Back again...this will be a short one...I promise...errrr maybe not!
Yesterday saw us up at 3:00 AM for our trip up to Yala National Park. Yala is about an hour and a half from our guest house. We spent from 7:00 until about 1 in the park after which we had a packed curry and rice lunch and headed to one of the local Bhuddist temples called Kataragama.
The tour through the National Park was incredible. We had such fortune with the various birds and other animals that we encountered. We saw a young male elephant (shown above) leisurely snacking on some grass on his own. We also managed to get a real close up of a Crested Hawk Eagle voraciously chomping down on a frog. He was very protective of his freshly caught meal which allowed us to get some great photos. The Crested Hawk Eagle is an absolutely beautiful bird and we were lucky to see it.
Some of the other animals we saw included a Painted Stork, a Sri Lanka Jackal, a hare, some crocodiles, and a variety of others. It was worth the early start to be able to experience so much of Sri Lanka's wildlife in only six hours or so. Our only regret was not encountering a leopard. They are extremely elusive animals and with only 30 in the park we were not surprised that we didn't come across one.
At the end of the safari we visited a beach (shown above) where the Tsunami hit. There were ruins of two of lodges that I saw where 47 people were killed. Being at this site gave me a very erie feeling, trying to imagine a 25-30 foot wave coming in to where I was standing. Partly because of the ruins, damaged trees, boats where boats should not be and along with the other debris (such as sandles and tea cups) scattered about. But it was also erie for an undescribable reason. This might sound strange, but it was almost as if there was tension in the air to the point that someone was waiting to yell or scream...but could not. Like when you lose your voice in fear. I don't know if that accurately describes it, but that is the best that I can put it into words.
The beauty of this beach was extremely paradoxical knowing what took place only two and half years ago. It was a long beach which came to a point at the south end where there was a tall rock atoll or outcropping. The water was various shades of blue and the waves were crashing in like thunder. The sun was shining bright and then there was the tension I described above. You'd really need to be there to understand exactly what I am trying to describe.
After the beach we headed back and had our packed lunch and then off to Kataragama. This place was very busy. It was a large grounds with various different venues for worshipping. The main Pagoda was actually very tranquile despite the bustle of the surrounding area. We each took our ceremonial flower as our offering to Bhudda and lit incense which is also part of the tradition. The flower offering symbolizes the fact that although, at this point in time, the flower is very beautiful, alive, and lush, as with everything, it will not last. In fact it will begin to wilt as we stand there. The flower, and it's look and scent, along with the insense are also meant to help worshippers cleanse their minds before worshipping. It was an almost surreal experience except for the fact that I am athiest so even beginning to understand the Bhuddist philosophies was incredibly difficult to do. We did show our respects though and pushed on back to Tangalle for dinner.
We had dinner and a few pints again at the guest house up the street from us. I decided to try something completely different and had fish and chips! It was very different given the amount of curry and rice we've been eating. Actually, Paul, our resident Benthic Ecologist made a good point today - if you were a westerner coming to stay, you would really miss out on the full Sri Lankan experience if you only ate at the hotels and guest houses. We've been eating lunch each day with a family near our project site and the food has been unbelievable. I've really increased my spice tolerance over the past week or so! I guess curry for breakfast will do that!
Today was a great day as well. We finished the fenceposts and fence wire and also collected some sediment samples to establish a baseline for the fauna in the area where we will start planting tomorrow. The fencepost work was messy. Actually, that is an understatement, I was covered head to toe in mud...in fact, I had mud in my eyes, ears and nose as well. Alice and some of the others did a great job today finishing the fence wire and Louise helped Paul and Kumara collect sediment samples. At the end of the day we all got to go to the lab and check out a polychete (like a worm but with legs and hair-like things out the side of it, for eyes (for lack of the correct terminology) and some pollyps. If that doesn't paint a very vivid picture...it kind of looks like a centipede but it lives in marine and estuarial environments.
We had an earlier day today because we had such a long day yesterday and because we need to rest up for our friendly cricket match against the local primary school tomorrow. It should be an intense match, given that we have an Aussie on our side and they just beat the Sri Lankans in the West Indies for the World Cricket Championship! Hopefully she can teach us all how to play in time for the match :) ! Later this evening we'll be going back to the Rekawa area to observe sea turtles laying eggs.
Hope all's well with everyone there...or wherever you are.
Mom - just wanted to wish you a happy Mother's Day. Hope the flowers arrived okay.
Mike, if you're getting this...happy belated birthday!
Cheers
Chris
Yesterday saw us up at 3:00 AM for our trip up to Yala National Park. Yala is about an hour and a half from our guest house. We spent from 7:00 until about 1 in the park after which we had a packed curry and rice lunch and headed to one of the local Bhuddist temples called Kataragama.
The tour through the National Park was incredible. We had such fortune with the various birds and other animals that we encountered. We saw a young male elephant (shown above) leisurely snacking on some grass on his own. We also managed to get a real close up of a Crested Hawk Eagle voraciously chomping down on a frog. He was very protective of his freshly caught meal which allowed us to get some great photos. The Crested Hawk Eagle is an absolutely beautiful bird and we were lucky to see it.
Some of the other animals we saw included a Painted Stork, a Sri Lanka Jackal, a hare, some crocodiles, and a variety of others. It was worth the early start to be able to experience so much of Sri Lanka's wildlife in only six hours or so. Our only regret was not encountering a leopard. They are extremely elusive animals and with only 30 in the park we were not surprised that we didn't come across one.
At the end of the safari we visited a beach (shown above) where the Tsunami hit. There were ruins of two of lodges that I saw where 47 people were killed. Being at this site gave me a very erie feeling, trying to imagine a 25-30 foot wave coming in to where I was standing. Partly because of the ruins, damaged trees, boats where boats should not be and along with the other debris (such as sandles and tea cups) scattered about. But it was also erie for an undescribable reason. This might sound strange, but it was almost as if there was tension in the air to the point that someone was waiting to yell or scream...but could not. Like when you lose your voice in fear. I don't know if that accurately describes it, but that is the best that I can put it into words.
The beauty of this beach was extremely paradoxical knowing what took place only two and half years ago. It was a long beach which came to a point at the south end where there was a tall rock atoll or outcropping. The water was various shades of blue and the waves were crashing in like thunder. The sun was shining bright and then there was the tension I described above. You'd really need to be there to understand exactly what I am trying to describe.
After the beach we headed back and had our packed lunch and then off to Kataragama. This place was very busy. It was a large grounds with various different venues for worshipping. The main Pagoda was actually very tranquile despite the bustle of the surrounding area. We each took our ceremonial flower as our offering to Bhudda and lit incense which is also part of the tradition. The flower offering symbolizes the fact that although, at this point in time, the flower is very beautiful, alive, and lush, as with everything, it will not last. In fact it will begin to wilt as we stand there. The flower, and it's look and scent, along with the insense are also meant to help worshippers cleanse their minds before worshipping. It was an almost surreal experience except for the fact that I am athiest so even beginning to understand the Bhuddist philosophies was incredibly difficult to do. We did show our respects though and pushed on back to Tangalle for dinner.
We had dinner and a few pints again at the guest house up the street from us. I decided to try something completely different and had fish and chips! It was very different given the amount of curry and rice we've been eating. Actually, Paul, our resident Benthic Ecologist made a good point today - if you were a westerner coming to stay, you would really miss out on the full Sri Lankan experience if you only ate at the hotels and guest houses. We've been eating lunch each day with a family near our project site and the food has been unbelievable. I've really increased my spice tolerance over the past week or so! I guess curry for breakfast will do that!
Today was a great day as well. We finished the fenceposts and fence wire and also collected some sediment samples to establish a baseline for the fauna in the area where we will start planting tomorrow. The fencepost work was messy. Actually, that is an understatement, I was covered head to toe in mud...in fact, I had mud in my eyes, ears and nose as well. Alice and some of the others did a great job today finishing the fence wire and Louise helped Paul and Kumara collect sediment samples. At the end of the day we all got to go to the lab and check out a polychete (like a worm but with legs and hair-like things out the side of it, for eyes (for lack of the correct terminology) and some pollyps. If that doesn't paint a very vivid picture...it kind of looks like a centipede but it lives in marine and estuarial environments.
We had an earlier day today because we had such a long day yesterday and because we need to rest up for our friendly cricket match against the local primary school tomorrow. It should be an intense match, given that we have an Aussie on our side and they just beat the Sri Lankans in the West Indies for the World Cricket Championship! Hopefully she can teach us all how to play in time for the match :) ! Later this evening we'll be going back to the Rekawa area to observe sea turtles laying eggs.
Hope all's well with everyone there...or wherever you are.
Mom - just wanted to wish you a happy Mother's Day. Hope the flowers arrived okay.
Mike, if you're getting this...happy belated birthday!
Cheers
Chris
P.S. I've added some pics to some of the previous blogs.
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