Wilpattu (8-3)

After a leisurely breakfast—roti, pineapple, and bananas, I left Dambulla heading to Wilpattu. The tuk tuk driver who took me to the bus station thought I should look for a Sri Lankan husband. In fact, he asked for my phone number so he could help with this project. I told him I didn’t have a Sri Lankan number. The bus trip took two buses—one to Anuradhapura and another to Wilpattu Junction. The first bus was full; so I had to stand for twenty minutes. Then, when an older man got off, he made sure I got his seat and he made sure one of the Dutch women sat with me, which was sweet. This was a lower class bus than the one I took to Dambulla, which had four seats across and had air conditioning. This bus had five seats across and no air conditioning, but with the windows open that was OK. And the trip cost half as much as the first trip. When we got to Anuradhapura, a man asked where I was going and said I should get off and take a tuk tuk back to the old bus station. So I got off. Not too surprisingly, he also got off and grabbed a van to take us to the bus station so he could show me his guesthouse near the station, thinking that I could stay there when I returned. (He didn’t ask if I had a reservation anywhere.) He made sure I got on the right bus and then had me pay the driver. I was expecting that I would have to pay even though the trip to the bus station was two minutes farther than to his guesthouse where he was going.

Another hour later, the bus dropped me off at Wilpattu Junction. While I was trying to call the guesthouse owner who had said he’d pick me up at the Junction, the man who lives in the house I was in front of came to help. When the phone call didn’t work, he hailed a tuk tuk to deliver me to the guesthouse. Since it was only 1:30 when I arrived, I had a lot of time to relax and enjoy the jungle environment. At 4:00, I went for a walk. I walked down the local street until three barking dogs blocked the road, which made me turn around and head for the paved road. 


I walked past a school with several small buildings with classrooms. 

Always a teacher, I had to look into them, which was easy since there are no windows. Because it was the summer holiday, the rooms were a bit disheveled, but I could get a sense of what they are like. 

Farther along there is a small temple with a bodhi tree. 

As always, I enjoyed walking past the golden rice fields which were especially beautiful in the late afternoon light. They pulled me back to memories of rice fields in Thailand. And memories of the fields in Nebraska and Iowa. Two crops of rice are grown in a year. 

The current crop had just been harvested, and rice was drying on the road, making it a one-lane road in these places. People were sweeping it into piles which were then scooped into bags. Monday afternoon the road was lined with filled bags. 

I also passed a cemetery. Beside it there are some interesting poles around the remains of a fire. I asked the guesthouse owner about these and learned that it is a cremation site. Old people—55 or 60 and above—are cremated; younger people are buried. Ashes from cremation are put into a jar that is put in a monument. It was a lovely walk.

Back at the guesthouse, I read on the patio until dinner, enjoying the birds and trees. Dinner was another delicious Sri Lankan meal—noodles and chicken curry. When I commented on the large quantity of noodles—enough for three people, the owner said that Sri Lankans eat a lot.

Monday was safari day at Wilpattu National Park. Departure time for my full-day safari was 6:00 AM. On the way to the park entrance, we caught the sunrise. 

This was a jungle safari, going through trees most of the day. There were several different types of trees in different parts of the park. 

This is a wetlands park, which means that there are a lot of lakes and marshes that were lovely. 

There were a lot of different types of birds in these areas. My favorite was one that walked with its beak in the water moving quickly. 

Throughout the day we saw a lot of peacocks walking around. The first wildlife stop was a pond where I was told there was a crocodile. It must live there, as several jeeps drove to see it. It eluded me, as I was unable to see it. 

At the next lake, I was taking photos of birds standing near a fallen branch. After a couple minutes, I realized that the branch was a crocodile with its mouth open. My driver hadn’t pointed out this one.

During this part of the trip, there were a lot of jeeps. Sometimes they were spread out; sometimes they were clustered. When we arrived at the rest area for breakfast at 9:00, ten jeeps were parked there. When we first arrived, there was a report of a leopard nearby; so several of the jeeps went onward, but the leopard had also moved onward by the time we got there. So we went back to eat breakfast. 

After eating, I walked down a path that goes to a lake. It was a beautiful, peaceful place to spend the rest of the hour-long break. 

When I walked near the water, the small dots above the surface became frogs that jumped really quickly—almost like skipping on the water. Then they settled again with only their eyes above the surface. They were fascinating to watch.

After breakfast, the half-day safari jeeps turned back and we didn’t see so many together again. My jeep stayed close to another one most of the day. Most of the three hours between breakfast and lunch were spent driving to a number of lakes to see what was there. Many of these had lovely, purple flowers. We saw more birds. We stopped to climb a tree for a bird’s eye view of the area.

Morning mammals sighted were a couple types of deer 

and a buffalo.

At 12:30, we stopped at the same place for lunch, which was almost a two-hour break, which I’m sure the drivers needed. The guesthouse owner had mentioned that there would be a long rest time because the animals are not out in the afternoon. There were only five jeeps at this time. My packed lunch was chicken and vegetable curry. A plate was packed with it, but I ate from the Styrofoam box. I didn’t want to bother putting the food on the plate, but it was a nice touch. After eating, I headed back to the lake to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and watch the frogs.

Back on the road, we continued driving through the jungle and checking out the lakes to see what was there. 

An hour later we scored an elephant in one of the lakes. It was eating the grass; so we watched it for a while. 

We also saw a huge reptile—some kind of lizard. 

And a few more birds. 

And one more crocodile. No leopards. When we were on the tree platform, a woman told me that it’s hard to see leopards at this park and that I would be more successful at Yala. We’ll see.

We arrived back at the guesthouse at 6:00. We were driving for 8.5 of the twelve hours; so I imagine the driver was tired. By the end of the day, I was tired of bouncing on the road with the air blowing in my face. I enjoyed the trip, but I was ready to return to the guesthouse when it was time. It was a long day, but I was glad I did the all-day safari. It was good to be out in nature and to see so much. When I washed my face and then dried it, the towel was brown.

The owner gave me a pot of tea when I returned. So I sat on the patio drinking and reading. A French couple was there, too. The man and I chatted about the safari as they were going on Monday. When dinner was served, he invited me to join them inside, and I learned that they had their two sons along. They have been living in China for 3.5 years; so we had that experience in common. It was fun to talk with him/them.

In the morning, I had toast (cold) with jam and “fat spread.” Somehow “butter” is much more appealing, but “fat spread” is appropriate. The guesthouse owner sat and chatted with me while I ate. The guesthouse is his original family home where he was born. He and his family—wife and two children—live in town. He was a policeman and then was in the army during the years of the civil war. He was injured and told to stay home; so now, starting before age 48, he receives a government pension.

The civil war ended in 2009. Since then the country seems to have built itself up quite a bit. Tourism is starting to thrive. Dutch people I’ve met mentioned that recently there were two TV programs about Sri Lanka, and the result is that many Dutch people have decided to visit the country.

Note: In the evening at the sacred Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, I met the French family. They hadn’t seen many animals on their safari, either. However, they did see a leopard’s paw print.