Sunday 21st of May 2017 and we left Laya Safari Hotel behind at 5 thirty and we were in the park a few minutes after 6 o'clock. Suddenly we were making 200 and we were soon with a bunch of other jeeps looking at a bear climbing a tree.
This is where it would have come in handy with the jeeps I'm used to from Africa and India. Here they just call it jeeps, it is a pick-up truck with the seats in the back and you have very limited contact with the Driver/ Guide up front. Now I needed to give instructions form the back to get us in a good position to get pictures of the bear.
But my driver misunderstood and he left so we never got any good pictures of the bear. A big disappointment and I was not happy when we left the bear behind.
Approaching the gate to Yala National Park
Sri Lanka Woodshrike
A leopard, just 3 meters away in the bushes
A leopard, just 3 meters away in the bushes
A leopard, just 3 meters away in the bushes
A leopard, just 3 meters away in the bushes
He cross the road and disappears
Grey Heron
A hare
A hare
Great Egret
Common kingfisher - Alcedo atthis
Common kingfisher - Alcedo atthis
Common kingfisher - Alcedo atthis
Common kingfisher - Alcedo atthis
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
We stop at our new friend the Yellow-crowned Woodpecker to see how they are
Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela
Can you see the eagle? There were so many eagles in Yala National park so after a few days you didn't bother to stop anymore. They are sitting so close you almost have to step back to fit the bird in the frame taking pictures
Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela
Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela
We drive along looking for leopards
What a day we have had! First the bear, well, that didn't turned out so well. Then we spotted the leopard, and even though the leopard was hiding in the bushes it was a good sight. 3 meters from me and I got quite a good view. We had seen plenty eagles during the morning, actually, we have seen so many eagles we don't bother with them anymore.
Time for lunch and when we drove towards the gate we heard a rumour about a mating leopard couple. My Guide asked me if it was OK to wait with the lunch to go have a look if we could find the leopards.
We were soon stopping, there was a jeep in front of us and they had seen the leopards in the bushes. For sure not a sight I wanted to skip lunch over. All the other jeeps had left for lunch so it was only 3 jeeps there. Suddenly we could hear the leopards and things got more interesting.
Suddenly the male came out, couldn't care less about us. Then the female came out and what a sight, two leopards climbing the rock. And they could not care less about us. I guess the people leaving early really missed a sight.
Almost impossible to see them - Nothing worth skipping lunch over
Almost impossible to see them - Nothing worth skipping lunch over
The male is leaving
The female is leaving
Bye bye
What a day we have had! We were in an excellent mood going for our lunch break. 3 leopards in one morning safari! And the last couple was amazing to see. The afternoon safari, well, if it should beat the morning safari there must be a very lot of action.
And on top of this, there was a Changeable Hawk-eagle landing just next to us when we drove back to the hotel. Yes, this morning game drive have been amazing.
The Changeable Hawk-eagle/ Crested hawk-eagle landed just next to us. The bird was screaming like in pain when landing so I suspect the eagle hurt the foot landing
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
Changeable Hawk-eagle or Crested hawk-eagle
I had a shower and a delicious lunch in my room. And coming back to my room I discovered that they had decorated my bed. They had made elephants on my bed, maybe friends to the towel elephant. Excellent lunch and I could not wait to get out on the afternoon game drive.
Elephants on my bed
Elephants on my bed
Will it be as excellent as this morning? Click HERE to find out.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!