With the preference of majority last year’s company annual office trip was planned to Trincomalee.

With that we remembered that there was a news article in Defence.lk that SL Navy has started Whale & Dolphin watching cruises in Galle and Trincomalee recently. I have been to Trincomalee in 2003 during the peace talks and went to Muttur by ferry (named Seruwila 2). It was about one hour journey across the harbor and there were many things to visit. So we decided to get this arranged.

As the organizing committee we checked the possibility of arranging a cruise tour for Whale & Dolphin watching. When we inquired from SL Navy they said cost is LKR 5000 per person then (now it has been reduced to LKR. 3500/= with the profound request from public). Then we felt that it is not affordable alike

• Per head cost is too high, and hence for a family it would be too expensive
• Not sure about the possibility of seeing Whales & Dolphins (if that happens we won’t be able to survive the criticism from other colleagues  )

But we still didn’t give up. After having several discussions with project manager whale watching project by SLN we were able to obtain appropriate deal which is affordable. It is LKR 175,000 for 150 participants.
Since this is totally a new experience for all of us we had to face several challenges to organize this.

1. Since this tour starts at 7.00am at least we need to leave from hotel by 6.30am. Therefore we had to discuss with the hotel management to arrange an early breakfast buffet (by 5.30) for all of us.
2. Making everyone to get ready (130 members) by 6.30am, because usually our night time sing along session & booze runs till 1.00am, 2.00am.
3. Since we work for a private organization the nature of doing things are different from Forces like SL Navy. So we had to adhere to their system/practice.

Though our main objective is Whale & Dolphin watching we had several other objectives also.

• Visit strategically & historically important Trincomalee harbor which is the 5th largest and finest natural harbor in the world. This is 10 times bigger than the Colombo harbor. It is a marvelous creation of nature because it is overlooked by terrace highlands and any giant ship could be hidden in the harbor if you don’t have an aerial view. (They have actually done this during the war and they showed us where they hid Jetliner during our tour.)

On 23rd morning we got up early with lots of enthusiasm and left from the hotel by 6.45 after having the breakfast. When we were reaching to the Ashroff Jetty everything was ready and A543 Cruise was waiting for us. We started our long awaiting journey by 7.15am.

A-543 was waiting for us (Click Image to Enlarge)

A-543

Map (Though it is mentioned as short cruise it took 5 hours) - Click Image to Enlarge

1st they took us on a ride around the harbor and during this tour we could see several important things like:

• Foul point lighthouse where we didn’t have control till early 2007
• Koneshwaram Kovil
• Naval dockyard
• Prima Jetty, Mitsui Jetty and some of the beautiful islands inside the harbour.

Prima flour milling complex at Prima Jetty	SLNS Sayura berthed at Naval dockyard (Click Image to Enlarge)
SLNS Samudura berthed at naval dockyard (Click Image to Enlarge)	No whales or dolphins yet…

It was just 30 minutes and we were still in the Trincomalee bay. Suddenly the Commander Kosala Wijesooriya, project manager of whale watching project announced that our ship is surrounded by dolphins. Everyone ran out to see them.

100s of dolphins have surrounded us and they were swimming with us. It was very difficult to capture their movements with a single click camera. This is where the advanced technology became more important than a good eye!

Thanks to Roshan who owned a multi click camera we could capture some of their nice movements.

It’s play time! (Click Image to Enlarge)

Click Image to Enlarge

After watching the dolphins, the captain started the journey towards the deep sea where the Blue Whales are generally sighting.

On the way we got surrounded by another crowd of dolphins and they swam with us for a longer time. It was so interesting to see them; sometimes they seem to be playing.

.	Wow… (Click Image to Enlarge)
.

We were lucky enough to see rare scenery – Flying fishes (පියාමස්සෝ in Sinhala) who come out from the sea and flying about 10m – 15m. They do this to protect from their predators as explained in a documentary program called ‘BBC Life’
Even after a few hours of journey we still didn’t see at least a single whale.

We went about 10 naval miles towards the deep sea and captain had a map with GPS locations where he had sighted whales in previous tours.

Alone in the sea…

With the sun rise and having spent several hours in sea we were a bit tired and crew onboard invited us to enjoy snack & refreshment. They had arranged us a very good snack with fresh fruit juice.

Suddenly there was another announcement from captain “there are 3 whales close to us”

We all ran out again. We could see 2 of them at a distance of 50m – 100m. They were there for about 10, 15 minutes. But we couldn’t take a good picture. We could see the Blue Whales “blow” (the large spray) several times at a distance.

But we couldn’t get closer to them. According to the captain some odd days they cannot approach them closely due to some reasons (weather and sea conditions, whale habitats etc.)He was also stressed that passengers should also got to have enough luck to see those giants at close proximity.

Impatient to see Blue Whales…they are close by…	Too late…
The only photograph we could capture – The Blue Whale	View from bridge of the ship
.	Bridge of the ship
.Koneshwaram Kovil from Sea	One of the natural hiding places for ships in Trinco Harbour

After a successful journey of 5 hours we came back to the Ashroff Jetty. It was a great/different experience altogether and everyone was overjoyed.

Green Ocean – which was used to transport injured in the rescue missions during the last phase of the war

Buses were waiting for us just after the cruise

In the evening we had another life time worth experience. It was snorkeling near the Pigeon Island.

Till I complete that report enjoy reading this.

This was our annual trip of school friends in 2008. One of our friends who works at CEB got an appointment as an Operation Engineer at Laxapana Power Generation Complex and he invited us to come there for 2008 annual trip since there are lot of things to see which we never experienced.

He arranged accommodation and other necessary things for us.

Day 1

We started our journey on 11th December around 5.00pm from Colombo. First day our destination was Laxapana Circuit Bungalow and we reached there by 11.00 pm with several stops in between; several security checkups were there since we were entering in to a high security zone and War was at peak during that time.

By the time we reached there we were very hungry and dinner was already waiting for us.

Kalugala Junction – Turn right from A07 Avissawella - Hatton road	“Laxapana” Circuit Bungalow
Seven Virgins – View from Laxapana bungalow

Day2

Because of our great friend we got a very rare & valuable opportunity which general public will never be allowed; which is a boat ride on “Maussakele” reservoir. This is the only reservoir in Sri Lanka which is directly fed from 4 waterfalls.

Hearing the specialty of the ride, we all got up early in the morning and got ready for the journey with great enthusiasm. We left the bungalow by 6.30am right after breakfast. It is about a 40 minutes drive from Laxapana to Maussakele through a narrow road (which is very similar to Riverston road from Mathale.) The fantastic view of “SAPTHA KANYA” (Seven Virgins) mountain range will be available throughout the journey. When we were reached Maussakele boats were ready for the journey.

There were 2 boats, 1 is from CEB and other is from SL NAVY. Since it is early morning the crowd who were in 1st boat got another rare opportunity. The water was so calm and they could see a clear shadow of Sri-Pada on water.

Mirror….

“Moussakele” in the morning

Entire boat ride was about 2 hours and we could see following water falls.

• Gartmore Ella (which can be seen from fishing hut as well
• Mooray Ella
• Lower section of Mohini Ella (on your way to Nallathanniya you could see the upper section on your right hand side.)
• Another anonymous waterfall

Rare Scenery : Gartmore Ella(Left), Moray Ella(Right)

1st one : Gartmore Ella

Closest Possible - Gartmore Ella

2nd one : Mooray Ella

Mohini Ella – Upper Section

3rd one : Mohini Ella – Lower Section

4th one : Anonymous, But beautiful

Other than that we could see closer view of Sri-Pada, the Kovil which was under the water, back side of the Maskeliya town and several tea estates. If you are travelling during the rainy season you could see several temporary waterfalls on surrounding mountains.

Closer View of Sri-Pada

After having this great boat ride we went to the “Saman Devalaya” which is next to Reservoir dam.

In the evening our plan was to visit Laxapana water fall.

Between Laxapana and Maussakale there is a junction called ‘Double Cut’ where the only ‘0th’ mile post in Sri Lanka is located.

The only ‘0’th mile post at “Double Cut” Junction

“Saptha Kanya” from another angle

The view of the area is breathtaking on your way to Laxapana, and you could clearly see the rock where the most tragic plan crash occurred on Saptha Kanya mountain range.

My father has gone to visit that ‘plane crash’ when he was young and he collected those newspapers for us to read in the future, and thanks should go to him!

Where the Plane Crash happened in 1974-12-04

My Father has collected all the News papers related to this accident (Click Image to Enlarge)

In the evening we went to visit Laxapana falls.

Laxapana falls in different angles	Laxapana falls in different angles
Laxapana falls in different angles	Breathtaking…

Day 3
The plan for the next morning was to visit Aberdeen falls. But suddenly our friend told that gates of “Canion” reservoir are going to open for an urgent maintenance work which will increase the water level of Laxapana falls. We cancelled all our plans and rushed to Laxapana before the gates are opened. But unfortunately we couldn’t reach the waterfall before that, but we could see the water flowing under the bridge which is located beneath the Seven Virgins mountain range and before the Laxapana falls.

We coudnt reach Laxapana Falls before it comes

Laxapana – After opening the gates

Laxapana – After opening the gates

Then we went to the “Aberdeen” falls and on our way back we stopped at Norton bridge town where you could visit another 2 important things.

1. The D. J. Wimalasurendra power plant (gratitude to father of hydro power in Sri Lanka)
2. Tyre of the crashed plane

“Aberdeen” falls

Nature Creations

Remainders of a Sarrowfull Memory

In the evening we went to Hatton to visit another 2 important places. Those are ‘Singimale’ tunnel (559.75m) which is the longest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka. This tunnel is at 5 minutes walk from Hatton station and you need to buy “Pandam” to walk through the tunnel. Houses at both the sides of the tunnel are selling Pandam(10/= each) for pedestrians. It was a very nice experience to walk in the tunnel with dim light.

The 2nd important thing is at the other side of the tunnel which is the largest tea plant in Sri Lanka. According to the worker we met there a single worker needs 1 full day to pluck tea from the entire tree. Weight of the crop would be around 20kg – 25kg at a time. But now this tree is abandoned.

Singimale Tunnel

After visiting all these places we came back to the Moussakale bungalow. During the night we had a singing session as usual before going to sleep.

School day Friendship

Next day morning we came back home and had a nice bath at Kithulgala.

Thank You!

For some time now, I was waiting for an opportunity to do hot air ballooning. I once inquired from Kandalama hotel but it was an expensive affair at the list price of LKR 18,000 per person and it could only be done during the NE monsoon season (apparently November to April is when the wind conditions are suitable for balooning in Sigiriya/Kandalama area).

This year annual office trip was planned to Sigiriya in November. Luckily it was the season for ballooning.  When I mentioned the possibility of hot air ballooning to the trip organizers they managed to negotiate a bulk discount of 50% with one of the operator called Air Magic. It was still expensive but we thought “worth doing” at LKR 9000 per person!

The first day of the trip was literally spent on the raod! It was around 2.00 p.m. by the time we reached Hotel Sigiriya.

Since we had about 15 people who opted to go Ballooning, the operator planned two flights on the two consecutive mornings. I was in the first group to go on the very next morning.

We were supposed to meet the operator in Dambulla town at 5.00 a.m. (Yes, you read it right it is 5 in the morning!). They sent Van to pick us up from the Hotel and we were at the Kandalama Tank by 5.30 a.m. Dawn at Kandalama tank was a sight to see!

Early Morning - Kandalama Tank (5.45 a.m)

Daily Routines start Early

By that time we reached the location  the crew had arrived in a truck with the balloon in the trailer. Setting up started in no time.

The Balloon and the crew came in this truck with the trailer	Laying the balloon on the ground and attaching it to the basket
Pumping cold air to inflate it using two large fans	Pilot checking things out (particulalry the control lines) before burners are fired for hot air
Burners are ON and hot air gushing in to the balloon	The gentle giant rising with the Kandalama Lake in the back drop

Time was 6.25 in the morning when the balloon fully rose up and the pilot said “Get in; we are about to go”. We had been told how to climb in to the basket and where each one of us should stand in it well in advance. So in a matter of seconds all eight of us were in side, pilot released the anchor cable and we gradually started to climb up.

Balloon fully inflated, burners at full throttle - We are ready to be air borne

Rising over the Kandalama Tank - It was 6.30 a.m.

There was a second balloon which took off few minutes after us from a nearby location. Apparently there are two operators currently operating in Sri Lanka. We were with Air Magic and the other out fit is operating from the Kandalama Hotel.

After we took off, we steadily climbed up about 100m from the ground. The scenary around was heavenly. All we could see was the Kandalama Lake in a veil of mist on one side and tree tops reaching out of a sea of mist on the other side.

The second Balloon took off few minutes later	Kandalama Lake in a Veil of mist on one side
Tree tops reaching out from a sea of mist on the other side	Sigiriya and Pidurangala

The pilot told us that once in air its all up to the wind to decide where we go! He had very little control over the direction of the flight. All he could do it to control the altitude. Pumping hot air (burner at high throttle) would gradually elevate us and if he keep the burners low, air inside the balloon will cool down and we would gradually descend. apparently the direction of wind at different elevations can be drastically different. He was trying hard to make sure that we float away from the lake and not towards it! So it was a series of gentle ups and downs. Sometimes moving up as much as 200m and some time touching the tree tops and occasionally climbing down as low as couple of feet off the ground.

Minutes later, first rays of the sun started to break out from the Kandalama lake side. The whole scenary on that side started to change and came to life by the minute while the side opposite to the lake was still burried in the mist.

scenary on the side of Kandalama lake started to come to life with the first rays of the day breaking through the mist

Sun rays braking through the veil of mist

Breathtaking!

While the side of the lake gradually came to life, the opposite side continued to be burried in the sea of mist

The side opposite to the lake continued to be buried is mist

The golden temple of Dambulla

It was great to have some company!

Wow!

For the next 30 minutes or so, we continued to drift toward Habarana over diverse landscapes passing paddy fields and other crops with people occasionally stopping by to wave at us. We climbed up and climed down many times, almost hitting the ground at certain points.

Over Paddy Fields	..and the mist had not given up completely
Well above the ground sometimes	All most touching ground at some other times
Flying over farm Lands	..and paddy fields which looked more like a geometrical drawing
Life as usual below us	Occasionally stopping to wave at us
Over plots of Banana	papaya
Coconut	and colorful land prepared for cultivation
Balloon and the Burners	Gas Tanks and the Control Lines
Pilot Busy at Work	Pilot's Dashboard was very simple
He had an altimeter	Something to find out wind direction and a GPS in his watch
We were up again	..and down in the next moment

We had been flying for about 45 minutes and it was time to land. First of all, the Pilot had to find a suitable place for landing. It should be clear of electrical lines, should be dry, flat and has enough space to deflate the giant balloon, clear of any crops and have some road access so that the truck and the trailer can approach to recover the balloon and the basket. And remember, the pilot had little control over were he was going!

Obviously it took several attempts and about 20 minutes to complete the landing process. Finally when we landed, we learnt that we were in Pelwehera CIC farm! The Balloon’s buddy too landed somewhere close by few minutes before us.

Over the Pelwehera CIC Farm	Finally found a place to land
Our buddy was on the ground before us	We had quite a number of CIC employees watching us landing in the middle of their farm with no prior notice!
Touched down and some from the audience volunteered to help us position in on the ground	All good. We have finally landed!
The giant gradually collapsing	Half way down
Horizontally on the graound	Relaxed Pilot
Ready to be loaded in to the truck	The recovery team had arrived!

Elevation Profile of the flight route - Lots of "Ups and Downs" (Click Image to Enlarge)

While the crew was busy loading the ballooon in to the truck. We had some drinks with the pilot and more imporatntly received our Air Magic Certificate!

Celebrating the successful flight!

Air Magic Certified!

The van which picked us up from the hotel in the morning came to the landing site to pick us up and we were back in Hotel Sigiriya by 8.45 a.m.

We started journey from Gampaha at 3.30 a. m. Very less traffic on the way and we could reach Riverston at 6.45. We were the first to be there for the day.

On our way to Reversturn.	We reached Reversturn gap at 6.45 am no mist at all
Reversturn gap	View from Reversturn gap
Start climbing up to riverston tower 7.30 am. (2 km)	On the way
SLT Tower Reversturn	We had to pay much attention to kids running here and there. No wind at all

We left Reversturn around 9.30 am and this is on our way to Pitawala pathana.

This is between Reversturn and Pitawala. I don’t kanow what it is	We reached Pitawala Pathana around 10.30 am
Mini worlds end	View from Pitawala Pathana
Paddy fields at beautiful Rathninda

Manigala behind the scene. This is around 5 Km away from the Hittipola Road. The road was very bad condition and difficult manage with the car. We had to stop the car and walk last 2 km.

Thelgamu Oya at Rathnida	Weddapani Ella Rathnida (Etanwala border). Really worth coming here
Short cut to Weddapani Ella. We got our lunch here (Parcels prepared from home.)

We could reach Wasgamuwa around 3.00 pm. Unfortunately we could see only elephants, Peacocks and few other birds.

we could see only elephants, Peacocks and few other birds

Mahaweli Ganga at Wasgamuwa

Then we reach Wilgmuwa and spend night at Irrigation Department Bangalow beside the Nipon bridge

Irrigation Department Bungalow Wilgamuwa

Day 2

Sandy Mahaweli river at Wilgamuwa

Structure with Architecture – Nipon Bridge Wilgamuwa

We started journey at 7.30 ,crossed the Nipon bridge and reached Dimbulagala around 9.00 am.

Dimbulagala Rajamaha Viharaya	View from top of the Dimbulagala Rock
Timber statures in Dimbulagala temple

Then we travelled up to Madakalapuwa (Batticaloa) junction at turn right and reach Sewanapitiya. We turned left at Sewanapitiya and reached Nelumwewa hot springs at around 12.30 pm. Wells are situated inside the tank had to use boat to reach there.

Somaweera who knows a lot about the area and history of the springs	Nelum wewa hot springs. Hottest springs in Sri Lanka. Cannot bath without mixing
More information on Hot Springs of Sri Lanka	Nice summer hut constructed by Mahaweli Authority. We got our lunch there
A road to wells is under construction. I don’t know what will happen to innocent Somaweera’s job	There are lots of trees around. I don’t know why it chose to perch here?

We bought good dry fish from Ottamawadi , on the way to Passikudah. We reached Passikudha around 3.30 pm

Crowded Passikudha beach	He likes and wants to swim. But………
Coconut Cultivation Board Circuit Bungalow No. 2

Coconut Cultivation Board Circuit Bungalow No. 2. Where we spend second day night. I learn about this place from Lakdasun

Day 3

Start journey around 7.30 am. We drove northward along A15 road. Road is superb rarely find a vehicle

A bridge under construction	Fuel station Vakarai
A15 Road

We turned left just after Verugal and drive towards Lankapatuna. Road condition is very good. We visited Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya on the way. It had been used as “Koti Handa” transmission station past

Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya and Koti-handa transmission tower

Top of the rock at Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya

We could reach Lankapatuna around 10.30 am. We had to use free boat service operated by RDA to reach temple.

We had to use free boat service operated by RDA to reach temple

Broken bridge at Lankapatuna

View of beautiful beach at Lankapatuna

Then we came back to A15 road and drive towards trinco and turn left before serunuwara to reach Seruwawila temple. A culvert is under construction and we had to use a by road which was in very bad condition

We could reach Seruwawila temple around 2.30 pm	Ruins at Seruwavilla
Ancient pond at Seruwavilla

We started our long return journey from Seruwavilla around 4.00 pm. We used Serunuwara – Kanthale Road and spend around ½ hour on Kanthale tank bund

We spent around ½ hour on Kanthale tank bund

We reached Gampaha around 9.00 pm we had travelled 780km.

Lakdasun was a great help to organize the trip and thanks all Lakdasun members

We decided to go on our 5th trip of this year (my 7th of this year during December. Since some of us (including me) had not visited Reversturn earlier, it was chosen as our destination. But unfortunately with tons of work at the office we could not book the forest department facility or any other guest house timely. Then Lakdasun came to our help, to find a contact of someone from that area and we were able to arrange a village house for our stay.

On the Friday eve, after office we started our journey from Battaramulla, typically very punctually, 2 hours behind our schedule. We stayed at a private place in Kandy on that night. Next day we wanted to leave Kandy as early as possible and again as usual we were way behind our schedule.

After having breakfast from a friend’s place in Rattota, we headed towards Riverston. Our first stop was at the small yet scenic “Bambarakiri Ella” falls. It is just a few hundred meters walk from the main road to the water fall.

සුන්දර බඹරකිරි ඇල්ල...

It looked like the Bambarakiri Ella is used for a mini hydro power project. A small cement dam and some pipes were seen on top of the water fall.

Bambarakiri Ella	Suspension bridge over the Bambarakiri Ella…
Seen at the Bambarakiri Ella and was so shy. Captured after much time…

After spending some time there we hit the road again. As our van’s engine groaning and showing its tiredness time to time wrestling with the steep climb, we witnessed the climate change and the change of the nature. With our GPS readings were changing rapidly from 700m to over 1200m within a few kilometers, the eye-catching, stunning views were unveiled.

A government owned tea estate on the way

It was almost noon when we arrived at the junction towards the Reversturn peak.

We started climbing the Reversturnalong the tarred road and were frequently disturbed by the drunkards climbing down singing and shouting. All the way from the bottom we could hear some drunkards shouting from the top of the mountain. But middle of all these disturbances, Mother Nature did not forget to bless us with perfect weather and to mesmerize us with her stunning beauty.

On the way to the peak… this is why knuckles range is also called “බට දඬු කන්ද....”

රාවණා රජුගේ දේහය තැන්පත් කොට ඇතැයි ජනප්රsවාදයේ කියවෙන “ලකේගල”

Panoramic view on the way…

Road to the Heaven….?

Finally we arrived at the VHF tower and decided not to climb the other peak as we were getting hungry and the foot path to that mountain was full of drunkards. Then suddenly a heavy mist came from nowhere and within few minutes surrounded us.

VHF Transmission Center

The Nature decided to cover its face not letting the mindless people seeing it….

Panoramic view from the top (Click Image to Enlarge)

As we started to climb down, we saw a small cement steps down the mountain slope leading into the jungle. One of our team said it is a shortcut to the junction where we started our climb, but goes through the forest and might be infected with leeches. Since we enjoyed the common road on the way up, we, except for four people, decided to try this route volunteering to offer the lunch for the leeches. We headed down the slope and soon entered the thick undergrowth.

Seeking an adventure

Soon the jungle started to test us offering the best possible resistance. The undergrowth was so thick and leeches were enjoying the feast. With the steep descend it was even harder to control our feet. Sometimes we had to walk crouching and for a few hundred meters we had to totally sit on the jungle floor and move. Finally we came out of the jungle after about 30 minutes of battle with the nature, sweating, tired and legs covered with the blood suckers

Just before we were buried in the thick undergrowth… After this all I could do was worrying about my camera and trying to protect it….

After the adventure we headed toward the Ilukkumbura village and met the person we contacted, Wasantha. He was one of the most innocent, humble and nice men I’ve ever met. As our stomachs were tumbling with hunger and tiredness, we enjoyed the delicious meal (ගමේ කෑම) Wasantha had prepared for us.

It was almost 5pm when we headed towards the village house Wasantha had arranged for us in Puwakpitiya village, Very close to the Sera Ella. We were told that there will be no electricity and other comforts which we really did not bother. But when we arrived there, which was owned by Wasantha’s relative, we were a bit puzzled because it was not an empty house. The owners of the house were also there, which was not a problem for us, but we thought our visit would be a trouble for them. But we were surprised by the way those villagers welcomed, treated and helped us. It was clear that they were not doing this for money, but just to help us. We made the arrangements for our dinner and went to the “Puwakpitiya Oya” flows close to the house and had the cool dip in the dark.

We started preparing our dinner, the BBQ under the moonlight, soon realized that we forgot it was the lunar eclipse day. We were so blessed to see the whole eclipse, with some disturbances from dark clouds time to time

The moon was covering with the earth’s shadow.	සඳ රාහු ගිලගෙන….
Coming out of the shadow…	Coming out of the shadow…
Our campfire continued…	Starting the BBQ

We went to sleep around 11pm on the mats (පැදුරු) Wasantha provided us

Our third day started with some doubts about our schedule. Our plan was to climb Manigala and have a nice cool dip in the “Thelgamuwa Oya” and leave after the lunch. But we missed two of our visits on the previous day, the Sera Ella and the Pitawala Pathana due to our late start. So we had to cover those places too. Huge black clouds also were gathering and that discouraged us on the Manigala plan. Then we decided to omit Manigala from the schedule.
After the breakfast we left the village house that sheltered us and those generous villagers. Sera Ella falls was very close to that place.

Climbing down to see the water fall along the cement steps…

Halfway down the way, there was a huge rock over the steps, which seemed to be part the same rock that forms the water fall.

.	No it’s not raining. It’s just the water leaking from the rock surface….

The last part of the journey under the rock was wetting us with the water leaking from the rock. We had to cover our cameras to protect from it.
Few yards down we saw the stream flowing and as we came to the end of the path we were speechless with what we saw. It was one of the most beautiful sights we’d ever seen. Sera Ella was on the full flow due to the rain it had got during past few weeks. One of my friends expressed the beauty of Sera Ella as “මචං මේක නම් හරියට ජේම්ස් බොන්ඩ් ෆිල්ම් එකක ලොකේශන් එකක් වගේ…”.

මනස්කාන්ත සේර ඇල්ල...

Majestic… Isn’t it….?

We were told that it is possible to go inside the cave of the waterfall and there was a stair way to enter the cave.

Into the cave….

Sera Ella, the side view…

It was the first time I’ve been behind a waterfall and it was magnificent. It was rare location for a photo session and we took the advantage of it.

View from behind the water curtain….

Inside the cave behind the waterfall

Panoramic View of Sera Ella

After the Sera Ella we went to the “Thelgamuwa Oya” for the cool dip and found it was very crowded close to the bridge. The water level also was low close to the bridge.

Water level was low near the bridge…

So we decided to walk up a bit to find a peaceful place for a nice bath. On the way we found a huge rock pool below the famous flat rock, which had a plenty of water, but were very distracted with what we saw. A group had camped on top of the flat rock. They were behaving in a very unacceptable manner, so we decided to walk up more. Their camp had littered the surroundings very much. A lot of cigarette filters, empty bottles, polythene and a smashed bottle were seen scattered around.

We went up a bit more and found good place with the water up to the chest height and had a nice swim and a freezing dip. But unfortunately it was raining time to time, so our cameras remained inside.

After the bath we had a nice lunch and said good bye to Wasantha and left the village.

Our last stop was at Pitawala Pathana. There also we found very distracted with drunkards behaving like animals.

Entrance to the Pitawala Pathana…

At Pitawala Pathana

පිටවල පතන... (Click image to enlarge)

Mini World’s End at Pitawala pathana

Paddy Fields below the mini world’s end zoomed…

Panoramic view from the mini world’s end…

Since it was getting late we hit the road towards Colombo. As we were climbing towards the Reversturnfrom Pitawala, the whole area was covered with a thick mist. The road was barely visible.

The Road was barely visible…

Misty road behind us….

We were safely back in Colombo around 10 pm after another enjoyable trip admiring the beauty of Mother Sri Lanka.

This trip was done some time back in 2009, but still I cherish the memorable experience of this fantastic place. The other reason which prompted me to write this report is to clear the erroneous doubts among the members of this forum about the ‘bookings getting cancelled’.

You can reserve this place in advance but they accept money and confirm your reservation only two weeks before the arrival date. Once you pay, your booking is confirmed and there is very rare chance of getting it cancelled.

We started from Gampaha and came to Galewela through Kurunegala/Dambulla road and turned left at Galewela junction and drove another 20 Km to reach this magnificent place.

This is an extremely isolated place, surrounded by huge Kala wewa and blessed with the cool and continuous breeze throughout the day. I have stayed in many government circuit bungalows but I have no hesitation in ranking this place as one of the best. This place is very well maintained. Rooms, bathrooms and the garden are kept spotless. There are five A/C rooms with attached bathrooms, with H/C water. Meals are provided at a very nominal rate. Entire house is Rs 7500/= for one day. If you wish you can book even one room for Rs 1500/=. You can reserve this place from Mahaweli Authority Head office at Colombo. Tele 0112687491-5. Call Miss. Suba on 4th floor. I spoke to her recently and she said ‘Bookings getting cancelled’ is a false rumor. She is handling this subject for the past one year and there wasn’t a single cancellation so far.

This bungalow was built for a British Governor and then it was renovated for Queen Elizabath who came to Sri Lanka in 1981. Originally, it was a three roomed bungalow and in 2001 the VIP lounge with another two rooms were built in same premises.

Front view of the bungalow

Newly built VIP lounge

This magnificent tank Kalawewa which is the best engineered irrigation scheme of the ancient world and having a circumference of 40 miles, was built by king Dathusena who ruled the country from 455 AD to 473 AD. He built 18 irrigation tanks and also the Yoda Ela (Jaya ganga), a canal which carry water from Kalawewa to Tisawewa.

King Dathusena’s son Kassapa (who built Seegirya) rebelled against his father and jailed him to grab the throne. Kassapa believed that his father had vast amount of hidden treasures and threatened him to show them. Then Dathusena had taken Kassapa to Kalawewa and showed the water in it and said ‘This is the only treasure I earned so far’. Kassapa got annoyed with this and killed his father by plastering him to the bund of Kalawewa.

According to some inscriptions seen around the bunglow, Kalawewa had been renovated twice in A.D.1887 and A.D.1939, during the period of D.S.Senanayaka as Minister of Agriculture.

Renovated in A.D. 1887	Renovated in A.D. 1939
Giant Kalawewa seen from the bungalow	Footsteps from the bungalow to Kalawewa

This is an excellent bathing place and you can walk more than 200 meters deep into the Kalawewa safely. The cool dip in kalawewa went on for more than three hours.

Whole Kalawewa was ours’

After getting soaked for more than three hours we had a late lunch around 3 pm. Then we had a walk around Kalawewa and noticed most parts of the kalawewa were dried off, as there was no rain for few months

Dried off and the Water levels were low	Lonely
Gift of nature, on the bund of Kalawewa	One of the spillway of Kalawewa

In the evening we went to Anuradhapura and it was an one hour(60 KM) drive from this place through Kekirawa. As it was late in the evening we visited very few places. When we came back to the bungalow it was around 9.00 pm. Then we all sat down outside the bungalow for a sing song which kept all of us alive until the dinner is ready.

Ruwanweli Seya	Sri Maha Bodiya
Lowa Maha Paya	Sing song under moon light

Next day we visited Avukana statue which is only ten minutes drive from this place. This colossal standing Budda statue with a height of 46 feet is located at the west of Kalawewa and carved out of a single rock, is another wonderful work of king Dathusena. This statue was carved in such a way that early rays of the rising sun hit the top of the statue and it looks though the statue was eating the first rays of the rising sun. Hence it was named ‘Avukana’ as ‘Avu’ means ‘awwa’ (Sun rays) and ‘Kana’ means eating. Therefore the best time of the day to view this statue is dawn. This statue is a magnificent creation of the master sculptor named ‘Barana’. But some folklore says the sculptor is unknown. The robe worn tightly with neat pleats and clearly outlining the shape of the body was gracefully carved from a rough coarse rock. This merely explains the excellence of the Sri Lankan craftsmanship. This is one of the best handcrafts of ancient Sri Lankan artists.

While we were at Avukana statue, all of a sudden an unexpected flock of white storks invaded the place and intensified the serenity of the statue.

A flock of white storks invaded Unexpectedly

The robe worn tightly with neat pleats and clearly outlining the shape of the body

From Avukana we headed towards ‘Resvehera’ (also call Sesuruwa) through Galnewa, a less known historic rock temple, which is about 20 KM away from this place. First part of the road from Galnewa was narrow but fine with huge trees and faddy fields on both sides of the road. Last few kilo meters were gravel and dusty, but can manage even with a law clearance vehicle.
This temple which is situated in a sanctuary in North Western province with an extent of 1468 acres, was built during the reign of King Devanam Piyatissa in 237 BC. Ancient rock inscriptions found in this place prove that there were 99 rock caves and 365 buddhist monks had lived in it.

There are two Budda statues, one was standing and the other reclining. The standing statue with a height of 42 feet is similar to that of Avukana but does not have the same finish. The workmanship looks inferior and it appears that it was left in an unfinished state of sculpturing for some unknown reason. The reclining statue with a length of 39 feet is found inside a cave. This is the only reclining Budda statue in a rock temple where pilgrims could walk right round it.

Standing statue, workmanship looks inferior

An ancient bed found inside a cave

The reclining statue with a length of 39 feet is inside a cave

The Bo tree which is a sapling that was brought from Jaya Siri Maha Bodi is spreading its branches around and standing majestically in front of the shrine cave. This Bo tree is protected by a three meter tall 4 layers of tightly packed stones.

Bo tree is spreading its branches around and standing majestically	‘Makara thorana’ (Dragon’s painting) of the Image house
Shrine cave	Chief priest Rev Nugegoda Vajiratissa Thero

Rev. Vajiratissa Thero, is supporting the poor villagers of the area and requests pilgrims to help with donations especially for school children with books, pencils etc.

Next day on our way back we stepped into Vijithapura Raja Maha Viharaya another historic place which is just fifteen minutes drive from this circuit bungalow towards Kekirawa.
The final battle between King Dutugemunu and king Elara had taken place here. Vijithapura was a highly fortified stronghold of king Elara.
King Dutugemunu who was ascended to the throne after the death of his father king Kawantissa (King of Ruhuna) had arrived with his army from down south. On the way they have captured number of forts and cities that were under King Elara. Finally they attacked this stronghold Vijithapura with the help of his ten champions (ten giant warriors) and the royal elephant Kandula and became the king of Anuradhapura, bringing the entire country under his rule.

Although there is no much historic evidence, the temple is littered with old ruins. The most interesting out of these is the ‘Kadu Ge Gala’ (කඩු ගෑ ගල), a granite stone used by Dutugemunu’s soldiers to sharpen their swords. This stone shows that it had been used heavily.

Kadu Ge Gala (කඩු ගෑ ගල)

Image house of Vijithapura

From Vijithapura we drove back home on the same route

Thank You for reading this report.

We began our journey from Kohuwala at 8am on Friday morning. After brief stopovers at Ratnapura and Balangoda to purchase some items we reached Bambarakanda Eco Resort.

Bambarakanda Eco Resort is run by Mrs Sera Mayakaduwa and her nephew Parashara. It’s a perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of day to day life in the city. While the facilities are very basic, the “back to nature” concept is very appealing. Waking up early morning to the sounds of birds and seeing the waters of Bambarakanda falls cascading down in all its glory is an unforgettable experience. The wonderful hospitality shown to us and the delicious food made us wish we could stay a few more days at Bambarakanda Eco Resort.

Bambarakanda Eco Resort with Bambarakanda falls in the background

Having stretched our legs a bit after the long journey and having had our lunch, we set off for our first hike.

The first hike of the day was to Lanka Ella falls. While at first we were contemplating skipping this, Mrs. Mayakaduwa strongly recommended that we do this hike and it’s a decision that we did not regret. The hike at first began through a pine forest and this was the trickiest part since the ground was very slippery.

The trail leading through the pine forest

Thereafter we hiked through a grassy mountain and then reached a forest patch before emerging near the base of the waterfall.

Walking through the grassy area

Walking through the grassy area

Lanka Ella falls was quite breathtaking. A sheet of water cascading down into a pool that is shaped like Sri Lanka. The pool is said to be extremely deep and legend has it that a portion of King Walagamba’s treasure can be found at the bottom. We were warned not to even think of swimming in that pool since quite a few people had drowned there.

Lanka Ella falls

Lanka Ella falls

Our next hike was to the top of Bambarakanda falls. The last portion of the hike was once again through the pine forest with sheer drops on both sides. This part of the hike was tackled with extreme caution, one slip and the consequences could be disastrous. Most of us took off our shoes/slippers and did this part barefoot which helped. However the leaches enjoyed it too

The trail to the top of Bambarakanda with sheer drops on both sides

Just before reaching the top of Bambarakanda falls we reached a rocky outcrop which allowed us a virtual 300 degree view of the surrounding. Again we were extremely cautious when venturing out on this outcrop since there were sheer precipices on three sides.

300 degree view from a rocky outcrop

Finally we reached the top of Bambarakanda waterfall. There was another smaller waterfall cascading down into a pool at the summit. The flow from this pool then headed off into sheer space and as it began its descent formed the start of the Bambarakanda waterfall. It felt great to stand at the top of Sri Lanka’s highest waterfall and to enjoy the spectacular views all around.

Small waterfall at the top of Bambarakanda falls	Bambarakanda Eco Resort seen from the top of Bambarakanda falls
The start of Sri Lanka’s highest waterfall

Since dusk was fast approaching, we began our descent back towards the resort. On our way back we stopped over at the base of Bambarakanda falls and three brave souls decided to brave the freezing water and have a bath. It was pitch dark once they were done, but luckily we had all brought torches and didn’t have much difficulty in finding our way back to the resort.

Pool at the base of Bambarakanda falls (taken during a previous trip)

As day two dawned, we prepared for our main hike. The intention was to walk along the road from Bambarakanda Eco Resort all the way up to the Ohiya – Pattipola highway. Depending on energy levels, we would then do the Worlds End hike as well. The driver of our hired van was given instructions to pick us up near the worlds end ticket office. The poor guy had to travel over 50 Kms by vehicle while we had a mere 13 KMs to hike (or so we thought ).

While the original plan was for the six of us to do the hike on our own, we had an unexpected companion join us. Duke – one of the dogs resident at Bambarakanda Eco Resort decided to accompany us as our guide (even though we later found that he had not done this trail before ).

A short distance after leaving the resort, the concrete road gave way to a rubble path with patches of tar here and there providing evidence that in days gone by this was a better maintained road.

Concrete road gives way to a rubble path

Bambarakanda falls seen from the road to Ohiya

A couple of KMs later we realized that this hike was going to be a lot more testing than expected. The road kept continuously ascending and the next way point in the Lakdasun trail guide never seemed to materialize . After about 1.5 hours, we reached the area known as the V-Cut – A passage through the mountain that is considered a holy place by some. A small altar was visible in the middle of the passage.

The V-cut

Altar in the middle of the V-cut

The V-cut seemed to be a passage marking two different worlds. The hike upto the V-cut was a twisting road through mountains with breathtaking scenery looking upon the Bambarakanda waterfall and the surrounding areas below. Soon after passing the V-cut, the scenery changed to an estate setting with mountains towering high above us.

Change of scenery after the V-cut

A short while after passing the V-Cut, we arrived at a place where a stream flowed across the road. This stream is what feeds the Bambarakanda waterfall.

Duke inspects the stream across the road

After taking a short break for breakfast, we continued with our hike towards Devil’s staircase. The road now traversed through the estate and line houses continuing its steady ascent towards Ohiya.

Breathtaking scenery all along the trail	Breathtaking scenery all along the trail
Breathtaking scenery all along the trail	Breathtaking scenery all along the trail
The top of Lanka Ella falls visible from the trail	One of the many mini-waterfalls we passed on the way

The more we climbed our energy levels kept dropping. However, we were in no hurry and took our time enjoying the scenery and taking as many breaks as needed. The key was that no one was in any mood to give up and resolved to complete the hike no matter whether we reached our destination at 2pm or 2am the next day.

After another couple of hours, we reached another passage through the mountain similar to the V-cut. This marked the start of the Devil’s Staircase. The Devil’s staircase was a concreted stretch of the road with very steep hairpin bends descending sharply. When viewed from a mountain opposite, this stretch of the road looks like a series of massive stairs – hence the name Devil’s staircase.

The start of Devil’s Staircase

Devil’s Staircase

After passing Devil’s staircase, the path was fairly level with a mild descent. A short distance before the turn off towards Worlds End we met Raju, a local guide who was recommended by Mrs. Mayakaduwa. Raju then accompanied us for the rest of the journey and helped cut short the journey by guiding us via shortcuts through estate paths.

A few minutes after meeting Raju we reached a fork in the road. The descending road lead to Ohiya which was approximately 9 KMs away. The other road was a sharp ascend up to the Ohiya – Pattipola highway which was our route. Our energy levels were now so low that we had to take short breaks at almost every turn in the road. So near and yet so far was the phrase that came to mind. Less than 3 KMs to go… but boy wasn’t that tough.

One of the many shortcuts we took towards the end of the trail	The final 3 KMs
The final 3 KMs	The final 3 KMs
The final 3 KMs

Having had a short break for lunch en route we finally reached the Ohiya – Pattipola highway around 3pm that afternoon. Here we had an amazing piece of luck. We had asked the driver of our van to meet us at the World End ticket counter which was a further 1.5 KMs away, however just as we emerged out into the road our van passed by and we were able to stop it.

All of us thankfully filed into the van. Duke who accompanied us all the way also decided to take the easy option of taking the van back home rather than walking all the way back.

Five of our team then went on to do the Worlds End trek while I remained in the van resting my poor feet and keeping Duke company.

Day three was a quiet day assigned for rest and recovery. After breakfast, we headed back home stopping en-route at Eheliyagoda for a river bath and lunch arranged by one of our group.

My very first visit to Yala was in July 2010. “Armed” with my new Canon 100-400 we headed there with the hope of capturing a good shot or two of the elusive Sri Lankan Leopard. But much, much to our dismay, even after two rounds, we failed to catch even a glimpse of a Leopard! Dusty, tired and so disappointed, we headed back to Colombo. We must have been so upset with Yala, that Wilpattu got our undivided attention thereafter for the next 14 months

September 2011 came by – the time seemed ripe for “revenge”! So one fine afternoon, we headed off to Yala with renewed anticipation.

BUT FIRST, a relaxing evening at the new “hotspot” of Yala – the exciting new BACK OF BEYOND GURUGODA. Ever since seeing Priyanjan’s fantastic pictures, we were dying to experience the place first-hand. We were certainly not disappointed.

As are all BoB retreats, Back of Beyond Gurugoda is beautifully and thoughtfully designed – It is rustic but has ample comfort, with little touches that warms the heart. Priyanjan has captured all the “essentials”, but let me add something that made me smile.

A Deer with a Mission Didn’t you always want to hang your clothes on a Deer’s antlers? Well, here is your chance

The roof is beautifully thatched with palm leaves.
The color scheme is lovely, and the furniture has been carefully and artistically chosen.
There is one bedroom that sleeps 3, and two other beds outside.
The linen is crisp, clean and spotless white.
The toilet and washroom are both semi open-air. Lovely to gaze up on starry nights!
The cook and caretaker are very nice chaps and very accommodating.
Located only about 15 minutes away from Yala main entrance and situated before the Governer’s Camp (GC).
Just follow the sign boards to GC, but before that, you will find a “Designer Gate” to the left leading to BoB Gurugoda.
We heard that the latest Designer to add some finish touches was a Wild Elephant  :-)
It might be good to pay a visit to Back of Beyond Gurugoda before more people get to know of this lovely hideout.
You won’t be disappointed.

After a good night’s sleep, we started off to Yala feeling the warmth of the rising sun. The Jeep was hired from Yala Jeep Safaries, and driven by the owner’s son Sumudu, a good driver.
As usual, Yala was beaming with life, and before long, we couldn’t believe our luck when we spotted a Sloth Bear just by the roadside!!
I must have been so excited by my first wild Sloth Bear encounter that I totally forgot a basic rule of photography – always check your shot – only later did I realize that my camera settings were wayyy off, leading to shots so bad that I am ashamed to put them up here…sorry…
But we got to observe the bear for about 15 minutes, and it was a flying start to a great safari.
The first of the BIG THREE, THE BEAR covered! LEOPARD AND TUSKER to go. Fingers-crossed!

Our driver and our tracker were very eager to show us Leopards, and I must say we were so excited at the prospect too, but we did remember to take it a bit slow and enjoy the other beauties of Yala.

A dress that never ceases to impress - Indian Pea Fowl	black-naped hare
An albino Wild Boar

GOT TO REST TOO (A Spotted Dear resting under a Bonsai-like tree)

GOT TO REST TOO (a Grey Langur)

There were also Hornbills, Orange-breasted Pigeons, Serpent Eagles, a family of Jackals, Open-billed Stalks, Egrets, numerous crocs and many other birds. It was a beautiful flock of Painted Stalks that next caught our attention.

Try sitting like that!

Jumping the line!

More painted storks

“Am I the prettiest of ‘em all?”

You certainly are beautiful!

Ending a serene interlude, Sumudu’s cell phone rang. It was news of a Leopard!

When we got to the spot, two other Jeeps were already there, so we didn’t get the best view. But there they were, two Leopard cubs hidden well inside the bush. Finally, the dream of seeing a wild Leopard at Yala was coming true! Yippiee! When more Jeeps start arriving, one of them rose up and walked inside the bush, leaving only one, who compensated for her brother’s rude exit by posing for us beautifully.

.	.
.

A final glimpse through the trees

Two of the “BIG THREE” – THE LEOPARD – Covered! Yayyyyyy

Fully satisfied, we returned to BoB Gurugoda for a good lunch. After resting a bit and enjoying the bungalow, we left and headed off to our accommodation inside Yala – the Old Butuwa Bungalow – to leave our bags and provisions before the evening round.

On the way, we had the privilege of spending some time with this Elephant Family – There was just us, which must have put them at ease. They went about enjoying the afternoon and giving us the pleasure of observing some heart-warming moments of Bonding and LOVE…

Trunks of all sizes …they can stroke..	…and wrap around …(Awwww…)
…or hold gently too…Awwwwwww

Seeing them so carefree, I thought, what a sin it is to disrupt their lives by robbing their habitats, or separating them, especially moms and calves, in order to satisfy Man’s personal gain or greed…They belong free in the Jungle…and we need to protect them.

Walking towards an uncertain tomorrow???? So hope not.. Dear God help us keep them safe

Warmed by the “Elephantine” Love, we arrived at the Old Butuwa Bungalow – Probably the best maintained bungalow in Yala, thanks to the caretaker KULE and his staff.

Old Butuwa Bungalow	Old Butuwa Bungalow
Lovely sea view from the bungalow	Fabulous view of the Elephant rock and beach from atop the rocky mountain

Panoramic view of the ocean and sky in various shades of blue

After a nice cup of tea, we started the evening round.

It was always a dream of mine to see a leopard on a tree, and it was about to come true. There he/she was – a very cute cub, lazily napping on a tree, observing the excited humans who were gathering fast to watch him

“Hmm, what a bunch of Nuts!”	“But I am too sleeeeeepy to keep my eyes open..zzzz”
“ok, ok just one pose ok”

After a lovely 20 minutes or so, the place became so congested we decided to leave and head off to a small lake close by, where a fully-grown Leopard had been observed the day before. We parked there, and patiently waited..a bit long..but the wait was finally rewarded by Leopard No. 4 for the day!

It suddenly appeared from behind a tree giving us a start!	After observing us for awhile, he decided to come out into the open Yes! We were delighted!
One SCARY Dude!!!!

He soon vanished off into the jungle, but we were happy to be the first to see him. Another jeep arrived as he went in. Don’t think they could see much..

It was getting somewhat dark and we decided to head towards the bungalow…on the way, we came across a fleet of vehicles. Two cubs and a mom! Leopards, 5, 6, 7 to complete the day. Mom was too hidden to photograph, but the two cubs were visible over the grass.

Could it be a boy and a girl?

Saying the Bedtime Prayers?

Sweet!

It was time for us to retire too.
We headed to the bungalow. When we arrived, we were a bit disappointed to hear that Gamini, the Tusker had just been there looking for food…come to think of it, we did hear some crackers – Kule and crew had used crackers to chase him away. We had missed a Tusker by a mere few minutes!

A good wash and a delicious dinner brightened our spirits, and we dozed off happily on the beds in the verandah, bathed in moonlight, to the lullaby of the sea.

The next morning, we were told to go to Rukvila as early as possible since the famous Rukvila cubs come there early morning to drink from it. When we got there, we could see fresh pug marks, but no cubs in sight. We drove towards the rocks, and as we took the bend, there was a leopard lying on a rock by the side of the road! Our driver for the day was a very young chap (Sumudu had a previous booking). Neither our tracker nor driver spotted it, and when my cousin who spotted it first said “Leopard”, our driver suddenly braked and stopped the Jeep right in front of the leopard! It looked at us for a couple of seconds (I thought he looked quite annoyed!), quickly got up, crossed the road and went up the rock. There was hardly anytime to get the cameras out… Lesson learnt : when a leopard is spotted suddenly, if you can’t give the Leopard a good distance, slowly drive by past it, turn and come back slowly. Give the leopard space so as not to bother or startle it. This will also give you good shutter chances than stopping abruptly in front.

We waited at the spot, being the only Jeep there. And a few minutes later the Rukvila Cubs appeared, Leopards 8,9 and 10.

.

.

I may look sweet

but I can be scary too

climbing up the steep rock together

.	A beautiful finale

The last and final Leopard No. 11 was a very sleepy cub napping on a far-away rock near the fishing village.

I really wished I had a longer lens!

Afternoon round was nearing the end, and we had almost given up hopes of a Tusker, when we spotted an Elephant Family drinking water in a small pond. We stopped by to observe and the babies started playing in the mud! It was so sweet!

“Little Bro, I am gonna push you!”

Mission accomplished! See the small one on all fours? He had a time getting up!  But he sure was enjoying himself!

Then they came out and started playing again

Trunk Sumo?

A close up – Wait a minute! Could that be a small tusk on the little one in the right?

Have we completed the BIG THREE???
It seems like a Baby Tusker to ME
Well, I will leave it to you to decide

Thank you very much for reading!
Hope you enjoyed it.

We( 5 of us) started at 2.15 am on the 4th of November from Colombo and reached Yala office at 5.45 am. We were joined by 5 others who had come the previous day from Kandy and had stayed in Thissa.The group consisted of 3 families and 2 others who opted to leave the families behind. Buthuwa was booked for the 1st day and Ondaatje for the 2 nd night.Our tracker as usual was Shalika( t/p: 0776808666 ) and we went in at 6.10 as the office opens at 6 these days.

By 7.30 we had seen 3 leopards ( One at Rukwila) and a tusker as well.

1st at rukvila	2nd and 3rd
.	.
Tusker (Gamini)	Tusker
.	.
.

After making the round as planned we had breakfat near the river and crossed to go to block 2.We had to tow the Hi-Lux cab 3 times as there were mud and water from the rains in the previous days but it was expected and we wre prepared for that. We wanted to go upto the devalaya( Okanda) but came back as there was a noise in one of the jeeps.

.	Black Eagle
.	.
Very Close	Ches nut Headed Bee Eater
Lesser Sand Plover	.
Jackals

Aferwards we proceeded to Buthuwa and after having lunch went to Thissa and got the jeep repaired.By the time we went back to the bungalow it was 7.30. We had a barbeque and some refreshments before dinner as well.It started raining heavily with lightning and thunder and we only could hope for the best.

The following morning when we woke up at 4.15 the stars were shining and we started at 5.30 and by 5.45 the sun rose and it was a beautiful day.And then the Leopard fiesta started and we were entertained by 9 leopards during the day. One was seen by only the jeep in front and 2 others were seen only and could not be photographed but it was so exciting and fulfilling.

4th	4th
5th	6th Crossing
6th Crossing	6th Crossing
7th	7th
7th	Button Quail
Croc	In full swing
In full swing	In full swing
Wild Boar	Changeble Hawk Eagle
.	.
.	8th
8th

We missed the bear may be by hours but had left the unmistakable foot prints .

Bear marks..	Grey headed fish Eagle
Honey Buzaard	Common Iora
Whiskered Tern	9th Leopard to see
9th	9th
Yellow wattled lapwing

The 2nd night was spent at Ondaatje where the surrounding area was fantastic but the place was realy rundown with no maintenenace done which was sad to see and also annoying as we paid good money and also the income in Yala has risen dramatically.Though we made another trip inside the following morning also we could not see anyone though it was hot and sunny day but we were quite content , happy and thrilled as our mission was fully accomplished except the fact that there were very few elephants around.

Jungle fowl

This was one of the best hikes we experienced so far and on the other hand a good example on how the travelers will have to survive the consequences caused by unavoidable delays.

I have done the same hike in 2002 with my school friends and this is after 6 years of that.

We were planning to start our trip at 12.00Noon from Colombo. Due to some unavoidable situations it was delayed for 2 hours and finally we left Colombo by 2.00PM. We took the low-level road and unfortunately there was heavy traffic at Orugodawaththa since construction of the flyover was taking place and we had to wait almost 1 hour there. After so many delays we were able to come to Rathnapura by 6.30 PM and still had a lot of things to be bought from Cargills. By the time we started the journey again we knew that we won’t have time to cook our dinner and decided to buy dinner from Balangoda town.

We turned left from A4, Colombo – Badulla road to Hirikatuoya camp site somewhere around 162km post (1.5km – 2km after the Belihuloya Rest house) and from there we had another 5.7 km to our 1st day destination. But the time was 10.30PM.
After several obstacles we were able to reach our day 1 destination by 11.00 PM. By that time the care taker has gone home assuming that we would not arrive on that night.

.	From A4 road to camp site 5.7 KM

‘Hirikatuoya’ Camp Site

Scenery…

Next day morning our plan was to get the breakfast & lunch prepared with the help of the care taker. Since he was not there we had to go to the main road to buy food for both breakfast & lunch. Group of people went back to main road (A4) while others were getting ready for the great hike. Bad luck was at its worst for us during the trip. When we were coming back the wooden bridge between camp site and main road was repairing by estate workers and we had to wait there another 1 hour till they give us a temporary solution to pass it.

The Wooden Bridge, we were given a temporary solution	‘Hirikatuoya’, from misty mountains…
Marvelous creation of nature	Scenery on the way to Non Pareil tea factory

Finally we came back to camp site with necessary food items for the hike. Then all of us got in to the van and went up to the Non Pareil estate Tea factory. From camp site to tea factory was another 9km and view of the surroundings was fantastic.

Beyond this place vehicles are not allowed (with prior approval you can go if you have a 4X4 vehicle) and therefore we started our hike (We told driver to go to ‘Maha Eliya’ bungalow via Ohiya). From the tea factory it is 15km to World’s End. We started our hike at 11.30AM. Fortunately we met an estate worker and he said “මහත්තයා short cut වලින් ගියොත් 7km, මම පාර පෙන්නන්නන්.” But we didn’t believe him because reducing 8kms was not seemed to be possible.

Non Pareil tea factory, where we started our hike. From here 15km to World’s End	.
Breathtaking…	Little Break

After several hours we were able to reach Bekar’s bend and view from there is marvelous. In a clear day you can see up to the Southern coastal line.

The famous Bekar’s bend - Click Image to Enlarge

Clear view of Samanalawewa

At the ‘Nagrak’ we had our lunch. From ‘Nagrak’ there is another route to Bogawanthalawa side.

Where we had lunch

Breathtaking…

After having little rest at ‘Nagrak’ we started our journey and came to the upper end of the Non Pareil Estate.

“Garden of the God”, View from the garden of manager’s bungalow at upper end of Non Pareil Estate	Bloomed for Sun
Bloomed for Sun

From here the jungle is thick, and another 3km to go.

In thick jungle…

Above all…

After 5 hours of journey we were able to come to our destination. Estate worker was correct. We were able to reduced 8km using shortcuts.

Breathtaking…	Hills and Clouds
Climax….	The way behind. Non Pareil tea factory where we started our hike marked in red circle. Finally travel distance is 6.99km, walking time 2h & 24mins, Waiting time 2h & 44mins
We made it…

Have a safe and enjoyable trip!!!

We started our journey at about 9 pm from Colombo with five members and headed directly to kurunegala to accompany with the other two. We spend the night at kurunegala and headed towards puttalm early morning, from this point onwards our crew was 7 in Hilux Vigo cab and a motor car. Road condition is excellent we only spend 45 minutes to travel 87 Kms. At puttalam we had our breakfast and drive towards Willpattu on A12 Puttalam Anuradhapura road.

We reached Wilpattu park entrance at about 9.30am and we had a grand welcome from the members of the Wildlife office since one of our crew members is senior State counselor who has helped DWC (Department of Wildlife Concervation) people quite lot punishing hunters and poachers at the Nochchiyagama courts.

Just before we entered into the park

Then we met Mr. Munasinghe who was willing to join with us as our tracker but actually he is a assistant Ranger, with help of him we contacted a safari jeep. It was a 4DR5 jeep. At last we entered the park at about 10 am and headed directly to Kokmote bungalow.

On the way to Kokmote

On the way to Kokmote

We reached Kokmote at about 12 noon and had an unfortunate incident minutes after we arrived. One of our crew member had cut his finger severely while re trying to cut a king coconut. We had no option other than taking him to Nochchiyagama hospital since we were at deep inside the thick jungle 48 Km away from the park entrance. So Jayathilake Uncle who is our jeep owner, left behind his 4DR5 and get into our hilux cab and flew towards Nochiyaagama again.

They came back at about 4.30 after getting treatment to the wound. Our friend had 8 stitches to his finger and back on his feet again.

At Kokmote Bungalow

Rushing towards Nochchiyaagama and Coming back…..

Everything went fine after that and we had a short safari session on that evening. We visited several villus, but didn’t had enough luck to see a leopard.

Next day morning we packed our goods again and moved towards kudiramalei and came to panikka vila Wildlife Bungalow where we stayed that night. If any one willing to planning a trip to wilpattu, better to reserve Talawila, Manawila or Panikka Wila bungalows. Those are best places to see wildlife. Kokmote is little bit luxurious bungalow but it’s quite isolated and cannot see much animals nearby. All the wildlife bungalows were solar powered (No hot water, no refrigerator but having light inside a thick jungle is vital) and carefully maintained, all of them had new linen and new mattresses.

Panikka Wila Wildlife Bungalow

We were able to see a pair of Sloth bears near the Maradanmaduwa tank bund, but unfortunately we couldn’t take any photograph because our DSLR ran out of battery life. Any way we met quite lot of wildlife in our stay but not lucky enough to meet any of the legendary Wilpattu leopards.

We met this eagle flying over the Kali villuwa	Croc at Kokari Villuwa
Near Maha Pathessa wila	.
.	තුන්පත් රෑන…. Off the Maradanmaduwa tank bund.

Learn what happened the day before. Read the report – The lost aim at Namunukula

Before the Sun wake up, we were busy in examination on 1:50,000 maps, to ascertain how & why we loss our goal during the last exploration. After such a hard trekking (not less than 13+3 =16km on foot) in the previous day, the crew was still aggressive to re-do the hike & not known the meaning of giving up.

Having an idea on the road (Jeep track) network at the tea estates in and around Namunukula range, we decided to follow the path of the previous day as much as possible with our jeep & reach the village where we suspended our exploration last day.

Namunukula range

Since we wanted to verify what happened in the previous day, we decided to follow the estate road started from the 5th Mile post. Otherwise the route started from 3rd Miles post was much shorter to reach the Glane Alphine Estate, where the shortest trail to the highest peak of Namunukula was started.

On our way to upper division of Wewassa Plantation

It was only needed 15 minutes to reach the three way junction where a Hindu shrine was located. On the other hand it was few meters below the 9th peak of Namunukula. If we walked, it would only take 30 to 45 minutes to reach there from A5 road at 5th Mile post. But unfortunately we spent more than 2.5 hours with much of our energy to reach there, even having a lift of a kilometer by a tractor. That was more than enough us to understand what happened last day. We realized that the guide we hired last day had a hidden agenda.

the Hindu shrine

What he practiced was taking us through a long & long way until we loose our energy and make ourselves to give-up the hike in the middle. If we decided to abundant the journey, he could return home early with full fee. Whole the day of ours could be spoiled by that idiot. But the woodpecker had hit on a wrong tree at that time; none of the crew was known the meaning of give-up. As a result, neither party could achieve their targets completely.

Scenery of Badulla town – on our way descending to the Glane Alphine Estate

From the said junction where the Hindu shrine was located, we took the right path which was heading 3rd Mile Post. The road was narrow & descending to the base of the range. We felt that we were moving around Namunukula, at the level of her base. Having descending nearly 4km, we reached a 3way junction from where the road from 3rd Mile Post connected. We turned left & reached the tea factory at Glane Alphine Estate.

The tea factory of Glane Alphine Estate.

From the factory onwards, again we moved towards spring-valley with a descending. Having traveling nearly 4km, we reached a 3 way junction & turned left the uphill path to reach the Deyanegalla Division where the highest peak of Namunukula was located.

velvety tea lands of Glane Alphine Estate

velvety tea lands managed by Balangoda Plantation Ltd

Passing velvety tea lands which provide the finest Ceylon tea for the world market, we reached the Tamil-village where we climbed down for water last day. Two Tamil villagers voluntarily agreed to guide us & we started climbing the giant for the second time. It took only 20 minutes to reach the edge of the forest patch where we gave-up the exploration last day. In the next 15 minutes, we reached a semi-opened area. Then we noticed another hilltop was existed with 100ft in distance. Though our guides discouraged us because of wild buffaloes, few of us visited there for a GPS way point

It took only 20 minutes to reach the edge of the forest patch

With a minor descending, the trail was turned in to dramatic ascend. In the next 15 minutes, we reached a Y-junction. Both trails of the same were heading the summit of the highest peak. We took the shortest but dramatic one laid along the backbone of the range

Trail

Having a short break

From there onwards, the environment began to change in each step. Pigmy trees, ferns & feathers like old man’s beard provided evidences for an upcountry wet (cloud) forest

Evidences for an upcountry wet (cloud) forest

It was an unbelievable fact that the summit of the highest peak of Namunukula was a plane of few acres. The vegetation was mainly consisted with pigmy trees of “Ashoka” (මහ රත්මල් Rododendron zeylanica). Earth was unbelievably white and might be foamed with quartz. It was seemed to be a popular camping site and a little water was available in the abundant well located in the middle of the plane.

At the summit of Namunukula	seemed to be a popular camping site
a little water was available in the abandoned well

There were several view points. We were lucky to be there with no mist. Having visiting each, we enjoyed the panoramic view for hundreds of kilometers. View point for North was located in nearly 200m distance from the summit. It was special that the place was considered a holy place by Tamil villagers and a shrine made with few boulders was there. Our jeep parked at the heart of the village could also be observed from there

A shrine at the summit	මහ බෝවිටියා Osbeckia parvifolia
Asoka (මහ රත් මල් ) Rododendron zeylanica

Spending few minutes more, we decided to climb down through the long path. In the next 30 minutes, we were able to get out from the wood & reached the tea estate to feel the civilization. In the next 15 minutes, we reached back to the place where we parked our jeep

View of the North

Having saying good bye to the villagers there, we left for Spring Valley. Passing a series of narrow & steep estate road segments; we reached the same junction where we got in to the main road of Badulla-Spring valley last night. Spring Valley was a tiny village town surrounded by healthy tea lands. Having a little refreshment at a café, we decided to visit Black-pool the most attractive location at Spring Valley.

Unfortunately this vehicle was not available there, last evening	The crew
the place where we parked our jeep

To reach there we had to move nearly a kilometer towards “May-Malar Estate” and turned a by road at our left and continued until we find a bridge with wooden sleepers. Parking the jeep at the premises of Devalaya located at a bank of the stream, we started trekking for 300m along a trail.

Spring Valley

The black pool could be introduced as an eye-catching creation of the nature. The pool was nearly 50 x 25 ft. in size. A tiny waterfall was located at the far end of the same. Blackish water was given evidence for how deep it was. But the other end was shallow and sandy bottomed, where we had a cool dip

bridge with wooden sleepers	Towards black pool
Black pool