Rain Forest Adventure in Sinharaja World Heritage Site

I have been wanting to visit Sinharaja for a very long time, but due to different reasons it kept getting postponed. Finally due to a last minute reshuffling during the Avurudhu holidays this April I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to this amazing rainforest for two days.

I managed to get our family vehicle a Totota Hilux pick up truck which would prove to be very useful as I would later learn. The plan was to leave early morning on saturday with Niroshan and meet up with Gayan and his father in law Uncle Dhammasena who were already on location. We departed Colombo at 4.00 am and via the Southern Expressway reached Mathugama. Thereon we passed Agalawatte untill we reached Kalawana. The road leading to Kalawana was one of the worst stretches I have encountered and I would not recommend a car to try that road. From Kalawana you reach Kudawa which is the village which borders one of the many entrances to the rainforest.

We reached a Forest Department Dormitory, but as Gayan has already gone into the rainforest we decided to head there as well. The office is situated at the bottom of the hill where we need to purchase tickets and obtain a guide to take us around. To reach the entrance to the forest we had two options, either to walk about 2.5 km uphill through a route where vehicles arent allowed or drive up a gravel track. As I had the double cab I decided to try the drive up hill. This was literally one of the most difficult roads I had encountered with lots of loose rocks and hairpin bends. I made up my mind immediately that I would walk up the hill the following day. Reaching the entrance we finally entered the world famous rainforest. Moments from entering we were welcomed by a vast array of bird calls. Walking along the trail we kept a good eye open for all sorts of critters. We came across a very interesting Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis wiegmanni)  or Pinum Katussa in Sinhalese. Using Niroshan's new macro lens I took some great close up pictures of this tiny reptile. Reaching a certain spot the guide told that we would go deep into the forest to check if there were any Ceylon Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger)  in that area. He came back onto the road and asked us to follow him. We crept through thick jungle with slippery and deep mud to reach a thicket where we witnessed one of the cutest pair of birds. The Ceylon Frogmouth was a small bird around 8 inches tall with the funniest face I have ever seen. They looked more like soft toys than birds. The pair were peacefully sleeping on a branch, and at times slowly opened their eyes to get a look at us. We slowly edged closer, careful not to disturbed them, and through tireless minutes of squatting in deep mud managed to get some good photographs despite the bad light and thick foliage. I felt very lucky and privileged to see these amazing birds whose male was grey and female was brown in color. Fully satisfied with our photographs we headed back to the main road. With feet full of leeches we continued along the path.

We came across Gayan and Uncle Dhammasena who were returning out of the forest. We continued the treck upto the research station where Gayan has come across around 4 Blue Magpie's (Urocissa ornata). These beautiful birds are endemic to Sri Lanka and part of the crow family. Unfortunately it was late afternoon by the time we reached the spot, and despite our searching we didnt find these birds. Hungry and hot, we decided to head back to the dormitory for a nice cold shower and a good afternoon nap. The dormitory consists of several cabins as well as a few large dorms able to hold a large crowd. The room we stayed in had two bunk beds and an attached bathroom, and I have to say all was spotless clean. After a good lunch we retired for an afternoon siesta. The dorm borders a lovely stream which is ideal for a nice cool bath, but as we were tired we resorted to using the shower where the water was icy cold. We hit the sack early that night in anticipation of another walk in the forest tomorrow.

Back at the office at 6.30 am the next day we decided to walk up the hill to reach the entrance. The climb which was difficult at first because alright as we climbed higher. The green pit viper used to be sighted quite regularly on this trail but we did not see any. We did see a green vine snake though, and using my pop up flash managed to get one shot before the snake moved away.

We walked fast through the trail to reach the research station to try our luck again with the blue magpies. Despite our hours of searching we didnt find them. Dissapointed we started heading back out, when suddenly my guide showed us a blue magpie perched on a branch alongside the trail. We immediately dropped our back packs and monopods and started clicking away. In a matter of minutes four more birds flew in and we spend hours photographing many profiles of these birds. Fully satisfied with the shots we captured we headed back out, and returned to Colombo. I felt that we have just scratched the surface of this amazing world heritage site, and believe that I can spend a lifetime there and still discover new wonders. This trip was the first and deffenitely not the last.

Expect more Sinharaja blog updates in the months to come.

Return to old haunts- Holiday getaway to Udawalawe and Yala

One of the perks of having a one week long holiday for Avurudu is that I can travel during weekdays to the wilds whilst the rest of Colombo are busy at work. My friend Ali from office has never been to the jungles and I wanted to organize a trip especially for him to get a true jungle experience. Unfortunately due to short notice I couldn't arrange accommodation inside national parks. Despite this I organized a two night trip to Udawalawe and Yala. I wanted Ali to experience getting upclose and personal with elephants which is almost guaranteed in Udawalawe and if we are lucky to see a leopard in Yala.

I arranged a small cottage called Udawalawe Safari Bungalow for our first nights stay. It was a small cosy place which can accomodate 6 people, and the place was clean and well maintained. After a good lunch we headed to the park with our jeep driver Dhanushka who has a good collection of jeeps to choose from. We opted to use the land rover as its would enable us to go to all areas of the park. Dhanushka is a great driver with a good knowlege of birds. his website is http://udawalawajeepsafari.com/, you can call him on 071  2242667. Our Tracker was Saman who is an expert on birds and was highly reccomended by many top birders.

Upon entering we encountered a pied cuckoo and a sirkeer malkoha.
Elephants were seen along the safari, and one group in particular were interesting due to the red mud they have wallowed in, making the elephants look like they are bathed in mud. 

At night we had a bath in the river next to the cottage and hit the sack early as we had to get up the next day for a safari before heading to Yala. 

The morning round was more peaceful with less vehicles, and we ended up driving all the way to seenukkgala in the far corner of the park. Unfrotunately we were too late for the birding season ans most migrants like the bayback shrike have all gone. Also I was keen to find a large single tusker seen by my friend Namal few weeks back. Despite endless searching we left the park without sighting this mighty tusker who is known as the "ghost".

In Yala we were pleased to find very few jeeps in the park thanks to being a weekday. We used our usual jeep driven by Amare. We encountered a large tusker in Komawewa. The light was bad but I managed to get a few shots. The tusker is one that I havent seen before. I would appreciate if someone could identify him.

We came across a brief leopard sighting on the Gonagala road, and I was very happy that Ali got a good view.

The morning round the next day was good as well because I managed to get some photographs of animals which I did not have such as jackal and mongoose along with white ibis nesting at komawewa. 

Back at home I am getting ready to leave on another adventure to Sinharaja. 

Return to Wilpattu

It was my first trip to Willey for 2013. Lately I have been pre occupied with the ocean and was not able to visit my favorite national park. I decided enough is enough and made plans to do a weekend trip over there, where we would do a full day safari in Wilpattu and head for a last ditch round in Kalpitiya to see possible sperm whales.

The crew consisted of 5 people, Erich who drove his car along with Divanke and my two cousins Reva and Shahen.

We left Colombo at 3.30 am and due to several check points along the way we had to go slow and ended up in the park entrace at 6.45 am. We were greeted by our old friends Senvei and Priyantha. Both are more like family to me now, and I was glad to see them after such a long time. 

We headed into the park, with no real agenda, we merely wanted to enjoy the wilderness and anything that we find. 

To my surprise there were several birds seen around the villues such as Pintail Snipe, Forest Wagtail, Pacific Golden Plovers, Chestnut Bee Eaters along with the usuals such as the Shama, Blue Face Malkoha, Grey Hornbill, Jungle Fowl, Emerald Dove etc.

We scoured the villus till afternoon and headed to Kali villu for the afternoon. The villus were all full to the brim and most of the roads were underwater. Hence mobility was limited.

I was told by many trackers and drivers that the Panikkavillu leopard cubs which were the star attractions of the park were in hiding, due to very stupid interventions of a certain individual whose notion on wildlife is purely emotional and not from  a true conservation stand point. This individual has observed a small wound on the neck of the younger cub and has informed her contacts in the wildlife dept medical team who rushed in to treat this wound and managed to scare off both cubs without ever treating the injured animal. 

A true wildlife enthusiast would have never intervened in acts of nature and would have allowed nature to take its course. The problem with these "new" so called "leopard lovers" who have no genuine understanding on the works of nature use their emotions over common sense for their personal gain. This individual has gone even to a further level to name the leopards to her liking the tracker told me. This sort of "emotional" and "childish" bonding is something a true amateur would do. I have noticed the increase in numbers of these "emotional" wildlife lovers in Colombo who are very active in the social media, who end up doing more harm than good. Their justifications for actions make no true conservation sense and are rather done to fulfill their personal gratifications.

The entire park round was focused on birding and we identified many species. We booked the Wilpattu Holiday Home which is a small bungalow just outside the park gate. Its a decent place to stay with basic but clean accommodation, and for anyone who needs A/C this too is available which we opted not to use. 

We had an early night and got up at 4.00 am the next day to head to Kalpitiya. We left at 5.00 am and reached Kandakuliya at 7.00 am. We met up with my boatmen Keerthi who said that the sea was rough in the last few days which we truly realized when we headed into the ocean. We were tossed around like rag dolls as the boat was thrown in the air with the large waves. I was getting worried by the minute as the waves crashed straight over the boat. I made to call on behalf of everyone to turn round as it was getting dangerous, and we headed back to land. The seas seem to get rough from here on, and it seems the season in Kalpitiya has come to and early end. Therefore I can confirm that 2013 has eluded me of the magnificent sperm whale, I hope that one last ditch effort in Mirissa next weekend might  bear some chance, but I am not keeping my hopes up. 

Overall it was a short but fun trip with great friends.

Crazy times at Wilpattu