Monday, May 29, 2006
Wilpattu National Park closed
It is so depressing even to think about what happened in Wilpattu. Yes, I am talking about the 3 pressure mines that were set up by the LTTE to target poor innocent civilians in order to ensure that the park will be closed to carry out their activities. Wilpattu was closed earlier for about 17 years owing to the same problem when terrorists massacred some 23 odd people all park personnel. It was opened about 3 years ago and the amount of hard work that went into opening the park only to be closed again. Wilpattu is 2nd on the list of my favourite national parks, 1st being Kumana which is said to have LTTE camps in it as well. Therefore our trips will be rather limited which is a very sad thing. Wilpattu was just beginning to regain its former glory of being able to see leopard upfront and personal, now all that will be lost again. You can read more about the story at the following
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Explanation of some terms
I would like to explain some of the terms used in my previous posting. Term like seeni sambol, kade, Dansala, kola kande and Mudalali
Seeni sambol - seeni means sugar, it is acually made with onions, maldive fish, chillies and other spices and sugar is also added.
Kade - this means a shop.
Dansala - During Wesak as it was, the traditional Dansala was a place for pilgrims to stop and refresh themselves when the travel long journeys.
Kola Kande - It is actually a rice kanji to which various edible green leaves are added.
Mudalali - Shop owner
Seeni sambol - seeni means sugar, it is acually made with onions, maldive fish, chillies and other spices and sugar is also added.
Kade - this means a shop.
Dansala - During Wesak as it was, the traditional Dansala was a place for pilgrims to stop and refresh themselves when the travel long journeys.
Kola Kande - It is actually a rice kanji to which various edible green leaves are added.
Mudalali - Shop owner
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Nilgala 10th to 14th May
10th May - Left home for Udawalawe at around 5.15 p.m. Waited at the Thalawatugoda junction for a friend and had to wait a while. Met him at 5.45 p.m., then set off to pick up another friend of ours, picked him up from his house and proceeded and it was a traffic ridden drive all the way upto Avissawella where the traffic eased somewhat as many diverted off upcountry. Proceeded to SilverRay situated at Pelmadulla for dinner, then proceeded to Udawalawe. A barn owl decided to fly in front of us. Went to the Wildlife and Nature Proctection Society bungalow at Udawalawe around 11.00 p.m. We had covered a distance of about 148 km. Everyone seemed to be sleeping, woke them up, there were 3 others. Finally after talking shop went to sleep around 12.30 p.m. We did not get to see our bungalow keeper that night as he was fast asleep.
11th May - Woke up around 6.00 a.m. to the sounds of the bungalow keepers radio and kitchen sounds in general. The night was pretty cool as there was a pretty good blowing into the bungalow but when we woke up in the morning it seemed to be pretty humid. Had a shower, had tea and breakfast and left. Travelling along the Tanamalwila road we made a turn off to go to a water body known as Ranmuthuwewa. Spent quite a bit of time here photographing the birds. There was a treeful of Baya weaver birds with their nests. Left Ranmuthuwewa around 9.25 a.m. and headed towards KudaOya Task Camp and reached there around 10.00 a.m. where we had a cup of tea and heard and saw a Jungle Owlet. Left around 12.00 noon and headed towards Bibile. We reached Bibile around 1.50 p.m. Udawalawe to Bibile is about 114 km. We stayed at a place called Hotel Kinikini. Not a bad place!! When we reached there, there was a wedding taking place. We had lunch and left the hotel around 3.15 p.m. for Nilgala for more bird watching.
Bibile to Nilgala which is on the Bibile Ampara road is about 25 km. We saw plenty of birds here. Then we left Nilgala and proceeded further on the Ampara road to look for owls and night jars, we heard the night jar, the jungle owlet and brown hawk owl but could not see any of these birds. We decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Had our shower and our customery dring and had dinner and went to sleep. We called Hotel Kinkini the Hilton of Bibile. We had a/c rooms but the fuse seemed to be going all the time. All in all it was not so hot so it wasn't that bad.
12th May - Woke up to the alarm at 5.00 a.m. Had our tea and got ready. Left the hotel at about 6.10 a.m. Proceeded toward Nilgala. Stopped along the way to see the yellow legged green pigeon, saw it but photographing it was a bit difficult as it was pretty far. We were there for about 3 hours watching all kinds of birds and trying to photograph them. Left there about 8.50 a.m. towards Nilgala. Since it was the Wesak weekend there were lots of Dansala's and there was a kola kande dansala just near the turn off to Nilgala and so we stopped and had kola kande here and that was considered breakfast. We then proceeded towards the Nilgala beat with plenty of stops along the way looking for birds. Finally went to the beat and we had lunch here, lunch consisting of bread and seeni sambol and plantain. It rained and didn't it rain hard. Once it ceased we headed back. We couldn't proceed any further at one particular point as the water was so high and the flow so rapid. The villagers said it would recede ina bout 2 hours or so, so therefore in the meantime we decided to go after the painted partridge, we did see a glimpse of the bird. We came back to check the water level and seemed crossable so one vehicle at a time we all managed to cross, there were 3 vehicles. Decided to go to the same point as last evening to look for night jars and owls. No luck. Went back to the hotel at 7.25 p.m. Showered and met up for our customary evening drink. One of the guys in our crowd had been at Yala Safari when the Tsunami struck so we had him relate his story. We then had dinner and went to sleep.
13th May - We were woken up by the person who brought our tea. It was about 5.15 a.m. Went back to sleep though and got up only when my alarm went off that was at 5.30 a.m. Got ready had our tea and had to wait a while till the others got ready. One of our guys were leaving us today owing to prior commitment. We finally left the hotel at 6.30 a.m. We went to the shop and bought cream crakers and cheese but had not decided whether we were going to have it for breakfast or lunch. Once again proceeded towards Nilgala. Somewhere around the 6th km post the vehicle in front of us stopped and the guys got down and made a sign with his hands. I ofcourse thought he was talking about oranges, because I had wanted to buy oranges and incidently Bibile is the best place to buy oranges, but to our surprise it was the jungle bush quail they had spotted on the side of the road. We were very lucky as they gave us a splendid display and a fine photo opportunity as the early morning sunlight was falling directly on them. We saw one male and 4 females, they crossed the road from one side to the other and then back again. We finally departed from there rather satisfied at having got this wonderful opportunity.
We proceeded towards Nilgala and once again stopped around the 17th km post to look for more birds, we also had our cheese and crackers here. This place was not that productive photographywise. Packed up and proceeded. At the Nilgala turn of is a small kade, we asked them if they could make a simple rice and curry for us, they obliged so lunch was taken care of. This time we did not go towards the Nilgala beat but continued along the Ampara road where we looked for owls and nightjars the previous two evenings. Hung around here for a while and went back to the kade to have our lunch as we were quite famished by now. One of the guys spotted a black eagle quite close but no photo opportunity. Reached the kade but to find that lunch was not ready as yet, so we had to wait a while. In the meantime we had a chat with the kade mudalali who said he owned a paddy field which had plenty of birdlife, so we decided that after lunch this is where we will be heading toward. We finally had lunch and went to this place. It was a breathtaking place and as we went in there we heard the call of the painted partridge. It is a very difficult bird to see. We had no luck here photographywise even though we saw the bird. It began to rain and it rained hard once again. We then decided to head back toward the hotel and we reached the hotel fairly early this evening at 5.45 p.m. owing to the rain. We showered and had our ususal drink, had dinner and went to sleep.
14th May - Got up to the sound of the alarm at 5.15 a.m. No signs of our tea. The owner had overslept. He made his appearance just as we were about to leave and he was very apologetic. We left the hotel at 6.00 a.m. Went to the 6th km post hoping to see the quails once again but were disappointed. We heard them call but they did not make an appearance for us. After spending quite a while for them to make an appearance we left and proceeded towards our kade. Since we had not had our morning tea we had our tea at the kade and we also had bread and seeni sambol for breakfast. We then left to go to our new found site to try our luck once again but we were not so lucky with regards to the partridge but we did see the male and female blue button quail and the bare button quail.
We left this place early as today we had to drive back to Colombo. We decided to have lunch at the hotel instead of having it along the way. We left the hotel around 1.10 p.m., we stopped at SilverRay once again for some snacks and tea. Here we said our goodbyes to the other guys in the other vehicle. We dropped the guy who had come with us and we finally reached home at 9.00 p.m.
I took so long to write about this trip as I was desperate to get a map of Sri Lanka Note: When viewing the map place the cursor on the map then at the bottom on the right hand corner you get a box with four arrows. Click on this and this will enable you to enlarge the map to a viewable size. I finally did manage to get one, it is not such a detailed map but I think it gives a rough idea the route to Nilgala.
11th May - Woke up around 6.00 a.m. to the sounds of the bungalow keepers radio and kitchen sounds in general. The night was pretty cool as there was a pretty good blowing into the bungalow but when we woke up in the morning it seemed to be pretty humid. Had a shower, had tea and breakfast and left. Travelling along the Tanamalwila road we made a turn off to go to a water body known as Ranmuthuwewa. Spent quite a bit of time here photographing the birds. There was a treeful of Baya weaver birds with their nests. Left Ranmuthuwewa around 9.25 a.m. and headed towards KudaOya Task Camp and reached there around 10.00 a.m. where we had a cup of tea and heard and saw a Jungle Owlet. Left around 12.00 noon and headed towards Bibile. We reached Bibile around 1.50 p.m. Udawalawe to Bibile is about 114 km. We stayed at a place called Hotel Kinikini. Not a bad place!! When we reached there, there was a wedding taking place. We had lunch and left the hotel around 3.15 p.m. for Nilgala for more bird watching.
Bibile to Nilgala which is on the Bibile Ampara road is about 25 km. We saw plenty of birds here. Then we left Nilgala and proceeded further on the Ampara road to look for owls and night jars, we heard the night jar, the jungle owlet and brown hawk owl but could not see any of these birds. We decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Had our shower and our customery dring and had dinner and went to sleep. We called Hotel Kinkini the Hilton of Bibile. We had a/c rooms but the fuse seemed to be going all the time. All in all it was not so hot so it wasn't that bad.
12th May - Woke up to the alarm at 5.00 a.m. Had our tea and got ready. Left the hotel at about 6.10 a.m. Proceeded toward Nilgala. Stopped along the way to see the yellow legged green pigeon, saw it but photographing it was a bit difficult as it was pretty far. We were there for about 3 hours watching all kinds of birds and trying to photograph them. Left there about 8.50 a.m. towards Nilgala. Since it was the Wesak weekend there were lots of Dansala's and there was a kola kande dansala just near the turn off to Nilgala and so we stopped and had kola kande here and that was considered breakfast. We then proceeded towards the Nilgala beat with plenty of stops along the way looking for birds. Finally went to the beat and we had lunch here, lunch consisting of bread and seeni sambol and plantain. It rained and didn't it rain hard. Once it ceased we headed back. We couldn't proceed any further at one particular point as the water was so high and the flow so rapid. The villagers said it would recede ina bout 2 hours or so, so therefore in the meantime we decided to go after the painted partridge, we did see a glimpse of the bird. We came back to check the water level and seemed crossable so one vehicle at a time we all managed to cross, there were 3 vehicles. Decided to go to the same point as last evening to look for night jars and owls. No luck. Went back to the hotel at 7.25 p.m. Showered and met up for our customary evening drink. One of the guys in our crowd had been at Yala Safari when the Tsunami struck so we had him relate his story. We then had dinner and went to sleep.
13th May - We were woken up by the person who brought our tea. It was about 5.15 a.m. Went back to sleep though and got up only when my alarm went off that was at 5.30 a.m. Got ready had our tea and had to wait a while till the others got ready. One of our guys were leaving us today owing to prior commitment. We finally left the hotel at 6.30 a.m. We went to the shop and bought cream crakers and cheese but had not decided whether we were going to have it for breakfast or lunch. Once again proceeded towards Nilgala. Somewhere around the 6th km post the vehicle in front of us stopped and the guys got down and made a sign with his hands. I ofcourse thought he was talking about oranges, because I had wanted to buy oranges and incidently Bibile is the best place to buy oranges, but to our surprise it was the jungle bush quail they had spotted on the side of the road. We were very lucky as they gave us a splendid display and a fine photo opportunity as the early morning sunlight was falling directly on them. We saw one male and 4 females, they crossed the road from one side to the other and then back again. We finally departed from there rather satisfied at having got this wonderful opportunity.
We proceeded towards Nilgala and once again stopped around the 17th km post to look for more birds, we also had our cheese and crackers here. This place was not that productive photographywise. Packed up and proceeded. At the Nilgala turn of is a small kade, we asked them if they could make a simple rice and curry for us, they obliged so lunch was taken care of. This time we did not go towards the Nilgala beat but continued along the Ampara road where we looked for owls and nightjars the previous two evenings. Hung around here for a while and went back to the kade to have our lunch as we were quite famished by now. One of the guys spotted a black eagle quite close but no photo opportunity. Reached the kade but to find that lunch was not ready as yet, so we had to wait a while. In the meantime we had a chat with the kade mudalali who said he owned a paddy field which had plenty of birdlife, so we decided that after lunch this is where we will be heading toward. We finally had lunch and went to this place. It was a breathtaking place and as we went in there we heard the call of the painted partridge. It is a very difficult bird to see. We had no luck here photographywise even though we saw the bird. It began to rain and it rained hard once again. We then decided to head back toward the hotel and we reached the hotel fairly early this evening at 5.45 p.m. owing to the rain. We showered and had our ususal drink, had dinner and went to sleep.
14th May - Got up to the sound of the alarm at 5.15 a.m. No signs of our tea. The owner had overslept. He made his appearance just as we were about to leave and he was very apologetic. We left the hotel at 6.00 a.m. Went to the 6th km post hoping to see the quails once again but were disappointed. We heard them call but they did not make an appearance for us. After spending quite a while for them to make an appearance we left and proceeded towards our kade. Since we had not had our morning tea we had our tea at the kade and we also had bread and seeni sambol for breakfast. We then left to go to our new found site to try our luck once again but we were not so lucky with regards to the partridge but we did see the male and female blue button quail and the bare button quail.
We left this place early as today we had to drive back to Colombo. We decided to have lunch at the hotel instead of having it along the way. We left the hotel around 1.10 p.m., we stopped at SilverRay once again for some snacks and tea. Here we said our goodbyes to the other guys in the other vehicle. We dropped the guy who had come with us and we finally reached home at 9.00 p.m.
I took so long to write about this trip as I was desperate to get a map of Sri Lanka Note: When viewing the map place the cursor on the map then at the bottom on the right hand corner you get a box with four arrows. Click on this and this will enable you to enlarge the map to a viewable size. I finally did manage to get one, it is not such a detailed map but I think it gives a rough idea the route to Nilgala.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Today is the day
OK it is now 10.48 a.m. and we will be setting out at about 5.00 p.m. and I am just waiting to hit the road. We are leaving at an awful time cos this is the traffic rush hour but unfortunately this is the only time my husband will be able to get off work. First, as I mentioned in my previous blog we will be spending the night at the Udawalawe Wildlife and Nature Protection Society bungalow of which you have to be a member to book. We will be driving through the night and we should reach Udawalawe depending on traffic in about 3 to 4 hours. We decided to go in the night cos we could then make an early start towards Nilgala.
Monday, May 08, 2006
A trip at last!!
I am anxiously anticipating my trip to Nilgala which will be from the 10th to the 14th of this month. We plan to go to Udawalawe on the 10th night and set out early morning 11th to Nilgala. This trip will most definitely be only bird watching and of course photography. About 6 other people will be joining us. These wildlife images on this site,taken all around Sri Lanka, are a collection of 4 friends work.
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