Udawelawe National Park and Peacock Villa Resort

Lumps on the Beach

I did not blog yesterday. Basically, after breakfast yesterday, we rented loungers on the beach in Hirikiteya and stayed there till sunset watching the waves, surfers and beach dogs.

A Sri Lankan Breakfast

Next morning we head to breakfast at the restaurant across from our accommodation. We have a Sri Lankan breakfast of hoppers (a thin bowl shaped pancake with a crispy and lacey edge made from a fermented rice flour, coconut milk and yeast). It is a Sri Lankan favourite. It comes with daal, an omelet and coconut sambol which I add into the bowl. It is quite good.

Travelling to Peacock Villa Resort

After breakfast, we head back to our guesthouse and I finish packing. Our driver picks us up and takes us to Udawalawe which is a national park where we will be doing a safari.

John is very excited because our accommodation tonight at the Peacock Villa Resort only cost $7. To put this into context, our other Sri Lanka accommodations range between $90-$150 CAD, except for our splurge stay tomorrow which is $250. Needless to say, I am feeling rather dubious about John’s choice.  However, it has 9.8 out of 10 stars with hundreds of reviews on Booking.com and guests gushing about the experience so I will withhold judgement.

Our driver is kind enough to stop at a grocery store so that I can pick up some authentic Sri Lankan curry (which is different than Indian curry) to bring home . I am dying to recreate some of the dishes from our cooking class.

We sometimes pass cows wandering around on their own. As in India, many people deem cows to be sacred in Sri Lanka.

As we travel away from the coast into the interior, the traffic gets lighter and roads wider.

I know we are getting close to Udawelawe when we see an elephant standing beside the road. The driver stops. We look at the elephant; the elephant looks at us. I get the impression that she’s checking us out as much as we are checking her.

Literally two minutes later we arrive at our $7 a night homestay. I am very pleased. In a homestay you stay with a family. They have extra rooms or cabins for guests.

Our room is on the 2nd floor. The room is small, basic and cute with a balcony overlooking jungle. It is very clean. We even have our own bathroom! The property even has a nice swimming pool (only two months old). How can this only be $7?

I hear a woman yelling and banging something. The hosts daughter tells us that there are a lot of monkeys around that can be troublesome. 

We head to a large shared balcony at the front where they serve us a light lunch (that costs extra) of a hopper, roti, veggie roll and fruit. I can’t eat it all but it is good.

Elephant Safari

Our host is our safari driver. We head into the national park at 2pm. We see an elephant as soon as we enter the park. We stop into the park office and another gentleman joins us. We assume he is the guide since once we get going, he points out numerous animals.

Udawalawe National Park is 308 sq. km.  and is inhabited by over 250 elephants. These elephants show no fear of humans or their jeeps.

On our four hour tour we see tons of peacocks (and one peahen), crocodiles, spotted deer, water buffalos, mongoose and more. There are tons of birds including kingfishers, Blue Tailed and Green Tailed Bee Eaters, Eurasian Hoopoe, Grey Headed Fish Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Painted Stork, Spoon Bills and so many others.

Elephants stand nearby as egrets feast on their poop. To each their own.

The most endearing sighting was that of a three day old baby elephant which was still finding his legs. Click here for a short video.

We also watch a peacock do his mating dance with feathers outstretched as he twirls around looking for girlfriends. Click here for a short video.

The bright iridescent feathers of bee eater birds glow in the waiting sun. Three elephants stop us on the road as they walk directly towards us and pass within touching distance anf then head into the forest. Click here for a short video.

The perfect end for today’s safari.

Dinner at Peacock Villa Resort

There are three parties at dinner at the homestay: us, two Canadian girlfriends and a German couple who have rented a tuk tuk and are driving around Sri Lanka in it (not sure if that is brave or crazy).

Dinner is a feast. John comments that the family may be up all night doing dishes since there are twelve dishes of different food for John and I alone.

This place is totally lovely.