Tuesday 26 July, 2005

Leopards anyone?

This evening Virginia and I went on our first safari in Yala West. We didn't see leopards or bears or sloths, though are going to have two more shots at it tomorrow. We did see Peacocks - dozens of them, storks, egrets, Green Bee Eaters, Wild Boar (and their babies), Indian darters, buffaloes, lots of spotted deer (bambis) including stags with impressive horns, several mongoose, one cobra, some elephants, inclduing a tiny baby and a very pregnant female. Saw lots of crocodiles, including one over two metres long with a dragon like tail and fearsome teeth, and a hot one, which was opening its mouth, apparently to cool itself down, though it was scary to watch. There are several new spots on the safari: Tsunami spots, where we are told how many people died and see how wide the devastation is. There is a hotel, once called the Yala Safari, which was the luxury hotel around here, that was absolutely decimated. It is impossible to imagine what the force of the wave must have been to do that to such solid buildings. The few workers on the site are in tents, and there is a table out in the open with a sign saying 'reception' dangling off a tree in front of it. The wave was ten meters high our guide told us, pointing to some point above a tree, and went inland for 1.5 kilometers.

But despite being sad, it is beautiful here, none-the-less, and this evening, from the pool, Virginia and saw Mars come out and glow red in the sky.

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