Parks, Elephants, and Hikes

So far regarding our trip to Sri Lanka, we have discussed the amazing cultural heritage of Sri Lanka, and the delectable food to be found here.  I will now look at the national parks, animals, and hiking in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has at least 24 national parks, numerous botanical gardens, fascinating marine resources, beaches, and wildlife.  We spent several days in and around three national parks: Minneriya National Park, Horton's Plains National Park, and Uda Walawe National Park (we were scheduled to visit Yala National Park but it was closed due to drought conditions in September 2013).  We visited the Ho-o-maniya Blowhole east of Matara, and a private turtle sanctuary on the west coast.

Elephant herd in Minneriya National Park

Minneriya National Park was our first introduction to elephants in the wild.  The park, in the midst of the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka, is located near Habarana.   Several hundred wild elephants converge on this park near the Minneriya reservoir/lake during the dry season (August - September).  The elephants travel through the wildlife corridors connecting many of the main national parks.  This allows migratory elephants to live in harmony with the agricultural villages of central Sri Lanka.  The elephants gather, not for the water, but for the tender new growth of grasses growing on the exposed shoreline of the reservoir as it shrinks during the dry season.  Leopards and sloth bears also live in the park but we saw neither. What we did see were three major herds of elephants: one of 11 elephants along a river bank, another of 40-50 among the scrub trees set back from the lake, and another of 80 near the lakeside grasslands.  A solitary male elephant could be seen roaming at a distance on a peninsula across the lake.  Other male elephants were occasionally seen on the edges of the main herd, but they did not join the herd.

A larger herd at Minneriya National Park

The main problem we observed in Minneriya park was the uncontrolled access of 4 wheel drive to the plains surrounding the lake.  As Mr. Chundanu, our guide, observed, each new car track reduces the amount of land the elephants can graze on.  Besides, it is unsightly.  A new park superintendent had recently been appointed and was attempting to impose some order on the jeep drivers.  It will be interesting to see how this works in the future.

Damage created by 4-wheel drive vehicles

The best part of our visit was Mr. Chundanu, He is a local villager, he was knowledgeable about bird, mammals and reptiles, and the local vegetation.  He was sanguine in his comments on the role of tourism, and ecology with the national park.  He said..."without the park [and tourists], the local towns simply would not exist".

Elephants grazing on cut fodder at Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage

The next elephant related park, was the Pinnewala Elephant  Orphanage located in a small town about 40 km east of Kandy.  This park is designed for the casual tourist.  People come to the town three times a day for the elephant feeding sessions.  The main attraction is the ability to get up close and touch elephants.  With visitors in a amphitheater, baby elephants are brought in and attached to concrete pillars.  With assistance of handlers, visitors who have paid the supplemental feeding fee, are handed bottles of a milk formula which the baby elephants almost inhale in 15 to 20 seconds and consume a liter of milk.

Doug feeding the baby elephant a bottle of milk

After the elephant feeding it was time for feeding the visitors.  We all trouped down through town restaurants on the river bank.  While our food was being prepared, I noticed local shop keepers closing gates to protect their shops.  Shortly 30 or so elephants came down the narrow street and entered the river to bath. Several mahouts went swimming with the elephants, mainly to keep them from crossing the river and roaming uncontrolled.

Our driver Damith and his son@ the elephant orphanage

Our final elephant experience was to be at Yala National Park on the southern coast of Sri Lanks.  Our guide had told us the park was closed due to an ongoing drought.  We suggested going to the Uda Walawe National Park, located about 1.5 hours from Yala.  It was open, and guides were available.  Upon arrival, before entering the park, you have to negotiate a deal with a driver, about 6K Sri Lanka rupee.  After boarding the vehicle, you enter the park and go to park hq where a guide is assigned.  The park is crisscrossed with jeep trails.  The park is dry almost semi arid.  Almost immediately we began to see wildlife, water buffalo, cattle, and elephants.  The guide pointed out iguana-like reptiles clinging to the side of trees, and various birds.  While there are many 4-wheel drive vehicles in the park, you really don't notice them until you get to the lakes and watering holes.  At the watering holes we saw small herds of elephants, larger herds of mixed domestic/wild water buffalo, wading birds, raptors, cattle egret, and crocodiles.  After parking near the lake we sat and watched.  Slowly we began to see the crocodiles (3-4 meters in length), sunning on the banks with their mouths wide open (to keep cool).  The longer we sat and watched, the more crocodiles we saw.  Two eyes peering out on the surface of the water was the clue that danger lurked below the surface.  All in all we saw 15 to 20 crocodiles, most lurking in the water waiting for a meal to swim by.

Mom and baby at Uda Walawe

Crocodiles can be found on dry land

Water Buffalo (domestic variety) in the park

A note: at different parks different rules apply to remuneration of the drivers.  At Minneriya National Park, you hire the vehicle directly from the driver and it appears he is the owner.  At Uda Walawe the 4-wheel drive vehicles are owned by a concessionaire and the fee is not negotiable.  At the end of the trip you must tip the driver as he is not paid by the owner of the vehicles.  In both parks a tip to the guide is appropriate.  They are the ones who can see the animals you have no hope of seeing on your own.

A young solitary male

The final park we visited was Horton's Plains and a visit to World's End.  Horton's Plains is located 30 km from Nuwara Eliya.  If you are an early riser you can visit for sunrise, but we chose to leave our hotel at 6:30 am for the hour drive.  Once we arrived (it was crisp in a humid climate at 2000 meters elevation) we stopped at a rustic shop for a spot of tea and local breads.  Once fortified we walked to the entrance to the hike.  Much to our surprise, our plastic water bottles were confiscated... to prevent liter.

Scenery at Horton's Plain

Horton's Plains

We walked across rolling hills along bubbling brooks (filled with trout brought by the English). The trails are suffering from overuse and are being severely eroded by water and foot traffic.  On the advice of our guide and driver we chose to go to the waterfall first (the mists rise later in the morning to allow us to see the views at Worlds End).

Liz with our driver Damith and guide Manesh  

It was a steep unsteady climb down to the viewing point for the waterfall.  Initially I was not going to walk down, but it was well worth it.  The climb back up seemed much shorter than the descent.  Afterwards we continued our walk across semi-arid  terrain for several km.  Finally we crossed over to the view point at World's End.  It was an escarpment with 880 meter drop off.  On a clear day, according to the signboard, you can see the Indian Ocean.

The view from Land's End

Walking back to the park entrance, we passed through a tropical cloud forest.  In the morning, the mist and fog rise from the plains below and are caught in the trees along the ridge.  The trees capture the mist, and the cloud leave their moisture behind.  Wild orchids abound as do many bird species.

An interesting fungus growing on a tree.