The village of Udawalawe is completely designed for safari tourism. The townscape is mainly characterized by large hotels and advertising boards for various safari options. Of course, we also made a safari here. This region was declared Udawalawe National Park in 1972 to protect the biodiversity of the animals.
Due to the current very dry climate, we were recommended to start a safari in the afternoon, because the animals are more likely to appear when the sun is not as intense or it generally cools down a bit. Said - done - at 14:30 we were picked up by a safari jeep directly from the hotel. After a short drive to the entrance area of the national park, the adventure already started.
Although we don't speak the local language, we understood quite well if there is an interesting place to observe animals or not. Our driver talked to oncoming drivers and their body language alone was enough to make us understand whether they were at a loss as to where to go to see interesting animals or whether they were giving each other specific tips. At the latest by the driving style of our driver one noticed what was the matter - if he followed a track, he drove there as fast as possible and it lifted us a little bit out of the seats as fast as he went over the potholes. If he just didn't have a plan for where to continue his luck in search of wildlife, he drove around very slowly searching.
First we saw a big eagle, which made itself comfortable on a branch. Since the branch was approx. on car height, we had the possibility to marvel at the eagle from the proximity. Then followed peacocks and various species of birds, which we did not know, but still very curious marveled.
Then we came to a waterhole and started to swarm. There were 2 elephants, which then also came directly to the water to treat themselves to a shower with the help of their trunks. In addition, we could also see several crocodiles there, partly outside the water while sunbathing and partly directly in the water. A very beautiful scene, we lingered there for a long time to watch the action.
Afterwards we drove again a few rounds with the car. Suddenly we have seen then directly at the edge of the road a 3-headed elephant family the branches of a tree broke off, in order to eat these with relish. The 3 elephants were very close to us, they should not have felt disturbed by us and have remained calm and have continued to eat unimpressed. It was very impressive to be able to observe elephants from only a few meters away.
On the way towards the exit we were lucky again - we got to see 2 foxes. First, they ran away from the car. After that, we were able to admire them from close up when one of the foxes drank water. Our driver said that we are very lucky, because you do not get to see foxes every day.
On the way back to the hotel it was sunset time. The main road passed by a very large waterhole - watching the sunset there was an incredibly unique image - the discoloration of the sky in the background and in front of it this large waterhole - a perfect end to our safari experience.
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