Femi,

thanks for posting. I have been thinking about a Sri Lanka and India safari and this detail is great. Interesting about those entry restrictions in India.

Regards,

Pol

For reptiles, I forgot to mention crocodiles, both marsh and salt-water. Be aware that the marshies lurk in just about every body of water. It was amazing to see them on the roads at dusk, making their way from one pond to the next.

If anyone wants a list of the birds I saw, I could post that too, but think that it may be a case of TMI (Too Much Information).

So after four nights at Yala, it was time to head up to tea country. As he was dropping me off, Nimal had asked that I meet him at 7AM, as we would have a long drive ahead of us. That was an understatement! It was 12 hours of bumpy, curvy (I feel queasy now just thinking about it), construction laden tedium. See Leigh's report for more detail. We passed a van with its side plastered in 'upchuck'. Thankfully I wore a scopolamine patch, or our car might have worn the same effect.

The day did include a stop at Udu Walawe National Park and most of the 'bad road' - I came to dread that term- didn't start until later in the day.

Udu Walawe National Park was a bust. Probably because we didn't get there until 11AM when the sun was already high overhead, scorching everything in sight with a blistering white heat. Coming from Yala, the landscape appeared to be rather barren as an enclosed herd of elephants will make short work of any trees in the vicinity. The lack of shade probably made it seem a lot hotter than it really was.

We had left Yala late which gave me extra game time, so I was not unhappy, and we had stopped to see the roost of fruit bats (my choice).

This was where we had the most awful guide of the lot. He did find me a herd of about 8 elephants, the largest grouping of my entire trip, but he employed nefarious tactics (see above), so I could not enjoy the sighting nor the rest of the drive.

After 2.5 hours of seeing very little, it was time to get back on the road.

Leely- this trip to Sri Lanka has propelled me further up the path to a wildlife trip in India.

Pol- I considered doing both India and Sri Lanka this trip, but found early on that it would have been too much. Too many places, not enough time.

No! Your bird list is not TMI for some of us. Please post, I'd love to know which birds you saw in Sri Lanka. Who knows, maybe we'll put it on the list, hadn't thought of it before reading these reports.

<b>Birds</b>

(I've just learned how to enbolden font- thanks to Leely)

I used A Photographic Guide To Birds of Sri Lanka by Gehan De Silva Wijeyeratne as my main guide because it was in-expensive($12), well known, and easy to find.

These are the birds I know I saw:

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger
Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
Oriental Darter / Darter Anhinga melanogaster
Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis
Yellow Bittern
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx intermedia
Great Egret Casmerodius albus
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala
Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans
Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus
Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus
Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus
Lesser Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna javanica
Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus
Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus
White-bellied Fish- / Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
Crested Serpent-Eagle Spilornis cheela
Changeable Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus
Shaheen Falcon
Ceylon or Sri Lanka Junglefowl Gallus lafayetii
Indian Peafowl
Barred Buttonquail
White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio
PheasantTailed Jacana
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus
Red-wattled Lapwing or Plover Vanellus indicus
Yellow-wattled Lapwing Vanellus malarbaricus
Common Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica
Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon Treron bicincta
Pompadour or Ceylon Green-Pigeon Treron pompadora
Green Imperial-Pigeon Ducula aenea
Ceylon or Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot Loriculus beryllinus
Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea
Blue-faced Malkoha Phaenicophaeus viridirostris
Sirkeer Malkoha (Southern Sirkeer) Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii
Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis
Brown Fish-Owl Ketupa zeylonensis
Stork Billed Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
Little Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis
Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus
European Bee-eater Merops apiaster
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Merops leschenaulti
Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
Eurasian or Common Hoopoe Upupa epops
Ceylon Grey-Hornbill Ocyceros gingalensis
Malabar Pied-Hornbill Anthracoceros coronatus
Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima zeylanica
Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker Dinopium benghalense
Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura
Barn Swallow
Paddyfield Pipit
Blyth's Pipit
Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus
Grey Wagtail
Ceylon Woodshrike
Small Minivet
Red Vented Bulbul
Square Tailed Black Bulbul
Common Iora
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
White Rumped Shama
Indian or Black Robin
Common Tailorbird
Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica
Kashmir Flycatcher
White Browed Fantail
Asian Paradise Fly Catcher (Indian and Ceylon)
Indian Scimitar Babbler
Yellow Billed Babbler
Purple-rumped Sunbird Nectarinia zeylonica
Long Billed Sunbird
Purple Sunbird
Black Headed Oriole
Brown Shrike
White Bellied Drongo
House Crow
Large Billed Crow
Brahminy Starling or Myna
Common Myna
House Sparrow
Baya Weaver
Black Headed Munia




And those which the guides say I saw:
Curlew Sandpiper
Little Terns
Common Kingfisher
Fantailed flycatcher may be the same as the White Browed Flycatcher
Jungle (?) Crow
Little Ringed Plover
Little Stint
Bush Lark
Shikra


Frankly there were probably three times as many birds that we saw but didn't even try to ID. Initially I just wanted to know what the colorful and pretty ones were. I must have asked about the spotted dove three dozen times! Those that I know I saw I either got a really good look at or I saw repeatedly.

Wow! What a list, Femi. We picked up that same bird book as we were curious about the birds we were seeing. Of course, we didn't come close to seeing as many birds as you did.

That's quite a lot of birds! I am impressed.

<b>Tea Trails</b>
After an extremely long day we staggered into Tea Trails' Norwood bungalow and received a very warm welcome. The chef asked when I would like dinner and my answer was 'Now'. They were very accomodating, and that night I was served cuttlefish which I was too hungry and tired to turn down, but which turned out to be one of the most amazing seafood dishes I have ever had in my life!

That night I reveled in getting -and staying- clean, and the marvels of indoor plumbing. The amount of laundry I had accumulated over the past few days was daunting, but Tea Trails took it all in stride.

The next morning dawned bright and clear and I was rejunevated. The night before I had anticipated having a day of rest and had probably communicated that to the staff, but now I had changed my mind and I was ready to be out and about again.

Damien the butler suggested I go for a stroll but I wanted more than that so Nadeera the activities manager was summoned, and eventually we decided on a walk to Castlereagh bungalow. During all the discussion I had thought I heard it was a 5 kilometer walk, but turned out to be more like 11kms! As we were walking I did think it was a long 5kms (!) but as the overall direction was downhill it wasn't too bad, and Nadeera is a very good naturalist and was able to answer all the questions I came up with along the way.

When we got to Castlereagh I was welcomed with a cool drink and offers of a snack or lunch, and eventually the van came round to ferry us back to Norwood. It was about a 45 minute drive because of the 'bad roads'.

Wow! Your bird list is amazing. Hmm, now I do think I'll put Sri Lanka on my list! Thanks for posting.

i just saw a robin... i note you did not see any...

i felt you were finished with the cats, but i scrolled back and could not find it..

Superb list Femi.

Femi - as you probably read in our trip report, we hiked to Tientsin from Norwood - 16 km. It took us about 3-1/2 hours over fairly level terrain. Castlereigh is pretty much downhill all the way as it is right on the reservoir that you look down on from Norwood.

I went back and re-read your report. It was Nadeera who explained why I found the walk down to Castlereigh so tolerable. He offered a walk -up- to Tientsin but I chickened out as I had started to take note of the different levels of elevation marked on the signs. Now of course I wish I'd done it.

Thanks for the spelling on Castlereigh. I knew I had it wrong.

Checked the website, it is spelled Castlereagh, which still looks funny to me but oh well.

After the walk with Nadeera I felt more comfortable walking around on my own and decided to go for another shorter walk, the ‘N2’, that evening. The trails are well marked but as I suspected the walk was not as enjoyable as going with someone familiar with the surroundings. I spent most of my efforts on staying on the path and not getting lost.

The next morning several of us Tea Trails guests were scheduled to attend the tour of Norwood Tea Factory, which was everything I could have hoped for and more. Andrew Taylor gives a fascinating presentation on tea history and production from start to finish.

In the evening I spotted some ladies in the field and went to join them for a bit and it was an eye opening experience and even more of my unasked questions were answered. All in all the process of tea picking is not quite as romantic as I had previously imagined. You’re exposed to the elements, fierce sun and tropical downpours, and hoist heavy loads up and down hills. There’s not much room to maneuver between bushes which explained the stiff aprons the ladies wore and the scratches on their arms. They were weeding as well as plucking. I’m thankful I didn’t run into any creepy crawlies but I’m sure there’s a fair bit of that about as well.

I couldn’t decide how to spend my last full day at Tea Trails, and after chatting with the general manager I went for a bird watching walk in the morning, and was supposed to do the same in the evening but that got cancelled by a rainstorm. I explored the option of taking the scenic train ride but as a solo traveler it would have cost about $200 so I declined.

Overall I think my stay at Tea Trails lasted about 1 day too long. It’s the perfect destination for R&R but there was rather more downtime than I would have wished.

It was time to move on to Habarana. On the way there we stopped in Kandy for a tour of the Temple of the Tooth and from what I saw of the city I was pretty happy to keep my visit short.

Cinnamon Lodge was different from the other places I’d stayed in that it was big enough to cater to one busload of groups after another. It stayed very busy, but the room was adequate and had everything I needed and the buffet dinners had a nice selection on offer. Breakfast was more hit or miss. The best things going for the lodge are that it sits within a central location within the cultural triangle and the extensive grounds harbor a nice variety of birds and wildlife. I was finally able to sit and observe monkeys, macaques and langurs, to my heart’s content.

Pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/FemiSrilankanPictures

Femi, your pics are amazing. I will be adding Sri Lanka to my wish list now.

"Spotted body and ringed tail".... sounds like a civet, they are often seen at Yala moving away quite quickly just like you describe. They are beautiful but hard to photograph.

Lovely photos.

Great photos Femi.