Yala Park Safari

 

Feb. 26

            Today was our big safari day in Yala Park so we had to get up at 4:30 to start our full-day tour.  Almost everyone takes the trip on a pickup truck outfitted with an open and covered seating structure sitting in the truck bed.  Our driver/guide drove like a maniac out of town, passing many other trucks and only stopping from a roadside restaurant to pick up our food for the day.  The place had a huge row of bags set to go so we figured that most of the safari tourists would be eating the same food today.  A great business model for the ones selling the food.

            We arrived at the gate behind only one other truck.  Then we had a good long wait while the park staff decided when to open the gate.  It seemed to be a regular ritual as the drivers all got out and socialized while the line of waiting trucks got so long that we couldn’t see its end.  Fortunately, the two women who were sharing our tour turned out to be excellent, well-travelled safari-mates and the time passed reasonably quickly.  At one point, some trucks moved to the front and were let in ahead of the others.  Our driver explained that there were park vehicles and they did the first run along the roads to get the animals off of them before the army of crazed safari trucks took over the park.

            Once we got past the gate, it was a mad race along terrible roads to spot animals.  We whizzed by a three-legged crocodile in pursuit of bigger things.  We were soon rewarded as two leopards were hanging out in the road,  We managed to be at the front of the pack, watching the big cats as they slurped from a puddle and wandered into the woods along a path right next to another truck.

            We then dashed from place to place, eventually heading to a rocky area that we were told was safe to eat our breakfast at.  It was wonder bread with spicy scrambled egg again, with some good fruit.  We set out again, with our guide’s eagle eye spotting eagles in trees, camouflaged lizards and a variety of birds.  He was constantly on his phone, exchanging information with other drivers about where the animals were.  We saw two elephants far from the road in a lake and then waited off to the side until they came our way and crossed the road in front of us.  We also parked and walked from the trucks in a monkey area where they raided our vehicles in search of snacks and chased each other around while we relaxed by a river.  Our guide took the women we were travelling with on a stroll through the shallow water and apparently an offer of the evening’s entertainment was extended.  We missed out on this while Meg tried to nap on the ground while a brave monkey tried to pick her pockets.

            On the road again, we saw another leopard and a few more animals before heading to the lunch spot.  Another driver got mad at ours as we were a few minutes late in getting there.  Apparently all trucks need to either leave the park at noon (thus completing half-day tours) or stay off the roads for an hour to let the animals do their thing in peace.  There had to be more than a hundred trucks there next to a huge concrete structure beside a beach.  There was one coffee booth which had a long lineup and a sign saying they were out of the good coffee so we didn’t bother with them.  The beach was nice and sandy with large waves rolling in and a rocky point visible to our left.  Signs warned us to stay out of the water and not to follow the beach off to the sides as they led back in wild animal country.  The structure itself had a large sheltered area and an open roof that was crumbling.  Our driver whistled for us and had tiffin containers full of delicious curries and rice that we quickly gobbled down to make up for our unsatisfying breakfast.  We were jealous of some of the other tourists who had big beanbags to stretch out and nap on as everyone was tired after the early start.

            Soon after one we got going again.  We spotted a baby elephant and a male peacock being strategically ignored by nearby females as he displayed his tail.  We parked beside a lake and our guide chopped up a variety of fruit for us that went down well on the hot, humid day.   After debating the issue in our truck, it was decided that the water buffalo was "the safari animal to be" as they looked so relaxed wallowing in the cool water while everyone else was running around.

            Eventually it was time to go and we headed back to town at a much more reasonable pace.  It really was an excellent safari experience but everyone in our group was due for a nap.  After waking up, the rain was really pouring down so we decided to dine at the hotel rather than going out.  Some of the street dogs started barking furiously at one point and we were able to watch as they chased a big monitor lizard that had entered the hotel grounds off across the road.

            We were pooped.  After a decent dinner we headed to bed early.  The women at our hotel felt the same way so the guide didn’t get a date from them that evening.  So much for safari romance.