We went to Katharagama for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holidays and on April 15, very early in the morning we set off to Yala. We arranged food and beverages for the ride. We went in safari jeeps. There were also many rules and guidelines such as ‘no feeding the animals’, ‘no throwing trash’, ‘no swimming in water bodies, etc.
During our journey we saw many animals. We saw both big and small crocodiles in small lakes, floating like logs. The deer population is very high – we saw a lot of them. Another animal we saw was the Indian Bee-eater which is a beautiful bird with green colour shaded feathers. From a far away distance we spotted a majestic eagle on an isolated tree.
On the way ahead we saw an elephant and her baby resting and eating. While we proceeded on our journey, we met a small civet rolling on the ground. We also saw many wild boars. Amazingly we had the opportunity to spot the fantastic Mr. Fox! Almost everywhere we saw peacocks and peahens.
Just like all the animals, we saw a great variety of plants. These plants help the animals by shading them, sheltering them and by providing food. The trees in the dry atmosphere have less leaves but they are rich in thorns and have fleshy stems.
At the beginning of our journey it was very sunny but suddenly it started to drizzle and the drizzle turned into rain. There were many different water bases in Yala. Small streams, creeks, lakes, ponds and rivers were some of them. Most interestingly Yala beach was absolutely clean. We all enjoyed the safari ride!
Senuri Gunawardana (10 years)
Methodist College, Colombo
