Udawalawe National Park (Sri Lanka)

I associate safaris with South Africa, not Sri Lanka. 

However, since the safari in Sri Lanka is known to be pretty popular, we decided to make a visit to the Udawalwe National Park. Food options and accommodation nearby are few and far between- do yourself a favour by not staying the night or at least pack some food (just in case). 

It was my first ever visit to a safari in a jeep and I must say it was quite an experience, trying to spot the animals. 

Two of us were on the jeep, while the driver would stop to point out certain animals. 

We saw so many elephants in the park. It was quite exciting to observe the elephants up close- the way they use their trunks to pull out the grass, how they feed themselves etc. We also learnt to identify male elephants from female elephants. 

After a while, the novelty of seeing elephant after elephant wore out a little. Till we saw the elephants having a mud bath! It was also rather hilarious how some white bird would always follow the elephants, apparently because they would like to eat the insects circling the elephants.

As we travelled on, we also saw storks. I was struck by how they were more or less facing the same direction.

We were ever ready to press the shutter button to take pictures of the water buffaloes- until we heard some angry stomping and frightened elephants running away. I never knew elephants could run that fast That scene was quite memorable because it was the only drama in the otherwise seemingly peaceful safari.

We got to spot a number of peacocks as well, their calls are unmistakeable.

While there were plenty of birds flying around, the most colourful was none other than the honey bee eater.

After the initial congestion of jeeps near the entrance, it felt as though you were the only people in the safari to enjoy nature for the remaining journey. This was a birds haven where birds would perch on the branches of these weathered trees.

The whole tour took around 2.5- 3 hours.

Overall, going to this safari was definitely an eye opener, seeing animals in their natural habitat and being in awe of nature.