howdah (square box-like saddle for elephant riding). We did not allow ourselves to worry about what would happen if the elephant just decided to move a step to the side opposite the ladder!
With just a gentle nudge from the mahout's toes, our elephant stepped off the dusty road where all the safari vehicles were parked and crashed into the jungle. Of course, he was not mindful at all where the low branches and bushes might meet our heads and faces since we were so high on his back. That meant we had to be on the lookout constantly to push any vegetation away from our heads, all the while we were looking excitedly and anxiously for our photographic prey.
The sunlight was filtering through the leaves of the plants in the little thicket where the tigress lay quite contentedly on her side. We could watch the light play over her well-camouflaged body and realize how difficult she would be to find without the view from the elephant. Her golden fur with its impressive black striping serves her well in the jungles of India. But we could see her very well indeed from our perch.
At first she only cocked an eye open when we came thrashing around her with branches and leaves crunching and snapping as the elephant turned to give us all clear vantage points no matter which side of the howdah our feet dangled from. Then she became more curious, or perhaps more impatient with all the noise and activity, and raised her beautiful head to stare at us with deep golden eyes that flashed her annoyance at the disturbance. Her white whiskers were stiff and bristling, her round ears with the black fringe at the edges were at attention, her elegant markings were stunning (we learned that those facial markings are individual to each tiger), her enormous paws and her smoothly muscled body revealed her presently quiet strength. She was absolutely the most gorgeous animal I had ever seen in the wild; her power, her beauty and her ultimate vulnerability brought tears streaming down my erstwhile happy face. What an amazingly complex ending to my lifelong hope to see a wild tiger totally satisfying and yet quite despairing.
The next day, we did see another tiger from elephant bank in Kanha. Elephants were called in to carry us from our truck to the sighting.
This was a big male who was sleeping off an enormous lunch of gaur meat. He had made the kill the day before according to the elephant men and was still guarding it for his own satisfaction. He had apparently cornered the gaur in a ravine and then dragged his body up on a shelf between the bottom and crest of the ravine. He lay sleeping a few feet away from his lunch.
He was larger than the female and his rapid breathing attracted our attention to his rising and falling belly which was quite distended. The guides told us that tigers usually eat between 40 and 60 lbs. of meat at a meal which they are successful at a kill. This fellow had certainly dined prodigiously and was in an almost stuporous sleep after such a gorging. He was slightly lighter in color than the female but his paws were even bigger than hers. He would lazily open an eye to look at his audience as we sat quietly on the other side of the ravine from his resting place. And though he slapped his long and thick tail around just as your house cat does when she is peeved with you, he refused to give us the satisfaction of raising his head in either curiosity or ire. Nonetheless, we were very grateful to this tiger, the mahouts and elephants who had located him, and our guides who had gotten us to the site in time to climb aboard again to view a tiger in the wild.
Though the tiger was definitely the ultimate object of our visit to these parks, we did greatly enjoy seeing all the other critters who revealed themselves to us. We had hope to see the sloth bear and at least one wild dog, but we saw nary a hair of either of these animals. But we were not disappointed unduly because all of us are well aware that a trip to a wildlife preserve is not like a visit to your local zoo.
Here's an interesting comparison between the African and Asian elephants to show you how different they really are. So different in their genetic inheritance that they cannot be successfully interbred. http://www.upali.ch/differences_en.html
TheSinginawaJungleLodge
Our home for the three nights we stayed at Kanha was this very unusual hotel in the jungle. It was more unusual for its location and for its ownership than for the buildings though they were quite interesting and comfortable. The 12 cabins and the public buildings which housed the dining room, the movie theater, the spacious and inviting “living room” for all the guests were made from black granite and were very attractive and comfortable, with especially elegant shower and bathroom facilities.
The food was a delicious combination of Indian and Nepalese cuisine; the staff were friendly and helpful, especially young Vijay who was assigned to us for the safari rides and the walks around the grounds in our searches for birds. He was outgoing and spoke very good English and worked diligently to make our stay as productive and enjoyable as possible.
Why is the location of the Lodge notable? The entire complex is set on a former garbage dump which had served a few of the relocated villages. It was more than just a brown-field; it was a high hill of non-biodegradable trash and garbage that had been accumulating for many, many years. When the owners purchased the land, they knew they would be spending lots of money preparing the site before any buildings could be constructed or any money made on their investment. However, they were committed to returning the land to as pristine as state possible. After all, the name of their lodge, Singinwara, means “guardian of the forest” in Nepalese.
As we wandered over the site with Vijay spying the many bird species who live in this wonderful place, we would not have been able to ferret out its nasty past. The land was hilly but obviously fertile since many flowers and plants were growing healthily everywhere. The river which bounds one part of the property looked clean and beautiful as it lazily ran past us to join larger rivers in the park. We saw beautiful birds and were told that even a leopard occasionally frequents this property as do wild dogs and other creatures who make Kanha their home. However, no one claimed that tigers came this close to human settlement. The owners have succeeded in their aim to remake this area into a viable and good addition to the park's buffer zone. We appreciated their effort unrestrainedly; it is a lovely property from which to explore Kanha National Park and Tiger Reserve!
The Owners
When we checked in at the Lodge, we were met immediately by Latika the female half of the partnership who had created this spot. Her husband, Nanda, joined us for lunch later. Latika is the daughter of a prosperous and aristocratic Indian family and her husband is a prince of the royal family governing Nepal. When we put together the pedigrees of these two people along
with their extensive renovations and installations, we could understand where the funds for this formidable challenge were found.
Latika told us at our pre-lunch orientation that she is very involved with The Tiger Project and tiger research at both Bandhavgarh and Kanha and is a consultant to many wildlife conservation organizations and governments where tigers are found. She is the only female Ph.D. in tiger research in the world, having earned her credentials at Oxford in England. Her husband is a renowned wildlife photographer and consultant on conservation as well. Both of them are obviously dedicated to the preservation of tigers in India and elsewhere in the world.
Before we were ushered into the formal dining room for supper that night, we were instructed to go into the theater to watch a National Geographic documentary entitled “The Tiger Princess” made in the year 2000. The documentary touched on our hostess and her tiger studies but centered more on her family history, her personality and her romance with Nanda. Certainly, it was a rather different approach than that usually used in National Geographic documentaries.
Following the showing, we proceeded to the dining room which featured a table that would sit at least 20 people. On the walls were some truly stunning poster-sized photographs taken by our host of tigers in Bandhavgarh and Kanha. The pictures were wonderful and we were very impressed when Nanda informed us that all the pictures were taken with film. He has not yet switched to digital photography and his beautifully displayed portraits of the “tigers he has known” proved he did not need to make the change.
At the table with us were two couples who obviously knew each other and the Ranas very well. It turned out that one of the couples were investors in Singinawa and also very supportive of the Tiger Project. They have been traveling to India from their home in England for more than 18 years. The other couple were friends of theirs who are also Indian travel veterans. The conversation at the table was lively and interesting. We wondered if there were any other “paying guests” like us and learned the next day that there was another younger couple in residence was well. At least we weren't subject to the stares and constant attention of an underemployed staff! We were grateful!
All the while we were staying at Singinawa, there was an anxiety nagging at the back of all our minds the trip to Nagpur to catch our flight to Mumbai on March 11th . Our driver from Khajuraho had been lost so many times, had been so frustrating to us with his time estimates, any annoying with his many changes in scheduling for departures, that we were all apprehensive that he would never gt us to Nagpur on time for the very important flight that would begin our
three legged trip to Colombo. After we flew from Nagpur, we had to move on from Mumbai to Chennai and thence from Chennai to Colombo. A missed flight at the start would cause cascading problems we did not want to face.
At a wonderful al fresco dinner beside the pool under a sky full of stars, we unburdened ourselves to Nanda and asked if he could perhaps get some straighter answers from our driver. That gentleman had told us several versions of when we needed to start out and how long it would take to reach Nagpur to the point we no longer believed anything he said. Nanda told us he could do better! For $75.00 (divided among us) he would secure a new vehicle with a new and reliable driver. We hardly hesitated long enough to discuss it among ourselves we all said “Please” with one voice. So we went to our rooms with much lighter hearts.
Apparently, Nanda informed the driver after we left the pool area that we were hiring a different driver and he thought the whole matter was resolved.
However, such was not the case. Next morning there stood our original driver still giving out different times of departure and estimates of driving times and he was very unwilling to understand that we were not going to be riding with him again. Nanda spoke to him yet again and explained in Hindi that we had hired another driver. Finally and with great reluctance, the man produced a form that he demanded Dan to sign explaining that he was released from his responsibility to drive us to Nagpur. He said he must be able to show the form to his employer at Travel Scope. While we certainly did not want to cost this man his job, we also did not want to miss our flight. Dan signed the form and our constantly lost driver finally sped away. We wondered if he would ever find his way back to Khajuraho to show the form to the Travel Scope people.
The way to Nagpur from Singinawa was circuitous, often on sand roads, with so many strange turns and twists and rides through tiny towns that we were all relieved to be with our new driver even more than we had realized we would be. He seemed to know the way even though there were few road signs and when there were, the word Nagpur did not appear on them, and much of the trip was on sand and gravel through jungles and forests and tiny villages. He was a very quiet fellow who did not appear to speak English so we were never able to ask him just where were in the trip. However, he arrived at the Nagpur Airport in plenty of time for our flight to Mumbai and we congratulated ourselves on having switched drivers at the last minute, thus relieving ourselves of continuing anxiety all the way there.
Leaving India took us 3 flight legs, with an eight hour stay in a beautiful hotel in Mumbai called the Leela. We all regretted that we weren't able to enjoy its surroundings and amenities longer but Sri Lanka was waiting. Even our eight hours there did not allow for much luxuriating because they took place at night. Anyway, the next leg was from Mumbai to Chennai and from that city we flew to Colombo. Kay and I got a nice surprise in Chennai when the airline representative upgraded our economy seats to Business Class without our even asking. Much more comfortable flight than we would have had. Again, we were grateful and happy!
SRILANKA–HOMEOFTHEHUMANTAMILTIGERS
Let's start with some interesting facts about this island nation which is much less visited by tourists than India, even though it is separated from the subcontinent by only 25.5 miles at the closest point. The water between the two countries is called the Gulf of Palk on the east and the Gulf of Mannar on the west. The Bay of Bengal is the large body of water on the eastern side of Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean lies to the South.
Sri Lanka is slightly larger than West Virginia and comprises 25,332 square miles of land area. That makes it 121st in the list of nations by territory. Its population of 21,283,913 gives it the 57th position in population size. The geography of the country is mostly flat plains with mountains in the south central interior. The plains are at sea level and the highest mountain is 8,280 ft. The climate is classified as tropical monsoon and there are two monsoon seasons: from December to March and from June to October. The country is divided about equally between a fertile wet zone and a dry zone where agriculture is more difficult. The natural resources of the country include limestone, phosphates, graphite, mineral sands, clay, gemstones and hydro-power. Fourteen percent of the land is arable and tropical fruits and some EU countries. One of the most important exports from Sri Lanka is, of course, its tea, grown in the highlands where coffee was first cultivated until the British transformed the coffee plantations into the vast tea plantations still persisting today.
The real strategic importance of Sri Lanka through the millennia, however, has been its position in the Indian Ocean sea lanes. In centuries past, Arab traders recognized the island as a convenient stop on their voyages and finally they began to settle in the coastal areas as well. Next came the Portuguese who also coveted its location in the area. In the 16th century, the Portuguese took control of the coasts from the Arabs and kept it under their control until the Dutch pushed them out in the 17th century.
In 1796, the Dutch government ceded the island to the British and in 1802 it became a crown colony. The British united the disparate parts of the island into a single entity, then called Ceylon, in 1815. Following World War II when Great Britain was enervated after the terrible costs of that conflict, she granted independence to many of the former colonies. In that devolution, Ceylon gained its independence in 1948 and in 1972 it changed its name to Sri Lanka, meaning Beautiful Island.
Sadly, the country was ruptured by civil war from 1983 to 2009 when the government brutally repressed the Tamil Tiger efforts to break the northern part of the island away from the rest so that the Tamil peoples could have their own separate country. The origin of the movement has its roots in the long ago history of the populating of the island. There was an indigenous people on the island but they were never numerous and it is believed that they probably originated in Indonesia. There are a few thousand of their descendants still living in Sri Lanka as a tiny minority. They are called the Veddahs today and they have played no role in the civil strife.
The current population of the island really has its roots in India. The first wave of Indian emigrants came from Northern India bringing with them the Buddhist faith around the 6th century. They had probably left India because the Moghuls there were introducing Islam to the area and Buddhism had lost its dominant position. These people quickly overcame the Veddahs and established kingdoms chiefly in the central plains and highlands areas. These civilizations lasted through the waves of Arab, Portuguese and Dutch occupiers and persisted during much of the British hegemony. The people of this culture called themselves the Sinhala and today they are the majority ethnic group in the country at seventy-four percent. There is also a group of Indian Tamils who call themselves natives of the island as well. They claim to have been in Sri Lanka even before the Northern Indian Sinhalas. They make up 12.5% of the population and have usually stood with the Sinhalas in recent times in the civil war with the Tamil Tigers who are chiefly descended from the third wave of Indians who were brought over by the British in the 19th century when they needed workers for the tea plantations and the Sinhala were not disposed to accept that type of “grunt” labor. These Indians came from Tamil Nadu, the province in extreme southern India, as willingly emigrants in search of work. They presently comprise 5.5% of the ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. The remaining 8% of the population are the descendants of Arab traders, now called Sri Lankan Moors, Europeans, and the Veddahs.
The official languages of Sri Lanka honor both the Sinhalese and the Tamils; those languages are called Sinhala and Tamil. However, as the years went by, the Northern Tamils, those most recent immigrants from India under the British, grew more and more restless under the Sinhala hegemony. They felt that they were not fully recognized as equals in the society, the government
structures, or the cultural milieu. So they began to agitate for a separate state of their own in the Northern part of the island. The Tamil Sri Lankans from the earlier period of immigration in general stood with the Sinhala against the newer Tamils or attempted to remain neutral in the confrontations.
The Civil War raged on from 1983 to 2009 and gradually became more and more violent as the Tamils became more disillusioned and desperate. Finally, they began to earn their nickname, the Tamil Tigers, as they resorted to terrorist tactics and killed many civilians in their efforts to force the Sinhalese government to recognize the legitimacy of their claiming the right to secede and establish a separate state.
At last, the government decided that the island had suffered enough from the Tigers' violence and decided to crush the rebellion once and for all. The economy had been damaged seriously, there was no tourism to speak of, people on the island could not be secure in their homes, cities and towns, or even in their places of worship. In 2009 the government struck the enclaves of the Tamil Tigers and literally crushed the movement through the annihilation of its leadership. When it was admitted by the remaining Tigers that they had been defeated, a truce was reached and the government began to try to put the country back together. Concessions were made to the Tamils, including the right to instruction for children in Tamil, more representation in all levels of government, complete freedom of religion, and other demands of the rebels. However, they were NOT granted even autonomous governorship of their region of the island.
While we visited the island in March of this year, there was an atmosphere of calm everywhere we traveled and our guide assured us that Sri Lanka was at last at peace! Except when we were in “tea country” we never saw much evidence of differences in the physical appearance, dress, or social behaviors among the people. In “tea country,” the people were definitely darker in complexion, wore different styles of clothing and were much more reserved with us. Nonetheless, we believed in the propaganda that all was well in Sri Lanka and that the government had acted in the best interests of the nation as a whole, even though the repression had been so violent.
Upon our return, we began reading news about Sri Lanka with greater interest and have since learned that there is still considerable unrest among the Tamils who continue to believe that they are treated as less than fully entitled citizens of their own country. A UN report is due out in a few weeks from this journal's preparation and it apparently corroborates some of the Tamil Tiger claims both about the harshness of the repression and the continuing denial of full rights of citizenship to Tamils. The President of the country has asked that the Report be delayed for a
few more months before it is published to the world because he states that the details and the conclusions may inflame already smoldering tensions and possibly cause violence and terrorist acts to recur. So far the UN is refusing to hold back its report which was two years in the researching and compiling and there have been some isolated terrorist attacks in the island nation. Once again, we are very happy to have visited when we did and before the Tamil Tigers turned treacherous once more!
In the meantime, while tiring of waiting for their demands to be fully implemented and their place of equality assured, many Tamils are returning to the Indian mainland to live again where their recent ancestors lived before the British recruited them to work on the tea plantations. Around 300,000 have returned permanently in the years since the destruction of the Tamil Tigers. Still others have joined the already significant numbers who have become part of the general diaspora of Tamils to all parts of the world other than India. Only time will tell whether or not there will another bloody uprising among the citizens of Sri Lanka. So sad if it does recur, because the island is large enough to accommodate all segments of its population if people of goodwill can rise to the occasion and create fair conditions for all. The history of the world does give much hope that such will ever be the case. Majorities always tend to victimize the minorities when those factions want to be treated equally. More recent case in point: the Egyptian Muslims and Christians worked together peacefully to overthrow Hosni Mubarak a few months ago and now the Muslims seem to have turned against the Christians and are again attacking and persecuting them, altogether forgetful of the harmony they shared to produce the end of the Mubarak dictatorship.
Sri Lanka up close, with an excellent guide who really knew birds and where to find them, made our to the island nation different and special. So the four of us can only hope that the government can resolve the Tamil Tiger problems peacefully and justly so that the people can resume their lives without fear and violence.
Micki, Dan, Kay and I need to ask ourselves a very important question? Why is it that after we have visited a special place, some kind of unrest stirs the countries? What did we do wrong while we were in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and now Sri Lanka? Oh yes, we fully realize that we are not the centers of the universe, so our visit had absolutely nothing to do with any of that phenomenon!
It’sNotaMiniIndia
Despite what I just outlined about the major population of this island being immigrants from India over several centuries, this nation is not just a smaller version of the “mother country.” Even the fact that both were colonized by the British and invaded by the Portuguese and Dutch so that there is much European influence in them does not make them really close “cousins.” Though both countries have sizable portions of their populations who practice Buddhism or Hinduism , religion does not seem to have made them “lookalikes.” So a visit to Sri Lanka is not like a visit to India and vice-versa.
However, it must be admitted that they do share some similarities most especially flora and fauna, both of which are major interests of us four. The birds can easily fly between the two countries and obviously have done so in the past and continue to do so. So we definitely were aware that we were seeing many of the same birds in both places. The signal difference in the animal kingdom is that tigers do not live in Sri Lanka, other than the Tamil type; so if you want to see wild tigers do not expect to find them in Sri Lanka.
Asian elephants inhabit both nations as do various kinds of monkeys, deer of several species, leopards, gaur, wild boars, crocodiles, land and water monitors, and water buffalo. We were lucky enough to see all these creatures in either India or Sri Lanka or both. However, what we were most interested in viewing in Sri Lanka were as many of the endemic (present only on the island) animals as we could find and, of course, the leopard who lives in both countries.
Sri Lanka has 17 indigenous mammals: 3 primates, 6 rodents, 5 shrews, 1 carnivore, and 2 eventoed ungulates. Of these we saw the “purple-faced leaf monkey” and its subspecies, the shaggy bear monkey, and the toque macaque. We did see the one endemic carnivore, the golden palm civet. We did not see either of the two-toed ungulates. So out of 17, we saw 3 or 11% of them; not too bad a record really.
The top predator of Sri Lanka and the top goal for us as well as our favorite sighting was, obviously, the leopard! Though he is not endemic to Sri Lanka, we were determined to see him if possible because we failed to find one in India, despite lots of looking. And see him we did, in Yala National Park. The sloth bear which lives in both India and Sri Lanka failed to reveal himself to us in either place, so we had to be satisfied with the leopard. But to me, seeing the leopards was the height of the visit to the island nation!
There are many bird species which are endemic to Sri Lanka as well but we did not keep records of them. We just enjoyed seeing and photographing all the birds whichever country we saw them in. There was so many species which showed beautiful feathers and elegant body configurations. We loved them all! Kay’s photos of birds can be found at the end of this journal.
The population number difference is huge: India has 1.2 billion inhabitants while Sri Lanka has only 21 million! Even considering the territorial difference in size (India is 50 times larger than Sri Lanka), it is flabbergasting how much more crowded India seems than the former Ceylon. One of the most astonishing things a first time visitor to India encounters is the sheer numbers of people he is surrounded by all the time! In the city streets, on the inadequate and overwhelmed roads, in the local attractions that are as visited by Indians as by foreigners (like the Taj Mahal), Indians are as numerous as the stars in the firmament.
Having just been in India before we reached Colombo, all of us were rendered mute by how different Sri Lanka seemed, even in the capital city where 2,000,000 Sri Lankans reside. The city streets and sidewalks seemed empty and the quietude of the traffic was just astounding. Indian traffic is so noisy it is like an obstreperous kindergarten class multiplied by thousands. Horns honk incessantly, animals bawl in protest at the loads they are carrying or pulling, men and women shout at one another constantly in order to be heard, dogs bark and yowl, engine sounds never stop their growling. Suddenly in Colombo, we heard a new sound silence. How unsettling and surprising that was! But also how welcome!
In India, Hinduism is the majority religion while it is a minority faith in Sri Lanka. Buddhism is the faith practiced by the majority of Sri Lankans while it is the religion of a small minority in India. And isn't that strange considering that the Buddha was born in India and achieved enlightenment there? He preached his first sermons in India and gathered his disciples from among his fellow citizens. But the history of Buddhism in India is one of diminishing influence and practice since the emperors in the north of the country embraced Islam. In Southern India, Hinduism was never seriously challenged for pride of first place in the hearts of the population.
An interesting thing about Sri Lanka religious practice is the unusual combination of Buddhist and Hindu places of worship. Many ancient sites of Buddhist worship now accommodate sections where Hindus can gather. Even more dramatic, some Buddhist temples show Hindu gods and goddesses among the Buddhist symbols and paintings. It is as though Buddhism as incorporated some aspects of Hinduism in the faith of the Sri Lankan people.
In government and politics, the Sri Lankans and the Indians have taken different paths as well. India proudly calls itself the world's largest democracy and it would be hard to challenge that assertion. It started out as a democracy as soon it gained its independence after World War II. Sri Lanka, in contrast, has had to develop a democracy after having gone through a dictatorship period which was Socialist in philosophy. There is still a tendency towards a “hereditary” leadership tradition in Sri Lanka where the same families tend to trade the offices around among themselves. There are simply too many parties in Sri Lanka for any one opposition group to make headway against the entrenched familial political associations. At present, Sri Lanka is still working out its form of democracy and there are elements in the society who feel that the present form is far from representative or perfect.
The economic situations of the two countries differ from one another as well. To our eyes as we traveled through small villages and even sizeable cities the Sri Lankans appeared to be much more prosperous than the Indians. Where there are some fabulously wealthy Indians whose outlandishly expensive houses, parties, and weddings make the headlines, it would appear that the ordinary folks there are very poor, living often in substandard housing (often just shacks of cardboard and tin), chronically underemployed or unemployed (11% unemployment officially), without basic health care or even barely acceptable hygienic conditions. It is not possible in India to blind oneself to the poverty everywhere around yourself. There are certainly enclaves of opulence but they appear to be at the service of tourists rather than the Indians themselves. Government figures state that 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. To the traveler, it certainly seems the number should be higher.
Typical housing in Sri Lanka appeared much more substantial and we did not see very many folks having to perform their washing up and tooth brushing out in the streets in front of their dwellings as we did in India. Sri Lanka has an official unemployment figure of 5% and the government admits that 23% of its population lives below the poverty line. However, again. To the casual observer, it appears that the numbers should not be that close. The roads in Sri Lanka are certainly in better condition and there are more private cars in the country.
Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine is very similar except that the Sri Lankans use much hotter spices in their dishes than even the Southern Indians. The island folk also use much more coconut milk in their food preparation. However, a visitor to Sri Lanka who has also been in India will find many familiar dishes on the menus of local restaurants. The visitor just has to be careful in taking that first bite of a familiar appearing curry the Sri Lankan version will be much much spicier. In some foodie circles, Sri Lankan food is deemed the hottest cuisine in the world!
Clothing in Sri Lanka seen on the streets is much more westernized than that in India at least in women's fashions. It is rare to see an Indian woman in anything other than a version of the sari, that long strip of cloth wrapped around the body and hooked up over the shoulders with a short blouse underneath the scarf. Sri Lankan women are seen in saris as well but many more are in casual skirts and blouses.
Men in rural India wear the dhoti a sort of diaper affair made of white cloth and wrapped around the body and tucked in at the waist. In cities and larger towns, men wore more western style clothing. We did see some Sri Lankan men in a sarong-like outfit which looked more like something from the South Pacific countries than like an Indian dhoti. (You can see an example in one of Kay's pictures. You may also notice that he has had some advanced medical treatment a heart bypass operation. Notice the scar on his chest.) But most often, Sri Lankan men were dressed like western men in jeans, slacks, suits, T-shirts, sport shirts and all variations in between.
Something we did not miss at all in Sri Lanka that we saw all over India were the piles of garbage and trash in all the cities and on the rural roads as well. These piles were usually topped by goats, sacred cows, dogs and birds trying tof ind anything edible in the mountains of debris. First all, animals do not wander freely in Sri Lanka as they do in India. Because of Hindu spiritual beliefs, most animals are not restrained from “playing in traffic” or grazing along the roadsides, or snuffling in the trash heaps. The Buddhist tradition, while it does not allow cruelty or mistreatment of animals, does not consider them sacred and therefore they do not wander the city streets or rural roads freely. We rather missed seeing cows asleep in the middle of a busy street but their absence certainly does promote smoother traffic movement. We did not miss the mountainous trash and garbage heaps.
AccommodationsandSiteVisits
Maybe it's because we felt less uncomfortable staying in fabulous places in Sri Lanka than we did in India that we believe Sri Lanka is more prosperous or, if such is not the case, we just didn't see as much poverty. Even the people of the island country are not as thin as folks in India which seems to mean they get more good things to eat. At any rate, whatever the cause we felt really indulged in Sri Lanka and didn't suffer much guilt about it. At least we did believe that we were contributing a good deal to the local economy both directly to the staffs and owners of the facilities where we stayed and indirectly to the general well-being of everyone around the hotels: the people who supply the food, the linens, the cars we rode in, construction workers who built
the places, anybody who is even remotely connected with the tourist industry. Is that just rationalization?
Our hotels and resorts were all (except two of them) really terrific, different in design, comfortable, staffed with friendly and willing people, beautifully situated, and just delicious to look at. We'll start with the first one: The Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. We spent only one night there but it gave us such a taste of the luxury enjoyed by folks from an earlier period in Ceylon's history (before it renamed itself Sri Lanka). It is a grand colonial-era landmark which dates from 1864 and has hosted almost anyone of importance or wealth in its past. Of course, today it caters mostly to garden variety tourists like us but does it graciously.
The wooden hotel is large and imposing, rather like a fortress facing the Indian Ocean. Its beachfront area is comfortable and conducive to relaxing with a cool drink after a refreshing dip in either the sea or the pool. We did neither of those things, but we did sit out on the grass and sip our Cokes and Fantas. There are brisk breezes coming from the ocean regardless of the time of day, so being outside is pleasant as is strolling through the corridors and public rooms, imagining who might have been here in 1911. There were museum-like displays through the public spaces to remind just who that might have been.
We only stayed one night so perhaps we were too caught up in the immediate romance of the place to notice any shortcomings. We did not have an evening meal there because we were all too tired to care, but room service was crisp and good. Our rooms were comfortable but definitely “period pieces” with the necessary upgrades for modern tourists. One unexpected surprise for us was a sticker on our window which warned us that we were forbidden to take photos from our room. A glance out one of the windows gave us a hint as to why that might be so: there were guards with guns in buildings around us so apparently there is high security in tourist areas these days. And remember, I already said that we did not want to see a Tamil Tiger! Guess those guards and guns were to insure that our wish was granted.
Jetwing Vil Uyana Resort
The next day we traveled from Colombo to the Sigiriya area of the country and landed at a fabulous resort for the next three nights in Sri Lanka. This part of the country contains much of the early history with its fortresses and ruins of castle and temple complexes. The Jetwing Vil Uyana resort was at a distance from the center of this section and was situated in an old rice plantation.
There is a central lake around which the Water Section of the facility are ranged and that is where Micki and Dan stayed. Kay and I had originally been slated to stay in the Paddy Marsh section but we were upgraded to the Forest area. All the dwellings are separate with their own swimming pools, balconies, Jacuzzi and upstairs/downstairs areas for sleeping, showering/bathing, sunning and the like. The dining room building is separate too and requires a nice pre- and post-prandial walk through the lovely surroundings where peacocks obligingly display and water monitors slide quietly into the many ponds and the lake as we passed.
There is an airline called Jetwing in Sri Lanka and apparently their managers decided to go into the business of housing the tourists they flew to this country. Well, it is hard to imagine that their flights could be any more comfortable than the wonderful Vil Uyana. It was quite warm during our stay and the private pool felt really luscious after a hard day's sightseeing. Reluctant would be the word to describe how we felt about leaving this pleasant oasis, if we wanted to see more of the country, then we had to let go and move on. Our next stop was the city of Kandy which had been the center of the ancient Sri Lanka kingships. It is still an important city and is very tropical in flavor despite the fact that it is not on the ocean like Colombo which doesn't appear nearly so jungle-like. Again, there were temples, ruined buildings, and other remains of the old civilizations to visit while in this city.
Earl’s Regency Hotel
Our home for our two nights here was Earl's Regency Hotel and it was only twelve years old and much more typical of hotel style than resort style, but it was comfortable, lovely and well-situated in its wonderful garden setting. Teak-wood accents were everywhere from staircases and newels to crown molding and decorative art objects. The beautiful wood made the hotel appear very expensive and very classy.
Earl's Regency Hotel also afforded us one of our most meaningful cultural experiences the chance to see two different Buddhist weddings. Apparently this hotel is a favored place for these weddings and we were privileged to have front row views of the pre-ceremony rituals, dancing, singing, drumming, and parading.
The dancers and drummers were all men and all dressed in costumes that looked very like outfits we have seen on Thai dancers. Lots of bells and other noisemakers on leggings and bare ankles. Furious drumming accompanied all the frenzied dancing. The clothing and hats were bright and constructed in odd shapes. The bride and groom families were led into the lobby of the hotel by these dancers and musicians and then all disappeared up the stairs into rooms reserved for the ceremony itself to which we were not privy. But we all enjoyed the chance to see such an important part of Sri Lanka's culture.
TeaPlantations
Our next destination was the hill country where the wonderful Ceylon tea is still grown, harvested, and processed, chiefly by the more recent of the Tamil Indian immigrants. Ladies in their saris work in the fields and the men wear the cool dhotis for their work both in the processing factories and on the steep terraces. The deep green of the tea plants provides a remarkable background for the colorful clothing of the laborers working in the rows between the plants.
Excellent tea has been produced on the island since the British times and not much has changed about the way the plantations are run, except that now the ownership of the plantations must include native Sri Lankans. There are probably about 7 big companies that own various fields in this area and continue to house their workers in the same dormitories built by the British in the 1800s and l900s. Some individual housing is available for some of the workers but we were never told how the allocations are made. Health care and education is now part of the benefits for all the Hindu workers.
Even the factories are the same ones used 150 years ago because the way the tea is processed has not really changed significantly. Maybe that's why Ceylon Tea (as it is still called) is among the finest available to the tea drinking world. And of course it is a very important export crop for the country As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka is the 4th largest producer of tea and tea accounts for 15% of the country's GDP. Over 1 million people are employed in the tea industry and about 215,338 of those are the actual field workers.
The physical setting of the tea-growing area is quite beautiful low hills, green terraces punctuated by tall silver maple trees planted by the plantations for their shade and resilience in the highland area. The temperatures are significantly cooler here than on the coasts as well. No wonder so many Brits were eager for postings in the hills rather than on the much hotter coasts and the dry sections of the country. There are high mountains girded round the lower hilly
terraces and they pale into blue mists as the humidity rises from the ground level. This is a much rainier part of Sri Lanka than the coasts, except during monsoon, but these rains are steadier and necessary to tea cultivation. The skies overhead are blue except during the gentle afternoon showers and the lakes in the valleys both mirror and reflect the glowing light and the beautiful scenery.
Our accommodation in this dreamy setting was a renovated estate for the plantation owners, managers, and overseers of an earlier period. There were bungalows in some parts of the facility but we stayed in what would have been the plantation manager's home. It has been modernized and renovated and was quite comfortable, again with lovely grounds to wander through. The meals were the best we had in all Sri Lanka as far as I was concerned and they were a mixture of continental European cuisine and Sri Lankan specialties. Meals were served outside on a wide veranda where we could watch the birds and other small creatures going about their business. Very pleasant indeed.
The only drawback to this peaceful setting was the one thing that completely destroyed the quiet and relaxing atmosphere. That was the constant and I emphasize “constant” screeching of the Hindu music from temples and meetings places all over the area. The music is loud, monotonous, droning yet still shrill, and utterly tuneless. It comes from loudspeakers all over the valley, some below wherever we happened to be and some above us higher on the hillsides. We
kept comforting ourselves with the belief that the noise is to entertain the hardworking folks on the narrow, steep and slippery trails among the tea plants and we certainly hope they found it helpful to them in their very laborious work.
Tea cultivation is remunerative but resistant to labor-saving mechanization for at least two reasons: the steepness of the hillsides on which the plants grow and the fact that to insure the finest and most subtle flavors from the tea leaves, they must be harvested by hand! That's why those Tamil Nadu emigrants are still so necessary in this part of Sri Lanka. No one else wants to do this work, certainly not the dominant ethnic group, the Sinhalese people. So they really do need to tolerate this minority in their midst, though even they wish the Hindus were not among them. Sound familiar grunt work that nobody else wants to do but resentment against the folks who come in and perform that labor? Think about it!
Tea plants only appear to be just “shrubs” because they are not allowed grow to their full height which could reach from 10-12 feet if the plants were not constantly cut. As it is, the plants are kept to around 3-4 ft. in height so that it is relatively easy to clip the new growth every 7 to 12 days. This trimming goes on everyday of the week since the workers are dispatched to various areas of the plantations to keep everything uniform. Tea plants can produce for many years before their natural life cycle ends, even 100+ years. Tea grows best at 6800 ft altitude and it needs at least 40-50 inches of rain annually.
The hillsides which look beautiful and green to us on the roadways and walkways are actually very steep and there are no easy paths to use climbing to the very top of the terraces. The ground is a clay and is very slippery when wet, which is most of the time. Some stones are placed on some of the paths to act as steps, but most of the ones we saw up close were just slick steep narrow lanes. The women do most of the cutting and they usually climb in their bare feet since they can get better traction than with shoes. The work looks regular and permanent but also very difficult and taxing on the individual. Next time I enjoy a “cuppa” as the British call their favorite drink, I will remember these hardy ladies.
We had no great expectations regarding the next place we would temporarily call home in Yala National Park. There is but one accommodation within park boundaries and that is where we wanted to be since our goal here was to take as many safari rides as we could to see the wild leopards. This is the park in Sri Lanka where the most leopard sightings are made so we did not really care what the Yala Safari Village would be like as long as it was clean.
Well, it barely met that standard but its location was prime for our purposes. The safari jeeps left from the gate of the Village so that couldn't have been more convenient. The concrete block with
YalaSafariVillage
stucco bungalows were old but functional. The ground between the buildings was beach sand because Yala's southern border is on the ocean, but that was not a problem. There was one main dining room where the meals were buffet style Sri Lankan food though they did have an a la carte menu where we could order fish and chips and hamburgers with French fries. The meals were decidedly boring for the most part and the food merely filling.
NOTE THE BANDAGE ON LOIS' HEAD - More information on this below
However, all that was beside the point the point was the leopards! We did three safaris and met with great success, even on our very last ride of the last day when it was nearly dark! More on that in another section.
We did learn that Yala National Park would be closing for monsoon season in July and would reopen with all renovated facilities in November or December. I hope they can keep to that schedule because anyone interested in wildlife viewing on a visit to Sri Lanka needs to be able to access this wonderful and beautiful park!
Our most eagerly anticipated hotel was the Amangalla in Galle! Micki and Dan had stayed an Aman resort in Bali and were really amazed at the splendor of the resort. We all knew that Aman is now the premier hotel/resort company in the world with sites all over the world in most of the most heavily visited areas of the world. So we endured our long ride from Yala to Galle in good spirits because we knew that after the grim basics of the lodges in the jungle, the Amangalla would be like a rich prize we won for our “endurance” in the car and in the Village.
Galle is a fortress town, built by the Dutch in 1663; however the city and its harbor had been a trading center since Biblical times. As a matter of fact, some scholars believe that Galle was Solomon's “Tarshish' where he obtained ivory, peacock feathers and cinnamon. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians and Chinese all traded in old Galle. The westernized history of the city begins in1505 when the Portuguese ran aground there in a storm and then angrily took the city by “storm,” wresting it from the control of Sinhalese people. In 1640 the Portuguese had to cede the port city to the Dutch East India company due to the results of some European wars.
The Dutch built the fortress of solid granite with three bastions and protected the city until they were forced to hand it over to the British in 1796. The British used the fort as their administrative center and preserved it pretty much as the Dutch had constructed it. Today the center city is still within the fort's wall and a many people both live and work along its narrow and twisting streets. It is a city which carries the stamp of the many cultures who have used it, conquered it, controlled it, and lived in it. In 2004, the city suffered enormous damage during the December tsunami which arose in the Indian Ocean. Over 50,000 residents died in the flooding; however, the walls of the old Dutch fort withstood the flood and protected much of the city center within.
The Amangalla Resort is part of the history of the city in that it occupies an old building erected in 1684 as the residence of the Dutch Governor within the fortress walls. When the British took the city from the Dutch it became quarters for British officers first and then for British soldiers afterward. In the mid-1800s the old building metamorphosed into the New Oriental Hotel which
catered to wealthy travelers on a “grand tour” of the East. In 2005, the Aman Resort Company purchased the building which had been vacant since the death of the last owner about 5 years before. The Aman company set about completely renovating and modernizing the old hotel, seeking out its earliest architectural details and restoring them. Configurations of the various rooms were changed, combined into larger suites and bedrooms, and a spa and swimming pools were added. The hotel fronts on a tree-lined street and is not far from one of the gates through the fort wall. It sits next to an ornate Dutch Reformed Church and exploits its “within the walls” location by offering walking tours right outside the front doors. Gardens have also been added to the hotel's grounds to add to the general spacious and gracious ambience. The Amangalla's appearance is handsome and welcoming with its long and wide veranda and white columns into the interior great hall of a lobby with copious amounts of mahogany details, highly polished jackwood flooring (original from 1684), and period furniture.
The problem and the disappointment with the Amangalla was, for us, the very thing the brochures had bragged about its “periodness.” The rooms had high ceilings which seemed to make it impossible for the air-conditioning to work effectively against a very hot March in Galle. Micki and Dan finally gave up and asked for a different room because theirs was just too hot to be tolerated. Paradoxically, the renovation had created a very cold atmosphere nothing welcoming in the public rooms or the private spaces only that wide veranda seemed comfortable and inviting. It is true that the linens were plush and wonderful but that comfort was completely obliterated by the extremely rigid and comfortless furniture in the rooms and public spaces (except for the library/internet room) . There simply was not a single chair in our room that could be enjoyed for reading, relaxing, watching TV, or simply conversing. They were made of ebony with woven seats and backs that were just unyielding. No footstool or ottoman was present to help the body assume a more easeful position. Other than lying in bed and propping oneself up on the pillows, there was just no happy place to occupy in these rooms.
Location the Amamgalla had in abundance, a helpful wait staff was a high point in our stay, and a Coke by the pretty pool one hot afternoon was pleasant. But otherwise the renowned and much touted Amangalla was a deflating disappointment to all of us who had been so looking forward to a stay in such a luxurious (not) resort. History yes! Comfort no!
Our last hotel might have been our favorite except that we not in it long enough to really sample its amenities. This was the Wallawwa in Colombo rather close to the airport because this would be our last night's stay in Sri Lanka before leaving very early in the morning for our flight to Qatar on the first leg home. Micki and Dan had a little bit longer to stay before their own flight but not enough time to really the pretty Wallawwa in its garden setting. We arrived late in the first place
and barely had time to eat a little supper before falling into bed so that we could have enough energy to rise up when the alarm forced us awake. The rooms were modern but with an Asian twist and I think the supper we had was good. Never did get to see any of the garden areas and even breakfast was skipped because of the early hour we left.
One amenity was available in all the locations we occupied and we would have enjoyed it immensely had it not been for the fact that we had to work diligently at keeping water from getting into our mouths during showering. That “gizmo” was a shower head identified as producing a “rainfall” shower that was just so refreshing after the hot weather in Sri Lanka had completely mashed us flat. The shower head was a circle about 8 inches in diameter with myriad little holes which faced directly downwards and rained heavily on the hot and sweaty body below. These were simply superb and must be one of the best things in Sri Lanka hotels and resorts. Wish I could have one at home, probably terribly wasteful of water however. But in Sri Lanka there was no problem with too little water so I refused to feel profligate and guilty. I just clenched my teeth and closed my lips tightly and let the water splash like a monsoon rain shower!
ANCIENTSRILANKA
All four of us will have to admit that the sites of ancient civilizations in Sri Lanka were not our favorite stopping places. Guess we were just too unfamiliar with these cultures and had no context in which to place them. Often, when Prash took us to see the ruins of palaces, temples, monasteries, and fortresses, we were more fascinated by whatever wildlife we could watch and more taken with people-watching among the current Sri Lankans, especially the children. At several of the places we visited, school kids were being taken on field trips so they could learn about their country's past. That's a good thing and we were pleased to see that though the kids were very well-behaved, they also had the normal curiosity and playfulness of kids everywhere.
Anyway, here's a brief description of the major sites we visited and something about them. But if you are more curious than we were, I suggest you look them up on the internet to get more details and more understanding of the ancient Sri Lankan culture with its multiple kings and many internecine battles.
Anuradhapura
The oldest of the sites we unenthusiastically visited was the ancient capital of Sri Lanka in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. so this site gets pride of place as far as age is concerned. In addition to the so-called Brazen Palace, a Buddhist monastery dating from the 2nd century, and Isurulmuiya Rock Temple dating from the 3rd, Anuradhapura boasts a Bodhi tree that is 2200 hundred years old and is supposed to have grown from a sapling taken from the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment. This tree is acknowledged as the oldest historically documented tree in the world.
From outside the enclosure where the sacred tree is still growing, we could see its huge canopy but we could not view the trunk or lower branches. However, since there was an extra charge and a wait to enter the sacred precinct, we decided that we had seen enough of the tree from our vantage point.
Another claim this site should have had on our attention was the fact it is reputed to be one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world! The Brazen Palace is outstanding because it has a courtyard with 1600 still intact columns standing. The roof is long since gone, but the pillars are there as testaments to the large size of the monastery and the intricacy of its architecture.
The other two structures in this ancient city which command much attention from historians, archeologists, religion experts and civil engineers are the two colossal stupas in the ancient city. First, I must explain what a stupa is in the Buddhist faith. It is a mound-like structure containing what are believed to be relics from the Buddha's person or life. In some cases, the mound may contain an article of his clothing or a piece of his body, like a tooth or a bone. Because the faithful believe that these relics are real, the stupas are not only reliquaries but places where the believers worship.
The first of the monumental stupas is Jetavanaramaya Stupa which is part of an enormous monastery complex which housed 10,000 monks in its day. This Stupa was the 3rd largest structure in the ancient world, after the Pyramids of Giza. It was constructed of 93.3 millions baked bricks and is the 2nd largest brick structure in the world. It is also supposed to hold a sash (or belt) worn by the Buddha.
Jetavanaramaya Stupa
The second of the great stupas is the Ruwanwelisaya Chedi (another name for a stupa). It is also part of another great monastery. This building has been fully restored and painted a startling white which makes it stand out amidst all the ruins of dark stone around it. The stupa is 300 feet tall and has a circumference of 950 ft. The compound is supported by stone elephants at the base. The stone wall surrounding the stupa is decorated with 1900 carved elephant heads, 475 on each side. In the present day, this stupa is an important center of Buddhist worship.
So what was the most exciting thing we saw at this site? We finally got close looks at the greater flame-backed woodpecker, so close that the photographers got excellent pictures. The bird is 13 inches in length, smaller than our pileated woodpecker who is 16 to 19 inches long. However, the greater flameback sports a brilliant red back and crown. Quite an outstanding species of birdlife with this brilliant coloration and his wonderful fiery red crest.
Ruwanwelisaya Chedi
DambullaCave
This Dambulla cave is located in a huge rock that stands 180 meters higher than the surrounding landscape. The rock is honeycombed with caves, but there are five main ones which house the famous shrines, temples, and statues of Buddha as well as Hindu gods and goddesses. The cave paintings and statues date from the 1st century B.C. It has been a place of worship and pilgrimage for 22 centuries, so it is venerable indeed. Spread among the five caves are 153 separate statues of Buddha but Vishnu and Ganesh representations are present as well.
While we visited here, we learned one of the reasons why Buddhism and Hinduism co-exist peacefully in Sri Lanka and share so many sacred sites. Apparently, one section of Buddhism prevalent in the country believed that the Hindu god, Vishnu, was appointed the guardian of Buddhist holy sites and Buddhist worshipers. Of course, Vishnu was an older god than Buddha since Hinduism is a more ancient religion, so perhaps it was natural to seek the protection of the older divinity. In Hinduism, Vishnu is the supreme god, the preserver of the universe, making him a logical choice as the protector of Buddhism as well.
When we walked up the gentle stairway onto the flat rocky pavement in front of the cave openings, it was fairly warm and there were many people there for a Hindu ceremony going on in the one of the 5 caves.
We had to wait outside until the religious rite was finished before we could enter that cave so we were grateful for the shade in the other four caves. However, so many people in enclosed spaces quickly raised the temperatures inside so we did not linger long in any one cave. We saw no other Europeans at the Dambulla site while we were there.
The most amazing thing about the cave shrines and temples, besides their antiquity and ecumenism, was the vibrancy of the colors inside. Both the murals and the statues have retained the original hues. According to our guide, Prash, these paintings have not been retouched or redone over the years, making them all the more surprising and beautiful. Religious fervor is evident all through the cave complex.
In 1938, the British decided that the caves could use a more important and imposing entrance, so they constructed an arched colonnade and gabled entrance for each one, though the structure was all of a piece. Though consistent with British architectural traditions, the whole thing clashed with the natural rock formation and the decorations inside each cave. We didn't consider the added feature to be an improvement.
SigiriyaRockFortress
This enormous rock complex dates from the 5th century A.D. The rock (which rather resembles Devil's Tower in the USA) is 591 feet high with such sheer sides that sometimes the cap on the rock actually overhangs the whole formation. Though paleontologists believe that prehistoric peoples also utilized this area, the written history for the place began in 3rd century A.D. when a Buddhist monastery was place there. In 477 A.D. a local king built his palace and a fortress at the top to protect him from his enemies. This complex is also in ruins now as is the monastery. However, this place had remained a palace and fortress from that date only until 496 A.D. when the monastery was re-established and it continued until the 14th century when the whole complex was abandoned. The reasons the people left the fortress are unclear to archeologists since the fortress was well nigh impregnable. Most of the experts feel that a water shortage probably was the most plausible explanation.
The view from the top is a full 360 degree circle, but we did not see it since we elected to stay at the bottom of the fortress to see and photograph all the many birds that were flitting, eating, bouncing, flying, courting, nesting, and calling all around us. Our failure to make the climb also prevented us from seeing the statue that gives the fortress the name Lion Rock. About halfway up the tower, a gate was constructed in the image of a lion. To go further up the path, one had to pass through the lion's open jaws and between his two great front legs. Today, only the gigantic legs remain so perhaps the entry is not quite so fearsome.
So once again, you see, we all chose nature over culture and history. What can I say in our defense? Nothing really, we just like the living things better than the relics of the dead past.
PolonnaruwaGalViharaya
This complex contains the remains and ruins of the 2nd oldest one of Sri Lanka's kingdoms. It dates from 1070 A.D. And was the seat of a different line of kings and nobles from those who inhabited Anuradhapura. In this central part of the country where the most sophisticated civilizations settled, sufficient water for the many people who lived there was a most critical consideration. The major monarch who built this complex concerned himself at first with guaranteeing a good water supply and he had irrigation on his mind all through his reign.
He first built an enormous reservoir which was so big it was described by the ancients as a “sea.” He had canals dug for farming and he piped water from the reservoir into centers where the people could easily access it for their drinking, cooking, and cleaning purposes. According to the writings down through the years, his lake/reservoir never dried up even in times of severe drought, so his city of about 100,000 people never had to abandon their homes and their worship center. The lake is still present today and holds huge water stores.
The other need on this king's “to do” list was places of worship for himself and his subjects. So he built large monasteries for the Buddhist monks, stupas for centers of worship and had 4 huge bas-reliefs carved from living rock depicting the Buddha in different postures: Sleeping, Upright, and Recumbent. The statues each have the typical serene Buddha faces and despite the years and weathering, the carving is deeply etched and very dramatic.
Because he was an important king, at least in his own estimation, he also commissioned a huge free-standing statue of himself in the same area as the rock wall of Buddha bas-reliefs. Also on the grounds of this great ruin are the remains of a former Temple of the Tooth, a Shiva Temple, and a great Audience Hall for the king, a Lotus Bath, as well as many other temples, shrines and other structures.
All these ancient complexes are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as being parts of Sri Lanka's identity as a nation and a people.
Gadaladeniya
This temple is very interesting because of its intermixture of Buddhist styles of architecture used in conjunction with South Indian Hindu building forms. These complex dates originally from the 15th century A.D.
The main shrine room contains a seated Buddha statue surrounded by 4 smaller ones where he is in a standing position. Surrounding the Buddhas on the walls of the shrine are depictions of Hindu gods and goddesses, particularly of Lord Vishnu. There is also in the same complex a temple devoted solely the Lord Vishnu.
Alongside the Buddha shrine stands a very unusual stupa because it is roofed, but open, with 4 pillars supporting the roof. The whole is built upon a rock and there are four smaller stupas at each corner. The little roof is pagoda-like, peaked with a golden ornament atop it.
The whole complex was constructed on a flat rock called Diggala, not far from the town of Kandy. It is under repair and renovation now and the project will take many more years. Part of the problem with the temple is the fact that Algae have attacked many of the paintings and destroyed them. Dealing with the growth is difficult because the restorers are trying not to further harm the paintings underneath. We certainly wished them good luck with that effort.
WHERETHEWILDTHINGSWERE!
All four of us are probably most interested in seeing wild animals and birds in their own habitats in the countries we visit. The history and the culture are fascinating but it's the wild things we revel in. So where did we find our real fun in Sri Lanka? Just about all over, actually. Even the big city of Colombo showed us two large bird species we had never seen before: the spotted bill pelican and the open billed stork. The spotted bill fellow sported little dark polka dot on his pinkish “honker” but otherwise looked like the white and brown pelicans we are familiar with at home. The open bill stork had a long beak with a “window” in its that you could see daylight through. Perhaps the gap helps him hold onto prey once he had captured it. These birds were flying all around us while we were leaving the city. We saw other smaller birds that we would also see later on in the trip.
On our way to the Sigiriya area and our wonderful Jetwing Vil Uyana, we visited an elephant reserve.
Here is an addendum written in 2022 about this reserve. There were concerns about the care of the animals raised by an animal rights group several years ago but after our visit. We would encourage you to do your research on the current conditions here before planning your visit.
This place was the first of its kind in the world and it was established to protect and care for disabled, abandoned and orphaned elephants. Expert naturalists make sure that the elephants have the healthy social life that elephants require to thrive as well as appropriate diets and care for injuries and illnesses. So while these are not strictly “wild” animals, many of the 60 or so who call this place have come in from the wild. We got to watch the babies get their bottle feedings and the adults get their afternoon bath in the river that courses through the reserve. It was exhilarating to watch the elephants parade down from their pastures above the river through the little tourist shops and right by the terrace where we were eating lunch. Their ponderous bodies seemed lighter as they almost skittered down the slope with eager anticipation of the refreshing bath that awaited them.
The smallest of the orphan baby elephants did not join this parade down to the river, but young ones did tromp along after the adults. Their delight in the splashing and trumpeting and spraying themselves and each other through those long trunks was so satisfying to all us humans watching from above. Some of the elephants exited the baths on the other side of the river where they would be free to wander through the huge grounds of the orphanage. Others stayed longer than we did. But a daily bath is unquestionably an important of an elephant's day.
The most touching thing we saw there was a crippled female patiently and awkwardly making her way down to the river on three legs since she had lost her left front leg from the knee down. A loving mahout was with her all the way, reassuring and patting her and allowing her to rest as she obviously had to do, until she too reached the waters and lumbered in enjoying her soaking as much as the others. The way down was painful enough to watch so I was relieved that we did not wait to see her come back up the slope, but it was clear that she joins the herd everyday on the way to take the waters.
As we left the reserve we drove through a park for completely wild elephants and were lucky enough to see some of them as well. Asian elephants are smaller than their African cousins but they are impressive in their size anyway. Their ears are smaller and their trunks have only one “finger” at their ends, but that may be that they evolved to eat primarily grasses while Africans eat most leaves. Tusks are also a differentiating feature of the two species. African males and females have tusks, but Asians, both some males and all females, grow no tusks at all. Maybe tusks would just get in the way of grassland grazing? Perhaps the biggest difference for human beings is that the Asian elephants take readily to work; they are trained all over Asia and in Sri Lanka too for carrying loads, pulling and pushing heavy objects, providing transportation for riders, just about anything that great strength helps human being accomplish. The mahouts, the human handlers, and the elephants develop very close and loving relationships with each other and kindness on the part of the human being is definitely a big factor in coaxing these great
beasts into working for us. African elephants can be trained to do tricks, as is demonstrated in circus acts, but they are not much used for labor on the African continent, so perhaps they are like their fellow “not-to-be-domesticated” savannah friends, the zebras.
Another semi-wild creature we saw in several places in the country were the “temple monkeys,” a species of macaques that lived freely around the ruins of earlier civilizations where they are obviously casually fed by some visitors but also make their own living among the trees and plants that have grown up in and around the dilapidated walls and fallen columns of temple complexes as well as the ghostly remains of houses and administrative buildings in what used to be great cities in central Sri Lanka. They are very busy little creatures, raising their young, constantly picking at the ground for morsels, grooming each other, and endlessly playing, sometimes even rough-housing with each other.
Their little faces are very expressive and their eyes are lively and knowing. The hair on the tops of their heads was hilarious because it looks like a little monk's cap with a swirl in the middle from which all the hair grows outward in a circle. Instead of musing over the lost civilization around us, we were laughing and photographing the adorable antics of little primates. We never
weep over unrecoverable cultures as much as we relish animal behaviors in the wild! Winsome animals win us over every time!
All along our lengthy road travels we were seeing birds beautiful birds, big birds, strange birds! Our guide, Prash, was an an excellent birder and guide so I don't think we missed very much of the avian population of Sri Lanka. And of course they are much harder to photograph well than the larger mammals, at least the ones who will stand still for a moment.
Our guide kept telling us that one of the rarest animals and hardest to see as well is the “bear” monkey. He said that if we saw it at all, our chance would be in the highlands while we were staying at the Tea Trails house.
One day he drove us out of that area and up higher in the hills to a barely used, but paved, road where he stopped the van and we all started walking up and down listening for monkey sounds. Prash was looking very carefully and he was much more likely to see them first. But as it turned out, Micki was the first to spot a large male in a tree along the road. Finally we were all able to see a troupe of them and that quite clearly.
What was not clear was why this subspecies of the purple faced leaf monkey is labeled with the name “bear.” Neither the males nor the females looked like bears at all. They are larger than the plain purple faced fellows, and they do have a greyish ruff encircling their faces, but that does not make them at all resemble any bear species I have ever seen.
I wondered if maybe I was hearing the wrong homonym and maybe what Prash was really saying was the “bare” monkey. But that was not true either; these monkey faces were no barer than the macaques or any other primates we saw. But whatever is the derivation of the strange appellation, we were glad to see this elusive creature and watch the interactions between several members of the troupe.
While I am on the subject of purple faced leaf monkeys, I might as well tell you here that we did see them as well, but in a totally different environment from the hills above tea country. On the way from Galle to Colombo on our last day in Sri Lanka, Prash took us to a private home on a little stream which led into a big lagoon coming from the ocean. The homeowner ran a little tourist boat to take folks out to some islands in the lagoon where some of these monkeys live. We really were in great doubt about whether or not we would return from the ride since the boatman's outboard motor kept dying and resisting restarting. We probably should not have been surprised when we discovered the monkeys in trees along the waterway itself before we reached the body of the big lagoon. Their faces were no more purple than the faces of the “bear” monkeys; they were such a deep black that perhaps in certain lights the color took on a purple cast, but we were under overcast skies so we saw no such color morphing. These monkeys were
smaller than the “bear” monkeys but they were fun to watch too. So it was good to be able to chalk up our chance to see another rare special.
You might have thought with his motor sputtering and failing, the boatman would have taken us back to his backyard dock and ended the expedition. However, he was determined to give value for money and he continued to coax his ailing outboard onwards and we ended up on a island where a person (no doubt a friend of his) welcomed us to his encampment where he and his family harvest and processed for shipping one of the most sought after spices in olden days as well as the present day cinnamon. He did the whole job by hand which seemed pretty painstaking to us. Then, of course, came the most uncomfortable time in the trip when he offered us various products he had made from the cinnamon as well as cinnamon sticks. None of us purchased his wares because we knew well that US Customs would frown so severely on such imports that they would be confiscated from us and we might even be fined.
Two more strange animals became familiar to us during this visit to Sri Lanka because we saw them several times and in many different settings. We saw examples of the very large water monitors in a city pond and at the wonderful Jetwing Vil Yala as well as in more remote settings.
The land monitors are smaller and harder to see, but we did see several of them. Water monitors are a protected species in Sri Lanka while land monitors are not. Native Sri Lankans do
not eat water monitors because they believe their flesh is poisonous. Alas, the same belief is not accorded to the land monitors and this species is often eaten by the people of the island.
The water monitor is dark skinned with circles of yellow arranged in bands about his body. He can reach 10.5 ft in length and weigh up to 55 lbs., but the average monitor is smaller than that: he will reach about 5 ft. and weigh only about 35 lbs. These lizards search for scents using a blue tongue which flickers in and out like a snake's. They are hunting for meat, like fish, frogs, rodents, even small birds, crabs, and snakes. They will eat carrion if necessary. They have the ability to stay submerged in water up to 30 minutes while hunting. Their long and muscular tail makes them excellent swimmers but though they make look like small crocodiles, they are not in that family at all and are never aggressive towards human beings except in self-defense.
The land monitor is lighter in color and smaller in size than his aquatic cousin. The land monitor reaches about 4 ft. and weighs about 22 lbs. He has a wider range of habitat than the water monitor as well. While the watery lizard stays near bodies of water almost exclusively, the land monitor can live anywhere from the semi-arid desert to a rain forest environment. He is most commonly found in farmlands, dry open forests and on coconut plantations. This monitor is an excellent tree-climber and has even been known to prey on roosting bats! However, he is usually in search of smaller creatures like beetles, grubs, scorpions, snails and crabs. It is too bad that the farmers of Sri Lanka do not understand what a huge part he can play in controlling insect pests in their acreage; perhaps then they wouldn't be so eager to eat him.
Rudyard Kipling called his mongoose Rikki Tikki Tavi and characterized him as valiant, cunning and quick. He was admired by the humans in Kipling stories because of his bravery and skill in killing snakes, particularly poisonous ones a friend to people living in snake-infested India and Sri Lanka. Besides being very agile in eluding snakebite, mongooses have evolved an immunity to snake venom which makes them formidable foes to snakes. In India, some sideshow entertainers put on fights between venomous snakes for mongooses.
There are four kinds of mongoose in Sri Lanka and I think we saw examples of all of them: Ruddy, Gray, Brown and Striped Neck. All of them are fairly small animals, weighing between 2 and 3 lbs. and measuring between 1 & 2 feet. They are all slender bodied and long faced with round ears and long, tapering tails. They are very quick and don't stay in one place for long so Dan and Kay had to work at achieving good pictures of them. Never got to see one with a snake as its quarry or even as its catch of the day.
Ruddy Mongoose
Yala National Park was our chief quarry and we got several ”catches of the day” there. One of the most dramatic animal sightings we had occurred early in our visit to this great park if only the crocodile had not been so far away! It was impossible for the photographers to capture this primal scene, but binoculars did provide a good view. We did not see the kill, but we did watch an enormous crocodile dragging a deer (probably a chital the spotted deer) he had caught on land back to his favorite dining hall a lake. The deer looked to be an adult and should have weighed about 200 pounds if he was healthy in life and the crocodile did have to work to get the large body moving over the bumpy ground but he kept at it in “fits and starts” and was successful. Both he and the deer disappeared beneath the dark water of the faraway lake within about 5 minutes of our having seen him.
The most excellent experience of our visit to Sri Lanka was our multiple leopard sightings. We had been so fortunate in India to view the tigers we sought, so we were both hopeful and doubtful whether our luck would hold here. We had seen the statistics on tiger sightings in the two reserves we visited and knew that we would have to very unlucky indeed not to get at least a glimpse of a tiger. But the statistics on leopard sightings in Sri Lanka were not so positive. We were trying convince ourselves that we would not be unduly depressed if we failed in our search but that was only rationalization. We knew we would all be pretty much “crushed” if we lost our good karma.
But the charm held and we saw 5 leopards in Yala on 2 different safaris. We saw three the first time we went out the very afternoon we arrived in the Park. We barely had time to throw our belongings into the bungalows and then rush to the staging area for the jeeps. The park has an intriguing variety of habitats since part of it borders on the ocean and we were certainly not expecting to see leopards so near the sea. As we went further into the parkland, we saw that there were fresh water lakes everywhere, there were jungle areas, rock formations jutting out of the ground rather like the kopjies in the Serengeti Plains, dense hardwood forests, and even some respectable hills from 100 to 300ft. The climate is hot and it is a semi-arid area with about 25 inches of rainfall a year, most in the November monsoon periods. There are many streams, lakes, rivers waterholes, tanks, and wells in the park which are important to the animals during the dry season of the year. Because of the diverse terrain and the presence of water during the year, this park is important to the survival of many species of birds and animals besides leopards, elephants, barking deer, wild boars, and many bird species are sheltered here.
Yala is the second largest of the Sri Lankan national parks (at 378 square miles in area) and the first most visited, probably due to the fact that the park harbors the densest population of leopards almost anywhere in the world.
Due to its position on the Indian Ocean, the park was hit hard by the tsunami in 2004. Over 250 people lost their lives and it is not known how many birds and animals were killed. The coast line of the country in this area changed permanently and there was significant loss of plants due to the 20 ft. wave that bore in on the park chiefly through the mouths of the rivers and streams that empty into the ocean from park-lands. Botanists have been monitoring the park since the disaster and it appears that most of the plant life has recovered. An interesting side study we were told about involved whether or not elephants actually have a sixth sense which warns them of impending earthquakes or tsunamis. This tsunami reached Yala National Park within 90 minutes of the undersea earthquake.
Careful study of the movements of two collared wild elephants in the park revealed that they did not react any more quickly than would have been expected before the arrival of the huge wave on the shore. So these biologists believe that the elephants were no more prescient about impending natural catastrophe than any other animals including human beings.
But let's go back to our first safari ride in the Park. The first surprise we saw was a large lake literally covered with bird life we saw for the first time ever Painted Storks which are quite colorful, almost like harlequin colors, except that various shades of pink were the dominant colors.
We saw Eurasian Spoonbills, Pied Kingfishers, Whistling Ducks, Spot-billed Pelicans, Greenshanks, Golden Plovers, Black-winged Stilts, Marsh Sandpipers, Indian Darters, Greater Thick Knees, and Bar-tailed Godwits all in this one lake. Already we liked this safari ride and we were pleased to see spotted deer, crocodiles, a ruddy mongoose, and even puddling butterflies in just one place
We drove on over the reddish dirt roads ever deeper into the park, bouncing quite a bit actually. The roads were oddly hilly (well, really it was most like those s that snowboarders like to cross) and the shocks in the jeep were non-existent. But we were filled with excitement and so we were already jumping for joy within ourselves. And it wasn't long before our optimism was rewarded. We stopped in the road and the driver and guide were pointing excitedly into a dense thicket of trees with heavy greenery on all the branches. But as we stared steadily into the green glow following the directions shouted by the guide, we began to make out the rosettes and light gold patterns of a leopard lounging on a branch. She was obscured by the leaves but we could definitely see her. Another look on a lower branch revealed her nearly grown cub. He was harder to see than his mother but we could make out his beautiful coat as well. What a wonderful gift Yala gave us on our first jeep ride. Once again, we felt like we could “relax” because now we had accomplished our main goal seeing wild leopard
However, the safari rides go on for about three hours with many more possibilities to see things before we turned for “home.” So we watched more birds, saw some deer, watched wild water buffalo wallow in the mud-baths they love, and enjoyed exploring the park. These guides and drivers no doubt have knowledge of where leopards typically gather at certain hours, even of a particular individual's patterns.
So we should not have been surprised when towards 5 PM our driver pulled up into a grassy area in front of one of the rock piles. We sat quietly as we waited to what would happen. The guide explained that we should watch carefully in two small openings between the rocks and the trees where we could see into the meadow behind the rock. So we did as instructed and in just a few moments we saw a female leopard leisurely cross the two openings while we watched breathlessly. We could see her whole body twice from head to tail tip and she was a beauty. She ambled unhurriedly from the right copse next to the rocks to the left sided forest. She was certainly aware that a jeep was sitting there but she was totally unconcerned. That's why we got such complete looks at her. The guide wasn't sure whether or not she was the one we had seen in the tree with her cub, so he told us to keep watching in case the cub came creeping behind her. But since no smaller leopard followed her, he concluded that it was a different female we were seeing this time. That was just fine with us the more different leopards we could see, the happier we would be!
The next morning's safari provided some good rides through different parts of the big park, but we saw no leopard traces that day. However, the guides did take us to a beach front area where we could get out of the jeep and wander down to the water's edge. They showed us marks on the trees behind the beach which indicated how high the tsunami wave had been when it hit this place and we could easily see why no one could have escaped this even when he saw the wave coming. The marks on the trees which had withstood the wave were probably 20 feet high. There had been a few dwellings in this area, but all had been swept away along with their residents. Seeing a ruined place such as this was not as easy to avoid thinking about as the ruins of the ancient towns and temples. After all, these were people who were living in the same world and time as we inhabit.
Between the morning and afternoon, I had an occurrence which I would have preferred to do without. And it could have ruined my whole visit to Sri Lanka in more ways than just one! I slipped and fell on the concrete threshold to our bungalow, sitting down hard and twisting both feet, but worst of all, hitting my head on the corner of the concrete door jamb.Bloodspurted from the scalp wound copiously enough so very quickly I looked like part of murder scene. My pink shirt quickly turned red, the tile floors of the patio and foyer between which I had plopped were soon sticky and brown-red from all the blood. I was sure I had broken something or would have a concussion or even more scary, a subdural hematoma, because I had hit my head pretty hard. I never even thought that I might have broken a hip so I never worried about it. As it turned out, I was very lucky and did not break any bones.
When Kay could finally get the blood to stop flowing, she was afraid the cut was more than 2 inches long and would require stitches. But after half an hour (literally) of applying steady pressure to the wound, she was able to see that the cut was much shorter than she feared and that it would probably heal well without stitches. Now the big worry was whether or not I dared go on the afternoon ride and be bumped around and perhaps get the bleeding started again! Kay, ever the good doctor, sacrificed the bottom two inches of her favorite T-shirt and created a pressure bandage to keep on my head with my hat being the thing that kept the pressure on and the bandage in place. So I went on the PM safari with no one the wiser. And am I ever glad I did!
Actually don't know how I could have stood it if I had not been able to go. But Kay's ministrations to my scalp worked and it didn't matter if my feet were really sore; didn't have to walk once I got into the safari vehicle.
This afternoon's ride was pretty unexciting until the last half hour. Then as we were riding down an ordinary road in the park we suddenly were aware of a female leopard in the road following our jeep! There was plenty of light so we could see her quite clearly and she was just beautiful! Our driver stopped the car but she kept on coming straight at us from behind. The cameras were on fire with this incredible photo-op. She continued to follow the road right towards us for about 2-3 minutes; she was not in a hurry. Then she swerved off the road into the woods, but our driver “knew” where she was heading and he blasted the jeep forward and turned on a dime into an open area where in just a very few seconds we watched that same lovely lady walk through the clearing so that we now saw her from the side. From any angle, seeing her was a thrill and we all will always treasure the experience.
But now it was getting dark and the driver was becoming concerned about getting the gate in time so as not to incur a penalty for leaving late. So he turned on the afterburners and we raced through the park as the sky continued to ooze light. Very close to the entrance/exit gate, Prash asked the driver to stop one more time and he did and what did we see on a rock pile to the right of our vehicle? The iconic leopard pose big male cat sitting atop the rocks looking just like the entitled king of all he surveyed.
Again, the cameras could hardly keep pace with the fever of the photographers as they strained to get him in focus in the now really low light. But though the semi-darkness was a challenge for the equipment, our eyes could still focus on him in all his majesty! What a perfect way to end our safaris into Yala National Park.
But as we sped through the gate, the park offered up one more incredible experience: one of the most astonishing, beautiful and strange sunsets any of us had ever seen. The colors were in the shape of a geisha's fan in the sky and they softly melted into one another so it was impossible to tell any one hue started and faded and another began. The rest of sky was almost black, except for this fan shaped apparition. Truly gorgeous and truly unique!
How could we ever say that we did not love Yala National Park in Sri Lanka. It afforded us several peak experiences in our constant quest to see animals in the wild! It is pretty hard to beat leopards!
ENDOFSTORY
After gruelingly long flights and even worse road trips in both India, Sri Lanka, and then back home of course, do we still consider this a memorable, special, happy and peak experience trip? For myself, I can certainly answer “absolutely!” Why? Because I saw the Royal Bengal Tiger in the wilds of India and did not have any run-ins with Tamil Tigers. It could have happened differently in both cases. Many people go looking for tigers in India and never see them. And just after we left Sri Lanka, there were some incidents with violence from the Tamil Tigers who are upset over a UN report regarding the government's treatment of them and their fellow Indian emigrants. They believe that the report white-washes the atrocities committed against them by the Sinhalese majority while the Sinhala believe that the terrorists are the Tamils and deserve to be treated harshly. I am very glad we got out before the report was widely published. Of course, I cannot answer for my three traveling companions but they appeared to be enjoying themselves thoroughly. We all had one other unexpected but marvelous peak experience and that was our many sightings of the beautiful Sri Lankan leopards in Yala National Park. Though we had read about the possibility of seeing leopards there, we really did not take it very seriously since the material we received from our travel company played down the probability. But see them we did and all of us were perfectly thrilled by their grace and feline loveliness.
We were also fortunate in our guide in Sri Lanka since Prash was such an excellent birder and possessed of terrific eyesight. He was always on time and he always followed our requests for changes in the itinerary if we wanted them. He was sufficiently grounded in the history of his country to satisfy our interests as well. And he really loved the “Punch Buggie” game.
As outlined before, our first drive in India was not reliable nor helpful, but the drivers and guides in the two parks we visited there were more than competent and we saw wonderful creatures and scenery in Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks.
Our hotels and lodges were interesting and most were quite comfortable and some of them were even luxurious! Kay and I were happier with the Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines than Micki and Dan, but the good thing about eating was that none of us was ever sick from food or drink. That in itself made for a ideal trip to Asia.
Tigers and Leopards, Oh My! Who could ask for anything more! Not I!
