Wow what a morning…. We were up early and packed as our driver had booked us in to do a safari to look for elephants with a driver he knows before we made our way to Kandy. There are 3 national parks in this area that are all connected by elephant corridors. Minneriya, Kadulla and Hurulu Eco Park and the elephants migrate between all three. The guides know which one is the most likely at the time to have elephants and for us today we were heading in Hurulu Eco Park. We met our driver for the day and he told us to jump in his keep and that we could stand through the roof as soon as we were in the park but not while on the main road!
It was into the park then and off and a crazy adventure. The biome for this park was very different to Wilpattu the other day. It’s an evergreen forest that is surrounded by huge mountains. It is very pretty. There are just muddy tracks that make there way through tall grasses and trees. Pretty much as soon as we arrived in the park our driver pulled up right next to an elephant. We stood up through the roof and he was right next to us. He was a young male and so beautiful. We just stood with our heads out the top of the car admiring him and listening to him crunching away. Absolutely magical and I did even get a bit teary. We saw a few more creatures as we drove around. See below.
It then started to rain. Our guide put the roof on and we drove around in the rain trying not to get too wet. It was actually really enjoyable in the rain. We saw so many more elephants with our driver doing some amazing driving. Eventually it stopped raining and we were able to get out through the roof again. We even saw some baby elephants. The last elephant we saw before we left were literally in touching distance to the jeep. I can not explain how good of an experience this was to be graced with the presence of fully wild Asian elephants just like they should be. Such a bucket list item.
I will also say that the drivers here are so respectful of the animals at no point did they crowd, scare or chase them. They always left them room and an exit and you can you tell the elephants aren’t stressed as they are just chill around the jeeps and just keep going about their business. I am a big one for ethical travel so I am very glad!
After our amazing keep safari out keep driver asked if we wanted a coffee and took us to a little local restaurant. We invited him to join us and we had a coffee. The owner started to talk to us and then bought out a typical Srilankan dish for us to eat that he cooked (it was for free) it was String Hoppers. It consists of rice flour pressed into noodles, laid into a flat disc-like shape and steamed then this has tumeric, coconut and spice mixed through it. It was really good. They then told us to go graffiti on the wall as all there guests get to leave their name. It was such a great experience. Ranrasa seafood restaurant is the place if you are ever in the area. The owner is a legend.
As we startd driving to Kandy there was a wid elephant in the middle of the road! It was then on the road all the way down to Kandy. The drive down this way was huge mountains and rice fields. We stopped for lunch at a buffet Sri Lankan restaurant. We got to try lots of vegetable curries it was all delicious.
We arrived at Kandy which as a huge city was a shock to the system. We checked into our hotel it’s very nice and up in the mountains. Then we decided we would do a quick explore of Kandy ourselves by getting a tuk tuk into the city. Kandy is the second largest city in Srilanka and was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy.
We had 3 goals.
- Anthony bucket list item was to have a Candy in Kandy.
- We needed a good coffee
- Amy wanted to see the lake and walk past the UNESCO temple of the Buddha tooth relic.
With these goals in mind we set off. We started with a coffee at a place called the Department of Coffee. Amazing Coffee. We went for a walk alongthe lake and saw the temple and we got some random candies in Kandy and then ate the Candy in Kandy.
It was a really great day!
Sri Lankan Elephant
Crested Hawk-eagle
Lesser Banded Hornet
Lesser Adjutant Stalk
Common Jezebel Butterfly
