Uda Walawe National Park

The time is 4.45am on Saturday the 6th. I've just been woken up from the predictable call from a friend cos he's on his way to come get me. I crawl out of bed, even though i haven't been able to sleep because of the overwhelming excitement that had been brewing for the last 2 weeks. Wobble now in darkness to the bathroom, brush my teeth and recheck my previous nights packing. Last minute checklist and I'm out the door to await my ride.

Bringing along my dads handy cam was a good idea, providing me a facility to create a mini documentary of the entire trip. One hour later we are at the pickup point and await the rest of the troop, whilst we banter on what each other has been up to and trying to shake off the lack of sleep with our contagious laughter. Moments later we are aboard the bus and are heading out of Colombo, for our 4 hour drive, en route to Uda Walawe.

Sleep deprivation is replaced by excitement of whats to come in the next 2 days. With food and drinks passed around, and plenty of unhindered laughter, the journey would never feel as long. Stopping over at a well known temple, for some of the guys to pay homage, we took the chance to stretch our cramped legs. The walk up to the top of the rock temple, prized us with a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains and morning sunshine. With wild monkeys prancing around overhead, we headed back down to set off once again.

Hunger sets in and we anxiously await a resting spot around each bend, when we finally end up stopping beside a kadei aptly named 'Udhaya Buffet'. We do a quick order and sit down to delve into a rice and curry that tasted so good, it left us feeling full and content and put smiles on our faces. Once again we board and to our surprise, our destination is barely a 100 yards away. Piling out with glee, we check in to our allocated AC rooms, which quite frankly aren't half bad. A glorious lake side view enchants the room, while comfortable beds beckon a long sleep. A quick inspection of that facilities reveals that the bathroom door could not be locked, which hastened us to create a simple mechanism to identify if the toilet was occupied, a polythene bag hung from the door knob.

After a quick wash and rest we were back on our feet to explore the surroundings. Some chose the quiet swimming pool and some chose to doze off a little longer. My handy cam came in uh 'handy', as i captured a noisy game of water polo and a much quieter game of billiards. Retiring to one of the rooms, we began our now traditional game of mafia. A few rounds of narrating the gameplay, i ended up being 'killed' off when it came my turn to play. Another quick refreshing wash, and a few shots of Smirnoff blue, the evening started...

Carom, cards and flying darts took precedence in the activity list, and the almost serious game of darts between my blue partner and me, gave the rest another chance to laugh. Even in that state of mind, i must mention that i won the game, even though many darts fell helplessly to the floor, mid air. Shifting to carom, we almost managed to beat the winners of a previous game, but we sadly lost in much style as possible.

Then the party really started...

First the music (which i had so thoughtfully brought along) hooked up to the tv, gave me and my room mates the chance to let loose, by dancing like wannabe hip hop stars. Another call from the troupe to come eat dinner before it got cold, signaled us to put the room party on pause for now and head upstairs for some grub, which was another loud session of giggles and 'high' banter, mostly from my friend and myself i confess. But, thats what we were there to do, make people laugh and let every single worry slip away, and we did that quite well.

Dinner ends and more Smirnoff and beer later, the music shifts to another room, where there was, um.. more 'dancing' on display, much to the amusement and laughter of the onlooking group.

Exhaustion eventually sets in and we take a break, and start a game of acting. Again the alcohol inhibited our reservations to take on any role hashed out to act, which i must say we did with much conviction and enjoyment. Everyone took part and it ended up being one massive orgy of laughter and hilarity. One thing i must mention now is that in Uda Walawe, time literally stands still, for the entire evenings proceedings had not made much indentation on the clock. Eventually it's time to sleep it all off, and we retire with the promise to wake up cold and groggy, but early, the next day.

6.00am ticks along and knocks on our door. We crawl and we scramble to get dressed for our wild adventure. The previous nights activities has caused a sense of urgency to eat food now, so we serve strings and curry with a second helping of omelette and sausages with toast. A quick visit to the toilet, not forgetting to hang up the identifying bag, we set out to the Uda Walawe National Park.

We hire our 2 safari jeeps and begin the 3 hour ride through the wild scenery that stretches out as far as the eye can behold. Awe sets in at the vast land area that makes up the park, with mountains and clouds sitting quietly in the distance. Groups of elephants and swimming wild buffalo dot the landscape, while a few scared peacocks rush for the bushes as we rumble along. Many bumps and timeless snaps later, from about 20 cameras or so, we experience our only scare. A surprised sole elephant round a bend stops us in our tracks, and causes us to huddle quietly, low in the open jeep. He throws up sand and takes a menacing step towards us. Not a whisper can be heard as we silently snap away and record its every move, both in our cameras and our memories. The second jeep behind us, oblivious to the unfolding scene ahead, rumbles around the bend, causing the staring stranger to be distracted from us, and slowly turn and slink away into the brush. A few seconds go by before any words are spoken and we turn to each other with relief and excitement.

Not much else grabs our attention beyond that episode, as we make our way back via a different route, except for a heard of elephants munching away at grass and plants, while trying to cross the dusty man-made track. I was disappointed to not see any other wild creatures, although i managed to take a shot of leopard prints etched in the roadside. Half an hour later we stop off at a hotel to grab some pre-ordered lunch packets and then head back to our hotel to eat and clean up. A few manage to sleep for an hour, but I just lay there enjoying the happy feeling of being away from it all and a bit sad that it was coming to an end.

Another knock on the door and we were off, bidding goodbye to the hotel that allowed us the freedom to be ourselves and the chance for all of us to enjoy some much needed relaxation.

The ride back was watched over by the rain gods, toying with our speedy little bus, sending shivers through our bodies. With a quick stop for mangoes and another for dinner, of hoppers egg roti and drinks, we once again enter Colombo, and our drop off point. With heavy hearts we say 'see you soon' and head off once again in different directions home.



It truly was a wonderful experience and i thoroughly enjoyed every moment, because i'd been waiting for 4 months to let loose, and i did. With great friends around, many of whom share and enjoy my madness, i find myself blessed to have such chances in life, and i can't wait for the next time.