We left at 8am bound for Wilpattu and the Leopard Trails Camp.
Around 8:40am we were pulled over for speeding again, doing just under 70 in a 60 zone. No fine , just a contribution to the police breakfast and lunch. All the Buddhist and Hindu roadside shrines we had become accustomed to we very quickly replaced by Christian icons. But then with a Christian population in this area accounting for 60% of the total, it was probably understandable.
One thing we have noticed on our travels around Sri Lanka, is that the locals embrace their religion with a real passion, their religion forms a very large part of their lives.
Things you probably didn’t think you wanted to know.
• The word serendipity comes from an ancient Arad word for Sri Lanka. –>. Serendip
• Did you know the word Flamboyant has its roots with the flamingo
• 70% of Sri Lankans use firewood
• There are Elephant warning roadside signs.
On the way to our next stop, the Madhu Shrine we notice fresh Elephant poo on roads.
We arrived at The Madhu Shrine at about 9:10am. The shrine is the home of a Statue of the Virgin Mary that was originally located in Lady of Lourdes Church. The shrine has a history of over 400 years, and is a site of pilgrimage and worship for Sri Lankan Catholics. In August there is a very large festival celebrating The Mother of Mothers. –> Mary, at the Shrine.
Following the local tradition we lit seven candles each at a dedicated candle shrine and “prayed” for our loved ones. Then it was time to have a look in the church. Yet again, shoes and hat off to enter the church. There were lots of people praying and up the centre aisle of the church was a “lane” set aside for people who wanted to approach the alter on their knees or whatever they could, a display of devotion. We have seen this practice a catholic religious sites of significance before. I got a chuckle from a sign outside the church stating the etiquette that should be followed in the grounds, point 4 got me, “Activities such as singing and dancing, playing musical instruments and even listening to the radio or playing cards must be avoided”
We left at about 9:40, had a quick stop for a photo under the arch at the turnoff to the shrine/church, and we were on our way to Wilpattu. Along the way we saw a mongoose cross the road and a Woolly necked stork. We saw a market for the locally grown rice. Bags were lined up in front of a stage, waiting for buyers. The farmers get a very low price per kg
The purpose of going here is to visit Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka’s biggest National Park at around 1700 sq km. We were told that elephants come out of park for the rice crops and leopards come out for dogs, goats and cattle. For a change we saw corn drying on the road and there were Papaya plantations.
We got to the Leopard Trails at about 12:20pm and settled into our tent, a bit of not quite glamping. We had lunch at 1pm and then headed into the NP for our safari at 2:30pm. We were in the park at 2:50. It has been a National Park since 1934, before that it was a hunting park for trophy animals!
It had been raining here off and on all day and the park roads were very slippery. The rain also meant that our chances of seeing elephants, leopards and bears was reduced. Undetered we headed in, we saw all sorts of animals and birds, including the Giant Squirrel – Sri Lanka’s national animal, Green bee eater, Muntjacs. Barking Deer, Crested Serpent Eagle,
Spotted deer, Sri Lankan Jungle Fowl – Sri Lanka’s national bird, Buffalo, dart, crocodiles, Pied Kingfishers, a mongoose, spotted deer, Indian Frog Heron, Peacock and hens,a Land Monitor lizard, Woolly necked storks, a heron trying eat a frog that didn’t want to be eaten, and then the highlight of the afternoon, a Sloth Bear. And after that we saw a Crested Hawk Eagle having a feed of Jungle Fowl, and finally some Hornbills.
We got back to camp at about 6:25pm, cleaned up, had dinner and retired for the night, a great day!
#retiredlyf done our way.
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