For an otherworldly experience, there is nothing like a safari drive in Sri Lanka’s wild. Just below Horton Plains lies the 30, 821 hectare Udawalawe National Park in the Sri Lanka’s southeast, part of the dry zone. The dry zone means sparse vegetation and open waterways, making it one of the best places in the world to see elephants.
On my Safari in September 2016 I knew I’d see a few elephants, but nothing prepared me for the sheer numbers we met in just two, three-hour safari drives. We had our first encounter within minutes of entering the park, there blocking the road ahead was the largest creature I’ve ever seen – hard to believe the Sri Lankan elephant are smaller than their African cousins!
As we watched this elephant, out to the left from a tangle of trees ambled her baby. We were so dumbfounded that our cameras stayed in our laps and we watched in awe for twenty minutes as they strolled across the savannah, stopping to eat, without a care in the world, completely ignoring our jeep.
Up the road we met a young bull elephant, cleverly separating the dry sand from the sparse grass undergrowth before he ate it. Not happy with is results, he picked up the grass with his trunk and threw it into the air. Grass and sand came falling down in two separate piles. Clearly, a fine way to tenderise your food!
Later, we meet another mother elephant, this time with a calf only a day or so old. We watched as she tenderly protected her baby keeping her (or perhaps him) tucked under her legs as she walked. How she didn’t trip I cannot guess. Nearby was the aunt, another majestic creature, slowly chewing.
I could go on and on about our many encounters with these fascinating elephants over our two fabulous safari drives but then you’d miss out on hearing about our other remarkable encounters with shy spotted deer jumping and playing in the shadows of the trees. They were so beautifully camouflaged we would have completely missed them had it not been for our eagle-eyed guide.
Down by the waterways we spotted water buffalo galore, wallowing and playing in the cool water, oblivious to the rich array of waterbirds cooling down from the steamy day. I confess a bias towards the colourful Painted Storks, with their hot pink smudgy tail, but if I am honest the Black Headed Ibis and Spot Billed Pelicans are just as enthralling. We were incredibly lucky and also saw colourful kingfishers, Sri Lankan spurfowl, white wagtail and beady-eyed swooping eagles, even a changeable hawk-eagle with a striking feather crown.
As the sun set on the safari, we watched huge crocs slip into the murky waters, the sky ablaze with red and orange hues. It would have been a fitting close to a magical day but! It didn’t end there.
The other surprise of our two-day safari stay was an elaborate lunch prepared by an executive chef (white hat and all) amidst the wilderness. There we sat, by a gentle flowing river, in the midst of teak forest, enjoying a meal fit for kings (complete with linen napkins).
Talk about otherworldly and an experience that will live long in my memory.
