After our adventures in Yala National Park, we only had a short breather, because right after the mud safari, we drove on to Udawalawe. That’s where our next (and last) safari was scheduled. But first, we had to spend the night at Jungle Paradise. And the name said it all. Even during the night, we could hear the polecats scampering around on the roof (nocturnal martens and a corrugated-iron roof are a bad combination). The next morning, we were awakened by the calls of peacocks and countless other bird and animal sounds. It was truly impressive—we’d never experienced anything quite so intense before. After a so-so breakfast, we relaxed briefly by the pool, and in the afternoon we headed to Udawalawe National Park. On the way, we enjoyed slices of mango with chili and salt—the authentic way, straight from a plastic bag picked up right off the side of the road. Soooo delicious!
We weren’t expecting to see any leopards this time. There were also no breakdowns or similar difficulties like the day before. We “only” saw plenty of elephants. And the great thing about this park is that they come almost right up to the jeep. We were also very lucky to spot a golden jackal. But enough said—here are a few impressions from Udawalawe National Park:
The next morning marked the last full day of our round-trip tour. Before we set off, we were able to watch the feeding of young elephants at the Elephant Transit Home. The zoo is home to both orphaned and injured elephants that would have no chance of survival on their own in the wild. Since it was the weekend and the Buddhists were observing several holidays, the park was unfortunately quite crowded.
Shortly before Polhena, we made another stop to learn about cinnamon harvesting and processing—and it turned out to be quite a hands-on experience. We had to pitch in ourselves and realized just how labor-intensive (and entirely done by hand) the process is.
Then we arrived in Polhena at the Drivethru Surf Camp, and it was time to say goodbye to our driver, Sandun. We’d really grown fond of him, so saying goodbye was a little hard. Should you plan a similar tour of Sri Lanka we can highly recommend Sandun from TravelNLanka. Polhena is essentially our last stop before we head back to Germany next Friday. Here at the surf camp, things move at a slightly different pace, but more on that in the next post.
