After the first exciting part of our journey in Sri Lanka, Jenna and I wanted to pack the most we could in our remaining few days. We could stay for many more weeks and still not see everything that the small country has to offer. We decided to head south to Udawalawe National Park. It was created to provide a 119 square mile sanctuary for the wild animals. I’d heard that the park housed safaris comparable to east Africa. There wasn’t a great way to get there from Ella, so we decided to take the crowded public buses. You would not believe how many people can pile into one of these buses. You think you’re full, and then another thirty people get on the bus. Everyone is happy, considerate, and patient, and it’s a part of their everyday life. The compression of sweaty people mixed with the constant feelings of motion sickness create a truly incredible, interesting, and uncomfortable experience all at the same time. What a kind and happy group of people, and it really puts things in perspective for me. We transferred from one bus to another in the small town of Thanamalwila and headed west on another crowded bus along the south side of the park. Once we neared the park entrance, we essentially crawled over and under people to get off of the bus. We found a safari jeep to take us through the park. He showed us a cheap local buffet place for lunch. The safari was three hours in the late afternoon/early evening, and it was truly incredible. The area was in a drought, and the terrain was pretty in its own way. Very quickly we were surrounded by numerous Sri Lankan elephants. They are really breathtaking creatures. According to Wikipedia, the park includes 94 plants, 21 fish, 12 amphibians, 33 reptiles, 184 birds, 135 butterflies, and 43 mammals. We probably saw around 50 to 75 elephants, including a month or two old calf learning to bathe, while we enjoyed the show from 15 feet away. There were cool birds and lizards, and we saw so many peacocks, buffalo, and deer. The park just to the east housed numerous leopards, but we didn’t see any.

After the safari, we got a tuk tuk to drive us to the southern coast through the late evening, early night. Our safari guide hooked us up with a place in the beach town of Mirissa to stay that evening in a guest house, just outside of a family’s home. We arrived to the home, and the man had us into his living room, served us drinks and got to know us. He is a Professor, and his wife is a Doctor (she was working late), and they are quite well off compared to others we’d met. It was a relaxing evening and was great to enjoy the home of the family. At the time, we wondered if later we’d be charged for the hospitality and drinks (we were). The way he brought them to us made them seem complimentary, but reality says nothing like that is free. Our guesthouse was separate from the main house. It was very basic, mainly clean, with just some small ants. We considered going on a boat the next morning to see the town’s famous blue whales but decided we’d prefer a day on the beach. The next morning we walked there and were impressed with the size of the waves. The entire east coast of Sri Lanka is known for it’s world-class surfing. After a nice day, we paid the owner of our guest house to drive us along the southern coast to the city of Galle, the fourth largest city in Sri Lanka. Galle is an ancient seaport, and a place with deep history. The city has a giant fort (world heritage site), and some scholars believe the city to be the “Tarshish” of the Old Testament, to which King Solomon sent his merchant vessels and gathered ivory, peacocks, and other valuables. It is also believed by some to be the place in which Jonah fled from the Lord (which is interesting given the large presence of the giant blue whales just off the coast). After a great meal on a balcony in the fort watching the sunset, we packed on another late night public bus with way too many people and made the journey up the coastline back to Colombo. From the bus station, we took another bus to the airport. Jenna had a 3:00 AM flight, so we didn’t get a place to stay for the night. My flight wasn’t even on the boards yet, but after begging the immigration officer to let me through on Jenna’s flight, I joined her in the airport lounge where I showered and slept until my late morning flight to another stay and restful break in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sri Lanka is a really incredible place, and I’m still awed by how much it has to offer.