This was my first visit to Yala after a break of more than two years. Even this time, it was only possible thanks to Pradeep & Erandi who organised everything from booking the Thalgasmankada Bungalow, arranging Bindu to drive us around and all rations for cooking!

We left at around 6.00 a.m in three Vehicles. Gone are the days where we would leave Colombo early enough to be at Yala by 6.00 a.m and straight away start an early morning drive around the park. Now the little ones decide the schedule and by the time we reached Yala it was around 1.00 p.m

We took Udawalawe route and  roads were in great shape throughout except for about 4km between Pannegamuwa and Debarawewa which is still under construction.  Particularly newly paved Udawalawe – Thanamalwila stretch was superb!

I couldn't resist the temptation to speed until the speedometer showed 120KMPH

Udawalawe Reservoir filled to Brim after unusually heavy NE monsoons this year

Beggar elephants of Udawalawe (See discussions Begging Elephants at Udawalawa and Elephant Beggars….?). Its a sad sight to see people engadging in this practice of feeding wild elephants which is bad for beasts as well as a dangerous thing to do when the electric fence is switched off during the day time.

Setting a bad example for the next generation. Its lack of awareness, otherwise a mother will never expose her child to such a risk

By the time we reached Palatupana entrance of Yala it was around 1.00 p.m. We met Bindu at the park entrance. We parked the two cars at the park office and headed towards the bungalow.

As soon as we entered the park, I noticed that it was quite wet, lush and greener than what it usually is in February. All water bodies were full to the capacity. Flowers were blooming all over the place and it was very different from the dusty and dry Yala you see for the most part of the year.

Ranawara bushes were full of flowers. At some places it looked like a large yellow blanket!

There were tiny flowers in different colors and shapes all over the place

We reached Thalgasmankada Bungalow at around 2.30 p.m. We learnt that we were the first party to stay there after it was closed  following an LTTE attack on the army camp which used to be there in front of the bungalow, about two years back. Until lunch was ready, we walked around the bungalow and spent some time at the river which was almost overflowing.

Thalgasmankada Wildlife Dept Bungalow

Overflowing Menik River behind Thalgasmankada Bungalow

After Lunch we relaxed a bit and started our first drive in the park. It was the first time some one else was driving me around in a park. Bindu’s specially modified vehicle provided a good, unobstructed view of the surrounding and since I was not driving, I had all the flexibility required for taking pictures. But I quickly realized that having the full control of the vehicle is far more important for me than anything else, specially with a driver like Bindu who’s one and only objective was to spot a leopard. Bindu had very little interest in the rest of the wildlife and the beauty of the park and was prepared to do anything, including breaking rules and some of the wildlife viewing ethics, to take us closer to a leopard.

As a result of this we did not see much during this first drive and ended up spending a long time in a queue of Jeeps to get a glimpse of a sleeping leopard!

Spotted Deer with Beautiful set of antlers

While the father was relaxing, the kid who was with the mother, was curious to find out who is photographing them!

If you go to Yala and tell your jeep driver and the trekker; “Show us a leopard some how”, this is what you will most likely to to end up with

Stuck in Traffic, waiting for a chance to see the leopard. All you hear is the noise of idling diesel engines and the smell of half burnt diesel fuel!

Here is the celebrity peacefully sleeping up in a palu tree; completely ignorant of the chaos around it

Most part of the afternoon was spent in “traffic” with little reward. If you really want to avoid this sort of a situation; the best would be to set the right expectations with your trekker and the jeep driver. Tell them that you are here to enjoy the beauty of the park; if you come across a leopard in the process, that will be great! but don’t spend your valuable time in the park just looking for leopards, you are missing much more if you do that.

On our way back to the bungalow; a painted stroke and a jungle fowl were spotted at close range.

Painted Stroke

Jungle Fowl

On the following day we left early for the first drive of the day. Again to our dissapointment the mad chase behind leopards restarted and rendered the whole morning drive useless! One of the biggest problems was lack of an instant communication mechanism between the driver/trekker who were in the front cabin of the truck and us who were in the back.

It was an overcast day at Yala (unusual in FEB!) and therefore we decided to do a mid-day drive as well. This time we told Bindu and the trekker that we would like to do a more relaxed drive and asked them to look for other wildlife other than the leopards. The situation improved dramatically! ..and the below images proves that it is us who should set the right expectations with the jeep operators and trekkers, because they seems to assume that everyone comes to Yala only to see leopards.

A Grey Heron, silently waiting for a fish to surface	A Yellow Wattled Lapwing - There was a pair feeding in an open field
A Painted Stroke Fishing in a pool created by the rain.	This little Green Bee Eater posed beautifully for the shot!
Curious baby and the cautious mother	Elephants were difficult to spot as water and food was plentiful in the park. When we finally came across a small herd all I had around was my 400mm lens!
Pair of Jackals enjoying the cool, overcast weather	We just missed the display!
This Mongoose was busy looking for something to eat in a puddle created by overnight rain	It did not take too long for it to strike gold! - Unfortunately we couldn't see what it caught. May be an unsuspecting fresh water crab or a frog

We returned to the bungalow for Lunch after the most successful drive so far.

At around 3.30 p.m. we started our third drive of the day. It was a Friday but the park was full of jeeps carrying foreign visitors. The leopard rush was out all over the park again. Luckily we spotted a leopard quickly! It was in a deep sleep on a rock and was barely visible. We managed to park our truck at a bend of the road, leaving enough space for the others to pass us and have a good look at the creature without us having to move. To take the advantage of this unique position we were in, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon there and wait until the leopard wakes up.

As expected the drama started again! The news of the leopard spread in the park at the speed of light (with the help of mobile phones!) and in a matter of minutes there was a long queue of jeeps going past us, stopping for couple of minutes to take a look at the little bit of the creature that was visible, and wondering what the hell were we doing parked at the corner, staring mostly at the large rock where only the tail of a leopard is seen 🙂 .

could catch only a glimpse of the sleeping Leopard

An hour later - all it did was to turn around and return to sleep!

The number of jeeps passing us slowly died down. We still did’t want to move and be part of the mad leopard hunt. So we continued to wait there. Finally it was getting close to 6.00 p.m. and we prepared to leave. Fortunately the leopard decided to wake up at last! It woke up and sat on the rock posing beautifully to the camera. Unfortunately light was not enough for a good shot .

....result of a more than two hour wait!

After two days of overcast weather, the third day was bright and sunny. It brought back the ideal conditions for photography but we had little time to spend in the park as it was the last day. The morning drive again brought good results as we did not focus too much on Leopards.

Blooming Butawa Lake, early in the mornig

A Whistling Teel - in some adventure mood

There was water every where and the Feeding frenzy continued

A darter drying its feathers in early morning light

That was it mostly. After the morning drive we packed our stuff and left the bungalow. On our way back we were lucky to see a leopard again. Unfortunately no photo opportunity again.

We were back at the park entrance well before noon and reached home in the evening.