Safari in Udawalawe

Udawalawe is a national park in southern Sri Lanka.

By 1972, a huge reservoir had been built in Sri Lanka near the town of Udawalawe. The construction work caused stress to poor animals, and the reservoir itself changed the landscape of the area.

Therefore, it was decided to relocate the animals to a proper place. The person in charge of animal relocation was called, and an ark was built. Each pair of animals was taken to a national park created specifically for them.

Seriously, I can’t imagine how the animals were moved. Apparently, they were being driven slowly, jumping out of the bushes every day with shouts of “gettahellouthere!”.

In general, now you can go on a safari in Udawalawe. It’s like in Africa, only with smaller animals. The trip takes place in special safari vehicles.

The first animal that comes across is a peacock.

There are a lot of peacocks in the park. They walk around in bushes and fly onto low branches of trees like crows. Seeing a peacock is not considered an achievement at all, they are very common birds.

A buffalo is more interesting to see than a peacock, but seeing just one is not very exciting.

It’s more interesting to see a herd of buffaloes than a single one.

Then they go to the watering hole and hide from the heat in a local lake.

You can also see a former buffalo on the shore. And it was not birds that ate it.

Crocodiles are the ones who eat buffaloes.

Crocodiles are very difficult to spot. Without a guide’s help, it’s almost impossible to find one on your own. They swim in the water, with only their head visible above the surface, or they lie on the shore pretending to be a log. You could easily walk by and bump into a crocodile without noticing it.

The only ones who can spot a crocodile are birds. Even a brainless stork can easily tell an alligator apart from a log.

Not to mention eagles, who can see crocodiles from far away.

And herons constantly monitor the lake, so the crocodile can’t even hide in the water.

As for elephants...

Well, elephants don’t give a shit if you’re a crocodile or not.

If an elephant stands in the middle of the road, not even a jeep can pass, let alone a crocodile.

They can even stand together in the middle of the road if necessary.

Elephants move in family groups and rarely wander alone.

They surround their young from all sides to protect them from any potential threats.

Elephants that wander alone are usually psychopathic and aggressive. They sometimes charge at jeeps, so it’s necessary to accelerate and hit the elephant first. Then it will retreat.

But if the elephant is peaceful, it can walk alongside the car and even climb into the cabin with its trunk to ask for a banana.

Being an elephant sounds nice. You can walk around, trample bushes, trees, and crocodiles. You can splash mud on yourself with your trunk. And no animal can harm you because you’re at the top of the food chain. You don’t give a shit.