Off and on as sea level has changed, Sri Lanka has been connected and separated with India. This has allowed many different animals to reach the island, with some evolving to become endemic while others are more aligned with their mainland counterparts. Luckily, the government of Sri Lanka has done a good job of protecting much of the wildlife in a system of national parks. Today, we visited some of this wildlife in these protected areas and came away with some excellent sightings.
After a pre-dawn departure, most of us went to Yala National Park. Home to some of the healthiest leopard populations in the world, the search was on. Most of us saw one sleeping leopard, its head just sticking out of a cave. Others got lucky and spotted another leopard in plain view crossing the road. Asian elephants were another main target and most of us got to see these giants. It was interesting to see them and compare them to the more well-known African elephants. For me, I enjoyed watching one younger male scratch most every part of his body against a tree and then cover himself in dust.
Other exciting discoveries included a few different deer species including spotted and sambar deer. Mongoose were scurrying around termite nests while crocodiles floated like logs in many of the wetland areas. Small groups of langur monkeys were entertaining as they actively moved from tree to tree. A few cars were extremely lucky in seeing an ultra-rare sloth bear. No matter which car any of us were in, we all saw exciting and different things.
The other highlight for me were the birds. Yala National Park is a major world birding destination and it showed. From the wetlands to the forest to the lodge where we had brunch, birds were everywhere. About 80 different species were encountered including many of the endemic species found only in Sri Lanka. Hornbills, bee-eaters, egrets, and parakeets were all enjoyed. Especially spectacular were the brilliantly colored painted storks.
To end our day, we left Sri Lanka behind and sailed to the northeast towards the Andaman Islands. As we reached the dropoff, multiple blows erupted and we were soon surrounded by blue whales. At one point, we had five in view, including one very close to the bow. It was hard to determine exactly how many were there, but it was a fitting ending to our amazing time in Sri Lanka.
