Thursday
Trip Start
Dec 08, 2007
1
7
10
Trip End
Dec 16, 2007
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Thursday, December 13, 2007
We finished breakfast and checked out. The bus was already waiting for us at the hotel, so we got on straight away. The ride to Udawalawe National Park wasn't too far away. We soon arrived and piled into the back of the truck that would take us on the safari. The truck was like a ute, with the back open, only the back was fitted with seats and bars so you could stand or sit.
AS soon as we pulled in, we spotted elephants. Some were in groups, others alone. Apparently, it's the loners that you have to look out for, as they're more likely to charge. The elephants came right up close to the car, some, who were in herds, would hide the baby behind their backs to protect it. Maybe they thought that we would take their baby from them.
We saw the elephants everywhere; in their watering hole, in the grass, on the road. It was a fantastic experience. One of the elephants even 'mock charged'. It was amazing that the driver could tell between a mock charge and a real charge at the car.
We saw other wildlife too, like peacocks, hawks, eagles and monkeys. The monkeys were funny; they would jump from the highest branch on the tree into a pool of leaves.
On the way back, I stood at the very start of the car, on a tyre. That was a lot of fun, mum likened it to a dog who stuck its head out of the window.
All too soon, the safari finished. We said good-bye to Harleen, who from there was going to do her own thing. We piled back on the bus to make the long journey back.
Mihiri and Om slept for awhile, and so did mum. In fact, most of us slept at one point or another.
We stopped for lunch at a lovely little café en route on the way home. We had Sri Lankan chicken rolls, spring rolls and vegetable pastries. It was nice, and we watched a bit of the cricket on the tiny, fuzzy tv.
When we hit the road again, Mihiri organised a game. We had to take turns in naming a country with each letter of the alphabet. When that game fizzled out, we played 'Assassins and Angels' which is a pretty complicated game and took me a few rounds until I knew how to play it properly.
We ended up at Mihiri's relative's place where we dropped off Mr. Silva, Johanne and the wedding gifts.
We arrived at the Hilton pretty late, and gave each other time to freshen up before dinner. Dinner was a full-on Sri Lankan meal, which didn't hold off on the spices. It was great food and even better company. The night ended too soon, but we were all tired. We walked back into the lobby where we discovered that the lolly shop really was made of gingerbread (Om confirmed this when he broke a piece of brick off and ate it).
We had to part ways, as we have a really early flight and the good-byes were sad. We all hugged and promised to add each other on facebook. I've had the best time ever here, and I don't want to leave. We've made some great friends and seen some great sights. Tomorrow we'll fly to Singapore, so we'll let you know how that goes!
Comments
lyn34
Hi Amy,
What a fabulous last day you,ve had
Thank you for the diary of it
Love to you both, Nana & Pa