YOLO National Park

Up at 4:30 to catch our safari tour by four by four to Yolo National Park. It seemed odd to put on sun screen when it was still dark outside. Coming home at noon was a huge relief. ( thanks goodness I only booked the half day tour). Our tour was hour after hour of jarring jostling, jumping and jiggling, all to a cacophony of banging, bumping and scrapping. No wonder the leopards remained allusive. 

We did see a jackal, lots of elephants, water buffalo, wild pigs, deer, lizards, crocodiles and monkeys. And many wonderful birds; jungle fowl, peacocks, herons, Ibis, eagles and my newest favourite the tiny green bee eater.

February 9, 2019

Yesterday we took a mini taxi several hours up the coast of Sri Lanka and today we woke up to a breakfast of tea, samosas, fruit, eggs, and rice rolls filled with fresh coconut and sugar. Afterwards since my camera is definitely dead, we took a tuk yuk to a camera shop in a nearby town. Eight hours from now, before tomorrow’s safari, when the new battery in the new camera is fully charged, I should be able to take photos again!

In the mean time, we took a fabulous boat tour of the man made lake of Tissamharama. No swimming here because of crocodiles, although we did see fishermen standing in the water and clean washes strewn on lakeside brush to dry. The boat ride was quiet and peaceful as we drifted along the marshy lake edges, filled with mauve water hyacinths and giant lily pads.

The plethora of birds was glorious!

Flocks of ducks that rose and land landed together in orange clouds.

Glowing small brilliant turquoise king fishers.

Herons of all sizes and colours.

Along with familiar cormorants and swallows,

The “rain” trees were filled with black- headed Ibis.

Smaller all-white ibis wandered everywhere

Including sitting a top the water buffalo.

Bitterns were all sizes and colours.

The teeny tiny bee eaters were hard to spot

But our young guide was patient with us.

The giant eagle wearing what looked to be very fluffy white leggings

And the enormous pelican were impossible to miss.

Feb 8 2019

This morning we had a lovely swim in the ocean and a walk on the beach. Then I 

sat in the shade and did this little painting of coconuts and all was right with the old.  This afternoon, The problems struck. We went for a walk on the beach and because we weren’t going swimming, I wore long trousers and took my camera in my pocket. The tide was running high and the ankles of my trousers got wet and heavy and then I tripped on a cuff and fell over in the water. I was carrying my sandals and they floated off. My camera did a nose dive in the salt water AND worst of all I couldn’t get back up.  Jim rescued my sandals and tried to get me upright but I was a dead weight with nothing solid to push on. Finally a young chap saw my predicament and ran over and picked me up. I was totally humiliated and mad at my own stupidity and the ruination of my camera, but we were both also grateful for the help of a stranger. So then we decided to drink beer until I felt happier. The first beach bar we stopped at was so expensive we left without ordering and went back to yesterday’s cheap place. Somehow, it wasn’t until we finished two huge Lion beers each that I noticed that my sandals were no where to be found. By then we had no idea which of the hundreds of tables we had initially stopped at. Jim went back to our room and got my sneakers and we again pursued all the beach bars looking for the one that I had left my sandals at. Suddenly eureka! Perhaps because enough of the beer had worn off or my emotional state was not so precarious, we located the missing shoes!

Day Three

Day Three

This morning, we checked in at the cricket game again. It is a very boring game when distances are vast, nothing much seems to happen and one has no idea of the rules. We were treated to tea however and it was sweet and delicious. I really enjoyed watching a chap unwrap his lunch packet. It came wrapped in a waxed paper and was noodles with an egg on top and a plastic bag of red curry. The curry was squeezed out on top of the noodles and it was eaten with the fingers, no cutlery or plate. Some how, Jim volunteered for me to draw this chap, who turned out to be the secretary of the cricket club and of course I obliged ever at the ready.

Then Jim and I  walked down to the ocean.  We couldn’t get anywhere close to the water for the many tanks and hundred’s of soldiers.  Overhead, we saw little dots of colour high in the sky which turned into parachutes once they got low enough to be able to see the person below the sail. In one photo you can see four of them landing in formation. We also saw motorcades with horses and police driving the prime minister, the ex prime minister and several other big wigs or spouses. This is all in preparation for tomorrow’s Independence Day.

Day two Shri Lanka

February 2, 2019

Day two of our Sri Lanka adventure started out much better than day one. We wandered around Colombo stopping to enjoy a bit of a cricket match AND at lunch time we were at high end “mall”. As I mentioned yesterday, a few years ago in India,we managed to go seven weeks without going to a clean, predictable, spice free MCDonalds with okay bathrooms. Day two in Sri Lanka,  we again went to a McDonalds and sat in the windy shade high above a small lake surrounded by a few wonderfully interesting skyscrapers. While we were admiring the Sri Lankan flag and holding onto our food and napkins for dear life, we saw a practice for the Independence day Fly Pass. Depending on which sign you read, Sri Lanka is celebrating seven years or seventy years of Independence on Monday. While we were enjoying our lunch, I read the guide book. Finally I have time to read the guide book. I suggested we take a tuk tuk to the old Forte area and wander around and see the ocean. For three hundred rupees we got a tuk tuk there and on the way, we enjoyed the military vehicles parading to the rendevue for Monday’s parade.

After a very short wander around the Dutch Hospital from the 1600, we were approached by a man saying  he was from Kuawla Lampur and worked in their embassy.  We bought his story hook line and sinker, and were soon in the back of another tuk tuk ( supposedly metered) on our way to see a Buddhist temple that had a free ceremony only on one afternoon a year and this was it. Of course after paying to tour a Buddhist temple and then being marketed gems which were on sale only that one day of the year, we wised up. After paying the tuk tuk driver 2000 rupees ( we thanked him and even shook his hand,) we departed without jewels or more commission stops or tuk tuk.

Eventually we figured out the map with the help of a trustworthy Sri Lankan and hiked home. After cold beer and a game of quirkle on our porch, we felt slightly less jaded. One of the photos is of a jade buddha , one of the many Buddhas  we saw this afternoon.

Day One in Sri Lanka

February 1, 2019

It was supposed to be an hour and a half walk to

The Sri Lanka Immigration Office.

It took us two and a half hours.

Rough sidewalks, traffic dodging, full sun,

No time to admire the cranes or cormorants.

I felt like fainting or throwing up

But I didn’t,.

It was my idea to walk.

Just when I think that I can’t go another step

I see a McDonalds across the street.

It took me seven weeks in India

Before I insisted that we go to McDonalds.

This is day one in Sri Lanka.

Finally we arrive at Immigration to extend our Visas.

The fourth floor is a white colossal space,

Fluorescent lighting,

Three and four person benches

In shiny silver.

Low white dividers shuffle people 

Through the ticket taking,

The photo taking,

Area B, area C,

The Shroff Counter, for receiving payment.

Hours pass.

I am recovered now from the hike here.

The rooms are filed with

Warm skinned, black haired applicants,

And the occasional light skinned German or English person.

I enjoy watching couples interact,

Babies,

The head shaved  Buddhist monks

With their bare shoulders and flowing orange robes. 

The back of a tall woman

With a blond ponytail

Who is wearing a long purple skirt

And carrying a purse and a huge backpack.

When she turns around,

She is a he.

An old gray haired worker,

In a too tight blue tee shirt,

And long black skirt,

Sweeps and scowls.

I catch her eye and manage to elicit a small smile.

Jim paces, his agitation radiating.

I scribble and sketch and try to find Buddha within.

After four and a half hours

We leave with our visa extensions!

We catch a tuk tuk

Back to the YWCA.

We giddily careen in traffic

Between busses, cars,  motorcycles,

And other tuk tuks.

We stop and pick up cold  beer,

Cashews, bread and cheese.

This is day one!

January 19, 2919

I am working away on a new whimsical painting of the Truro Library at night. It will be in my exhibition that opens at our new library on May 2 at 6:30.