Plains, trains and safari jeeps - Bandarawela, Sri Lanka
Bandarawela, Sri Lanka
No it's not a spelling mistake, our first stop on today's blog adventure is Horton Plains. There is nothing like spending the night in a posh hotel only to be awoken by your personal wake up call which arrives 20 minutes early via loud banging on your door (5.30am). We had an early start as we all know nature and wildlife wait for no one. Horton Plains is in fact an undulating plateau 2000m above sea level. It's got grassy plains, waterfalls, misty forests, sambar deer, jungle fowl ( national bird) often heard but not seen and the elusive Purple faced Langur (shaggy bear monkey). We were fortunate to start out our 9.5km trek with clear skies. Our aim Was to make it to worlds end - where the plateau ends with a 880m and the viewing platform has no rails or anything to stop you just slipping over the edge (I do love it when only common sense can prevail) before the mist rolled in and the view becomes obscured. We did hear some monkeys early on but sadly I didn't see one. We made it to worlds end - technically before the mist should have turned up but it arrived early so no clear photos of the 880m drop. The hike itself was very enjoyable and peaceful - a beautiful way to spend a morning and work off atleast 1 of the 20 something buffet / rice and curry meals I have eaten so far. We returned to town of Pattipola were we took afternoon train to our next overnight stop of Bandarawela. The tiny train station (highest in Sri Lanka) looked more like a train museum but all the old equipment was still in use. The station master was better dressed than Captain Stubing from the Love Boat. When a train approached he took a large iron ring out and held it above his head. The train driver would then lean out window with arm out infront and place arm in middle of ring (hooking it). Then he would drive down road a bit and place it on something that would effectively lock the track (as same platform was used for both directions) When our train arrived we could sit in doorway with legs hanging out of train. The train didn't go fast but we past some amazing scenery as we dropped down from 1800m to about 900m passing through cloud forests and tea plantations, waving to school kids and cows on the way. As its something those of us in western world cannot do there was a thrill to being able to enjoy a train ride from this vantage point. A few times we were slapped with low hanging branches but I was a few carriages back sitting with a local and always got fair warning when to lift my feet up. Bandarawela was a just a night stop after long but adventurous day en route to Kataragama. Our hotel was very friendly and clean and we had excellent view of local mosque and no surprise that being on side of hill we were in a really good position to hear the morning call to prayer - than goodness the sun didn't rise before 6am! This morning we headed off for short drive to next hotel which was close to Yala national park where we were going Leopard spotting, This hotel was a comfort class and had one if nicest rooms we have stayed in. After previous hectic day we had a few hours to laze about the pool before heading out to NP. Yala is stunning and before we even reached main gates we had seen a snake eating a frog and a couple of wild Elephants, I was fortunate enough to have an expert twitcher in our jeep (from our tour group) who was able to spot and identify a bird before our guide could turn in his seat to show us. I have forgotten some of the names but will send this to her for bird identification purposes (I suppose I could google it).,,, Yala is best seen in picture rather than in words so I have added many photos. We did stop at beach to see memorial to Tsunami victims as this park was hit ******* Boxing Day 2004. We had to be out of the park by 6pm but in typical fashion all the action kicked off at 5.45. Firstly we saw some baby elephants (maybe 2 years old) then one Elephant came out of bush and charged at procession of jeeps (we were jeep number 2). At first I didn't notice it was unhappy as I have seen an African Elephant charge our truck and that was frightening - this seemed like he was just searching the inside of jeeps for bananas and accidentally smacking people in face as he did so... I was on the left side of the truck and Karen on the right (elephant on right too). I tried to get a photo but our driver took evasive action as he drove us off road and Karen dived across the jeep. Everyone was ok and the Elephant continued to 3rd jeep where we could here squealing.... 6.02 a leopard was spotted on top of rock(high up on escarpment) - every safari jeep rushed to one spot and in an attempt to get a good view our driver parked us under a tree the reversed into another safari vehicle - so we saw nothing,however passing another vehicle I stopped an Italian man with little man syndrome (camera bigger than a telescope). he showed me the photo of leopard and pointed to spot and I could make out an orange blob on a grey rock, So technically I have seen a leopard. 6.10 as we race to main gate a mother and teeny tiny baby elephant appear - again to quick to get a photo but a real "ahhh owwww" moment for us all. This elephant was a real baby and could fit easily under mothers legs to hide. 6.20 we left the park and got roused on a bit but it was well worth it. On drive back there was a storm brewing in the distance and the clouds forming looked like two poodles (see photo) Then back to our hotel for - you guessed it a buffet dinner....