Sri Lanka is Awesome 2 - Elephants

The main reason we wanted to go to Sri Lanka was to see the elephants. They have one of the largest populations of elephants in the world and they cherish them. Several times per year the elephants instinctually gather at a lake to... chat? Not sure why, but they do. We unfortunately weren't there for that event but we still saw a ton of elephants and satisfied our cravings for nature.

I know I say this frequently, but this place was a page straight out of Africa. This could have been the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater. The safari demands an early wakeup call of about 5 am. From there you go to the national park where you get tickets and drive in. This lake greeted us at the border of the park and it was just stunning.



The jeep ride was mostly on dirt roads through dense forest and over dusty terrain.



This shot is from within the park itself and it really took me back to driving through rift valley with baobab trees dotting the horizon.

The safaris use these converted pickup trucks with stadium seating in the back. This is the best shot of the safari vehicle that I have, equipped with local tourists and all. It was interesting that in Sri Lanka many of the tourists were definitely either local or from India. I guess Sri Lanka is only recently safe enough where people can come enjoy the wildlife and the friendly people, locals and regional folks included.



The park was crowded with safari-goers in their stadium trucks. Passing other trucks was common. So was tilting to the verge of tipping over.



The park had numerous lakes and fantastic mountain vistas. I live for a good vista. On the whole the park was beautiful,



Of course, the stars of the show were the elephants! We were greeted immediately upon arrival by a group of them waiting by the gate. We couldn't have planned it better if we tried! These guys came right up to us but barely noticed - they were focused on food. I understand, elephants. I understand.



This shows how close they were. These elephants are much smaller than the ones I remember from Africa. I am told the Asian ones are significantly smaller biologically. Still, these guys were about as big as our truck, if not a little bigger.

See for yourself:

Once in the park it took a while to spot more elephants, but once we did they were everywhere. This family was moseying around in search of that perfect leaf. Or perfect pool of water. Or perfect place to poo. Who knows.

Here they are meandering through the bush. Our guide pointed out one with a tusk and said it was very rare for them to have such large tusks. Apparently only the females get tusks in Sri Lanka. 

We found one drinking and I thought it was so cute. I couldn't resist taking pictures...

...and filming...

...and having some GIF fun.

This one came right up to us as if to say hi. 

I think elephants may be the cutest large animals on earth. Look at this one's ears!

This one was very friendly. 

We were told that the nature preserve contained far more than just elephants - we were promised leopards as well. OK, we weren't promised (they are nocturnal) but I certainly had high expectations and focused on the trees the entire time. Alas, we saw no leopards, but we DID see some other fun creatures. Like this monitor.

And this peacock in full bloom! I had never seen one in full bloom in the wild before. He must have thought Jordan was handsome. 

These water buffalo are tough to see but they are in their favorite area of the park - the lake. I remember them from Africa as well. I also remember their affinity for water. Hence the name, I guess.



No leopards. Maybe next time. This safari was still a resounding success though! We saw probably 25-50 elephants, a few lizards, numerous birds, monkeys, water buffalo, and some crazy beautiful scenery. We were satisfied.



I swear the elephants enjoyed our visit as well. This one is smiling at us!

Sri Lanka is Awesome 1 - Quirky Sri Lanka

The title says it all. Perhaps the coolest thing we have done since moving to Singapore is visit this tiny island nation that is decidedly NOT India but still has what I imagine is Indian flavor. There is so much to talk about that I have to break it up into a few posts. This post focuses on the quirks that make this country so fun and interesting (and frustrating).

Duty Free

OK, I have been to many an airport and am no stranger to duty free. But Sri Lanka takes Duty Free to a whole new level. Immediately following the jetbridge we were greeted with full on appliance store Duty Free shops.

Need a washing machine? No problem! How about a fridge to go with that?



Then there was the normal stuff like cosmetics and chocolate. I still need someone to explain those to me and why they belong in an airport.

Buddha 

The only reason this is strange is because of the demographics of India compared to its neighbor. Sri Lanka is overwhelmingly Buddhist while India is Hindu. Sri Lanka also has many Muslim and Hindu folks as well, but on the whole I believe it is approximately 70% Buddhist Singhalese, a different ethnic group thank you will find in India. Like most Buddhist countries they like large statues of Buddha to worship and visit. This was a particularly large and impressive one. 

Slow as she goes

In the extensive planning phases of this trip I had mapped out several potential itineraries. The first one has us visiting 4 or 5 places in as many nights. This is not atypical for a trip of ours and I was encouraged by the small distances between cities and towns. Upon Google directions research I quickly realised this is ambitious and ill  advised. I couldn't believe my eyes when Google informed me that a 60km trip would be four hours. 

Trust the Google. 

I scaled back the trip to fewer cities and a long train ride which would provide some semblance of predictability. After our airport pickup we quickly realised why the average speeds hover around 35 km/hr. Motorbikes, small roads, roaming cows, mountains, and other third world life get in the way of mobility here. 

When we weren't blocked by a motorbike we were stuck behind a slow bus making frequent stops. So, after a 60km ride of 4.5 hours we finally arrived at our first hotel where we slept a few hours before our safari (next post) with the elephants. 

Good (and strange) Food!

Sri Lankan food is obviously influenced by Indian but they have some fun takes on Indian cuisine. This honey yogurt (from goat milk?) Was delicious and satisfying after a hearty meal. 

This feast we had several days in a row. The left is a plate of pork rice and mashed up tortilla style roti. Not the most appetising to look at but was definitely a yummy comfort food. The burrito on the right was their version of a stuffed roti. This was amazeballs and what we came back for the next day. Oh and the local lion beer was good. Singh means lion and most people are Singhalese... so yeah, lion beer. 

I wish I could remember what was in this leaf. All I remember was it was good. The main street in the town of Ella where we stayed a few nights was full of places like this. Local mom and pop restaurants where if they need an ingredient they scoot away on their motorbikes to grab it from a neighboring establishment or the corner shop. 

Street food was very popular in Colombo. This shrimp cake thing was everywhere. It tastes as good as it looks. (Meh) 

Bucket of crustacean claws, anyone?

Colombo had a great mix of restaurant types. There was Street side food and restaurants on the "50 best restaurants in asia" list. This one, Ministry of Crab, specialised in chili crab basically. I always thought this was a Singaporean dish but these guys made it fantastically. I guess the crabs are supposed to be the "Sri Lankan" variety, so this makes some sense. 

This was my favorite meal in Sri Lanka. This roadside restaurant served all types of local Street food and Sri Lankan staples. When you enter you point at what you want in the case and them they bring it to you. This grandma was holding down the fort and shot us curious glances constantly. I also like the loaves of bread on the shelf. The place doubled as a bakery. 

Our spread. Numerous curries and rice and prata. 

And of course, chai. This drink has a special place in my heart because I grew up drinking chai made by my grandmother. It's one of the many food specialties she picked up during her years galavanting the world as a missionary. This chai they served in a tiny Sri Lankan shop tasted just like hers and nearly brought tears to my eyes. It happened to be her birthday the day we ate this meal so it will always remind me of her. Happy birthday again, grandma! Thanks for all you've done for me and fed to me! 

There are are couple more Sri Lanka posts to come. This place was haunting and exciting and fun and welcoming and delicious and exhausting. All the things we like about travel.