Pretty Kitty

This is a long overdue post. But what can I say, I have been busy with assignments and exams. Before I left for uni however, I was fortunate enough to make a trip down to the Yala National Park. It was a spontaneous trip. We had just hopped off a boat (which we had used to spy on Blue Whales), when we all decided, “hey, lets go see some leopards!”. So on we drove to the open wilderness to see some big spotted kitties. It was rather late by the time we got to the park. We had about 2 hours to venture within its depths before we were evicted. But on we all trudged with high spirits and praying to God that He would drop down a leopard from the Heavens above, just so that we would not kick ourselves for being just a tad over enthusiastic.

As we entered the park we were greeted by a rather jolly Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) that skipped and hopped among the branches of a tree-that-I-can’t-identify and seemed to be eating something-which-I-couldn’t-identify-either. He danced about the tree for quite awhile until, everyone in the jeep got highly fidgety and we decided to bid farewell to the bird.

We then drove around and around (quite fast I should add) as our driver was getting calls from his son as to where all the animals were that fine evening. This may confuse you, the reader, a bit but let me clarify. Our driver and his son work as a tight team when they drive people around the park. They feed each other valuable information, which I think is rather dandy! Our tracker on the other hand was sound asleep and would not have awoken even if a leopard sat on his lap and chewed happily on his big  toe!

Bump bump bump we went on the gravel roads, passing a few elephants and a couple of Sambhur (Cervus unicolor unicolor) who were enjoying an evening siesta. We then passed by a Brahaminy Kite (Haliastur indus indus) and an Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) who were having a very intense staring competition, but we didn’t linger long enough to see who won.

We also saw three Sri Lankan Sloth Bears (Melursus ursinus inornatus). A mother with her two cubs. I took some pictures of them but due to low light they look more like three large blurry blobs.

It was about 10 minutes of aimless driving when our driver (I can’t remember his name) got a frantic call from his son. There was a leopard. A big male who decided to follow the Sambhur’s example and was dozing in a clearing just three minutes away from our current location. As if we had an army of Bullet Ants chasing us, our jeep practically flew to where the leopard was. And what a site we saw! He was apparently the largest leopard in the park, and was absolutely stunning! All he did for 15 minutes was pose for everyone. He rolled on his back, and played with his tail. The walked a bit, sat and walked some more.

It was like he knew that we made that trip just for him… Or maybe he just felt a little sorry for the funny looking primates who oooed and ahhhed at his magnificence, and wanted us to feel a little special. After a while we heard another leopard call, possibly a female. That was the males curtain call. He stood up, and walked away leaving a stream of gob struck onlookers in his wake.

So now that I am back home for a precious holiday, I will make my way yet again to Yala. This time for a longer visit. Hopefully it will be as fruitful as the previous visit and I will get to see more than one leopard! I also want to take some better pictures of Sloth Bears. Will write about that adventure later.

-Tigs

Cheese and Dolphins

Last week I went Whale Watching with some people from office. Now one of the cool things about this was that we stayed at the Lighthouse Hotel in Galle, and boy is that a fancy hotel! Now I remember the first time that I went to that hotel. It was used as a bathroom pit-stop on long trips by my family when my brother and I were little. And since we were not allowed to use the loo’s for free, we had to buy something to nom on too. Anyways the last time I was at that hotel, I climbed up on the rocks which line the beach in search of mudskippers (Periophthalmus barbarus or Periopthalmus koelreuteri). Once I got up there and spent a few minutes observing this goggle eyed Gobie I realised that I was stuck. Getting up to the top of the rocks was so much easier than getting back down! After some careful consideration about my location I decided that life was too short to sit and worry about getting off rocks, and just slid down hoping and praying that I would not end up getting poked by the nasty looking rocks. I did however reach the soft sand, and though I was thoroughly soaked I skipped through the hotel leaving a trail of sea water behind me. Ah.. Those were the days…..

Now when we got to our room, my friend (lets call her X) and I went absolutely berserk! I mean the room was HUGE! We roamed around and then found the bathroom. I kid you not it was as big as my room at home. I could have lived in there. Now it was about 11 pm in the night and we had had no dinner, so we reluctantly left the room and dined with our other colleague (lets call him Q) and our boss (lets call him B). Dinner wasn’t all that great actually. Maybe I was just tired. The only thing that did intrigued me were the baby potatoes that were randomly scattered around my plate. They looked like little pellets of goat dung… But tastier.

By the time I went to sleep it was close to 2 am, and five minutes later I was rudely awaken by my alarm. With a stream of curses directed at my phone I checked time and realised that it was (most unfortunately) 5.30 am. With the movements of sleep walking walrus’s X and I grudgingly changed and bid farewell to the land of dreams and headed outside.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Mirissa Harbour. We were to go out to sea in a boat hired from Mirissa Water Sports. When I saw the boat I was like a kid in a candy store. I jumped on board and made my self comfortable at the Bow and waited for everyone else to settle in. By everyone I mean 12 other individuals! Finally after about 15 minutes we were off. On and on we went out into open water. I couldn’t wait to see Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus). Imagine, the largest mammal on earth! About 30 minutes after our departure we were all given a bag in which sat our breakfast. I must say, it wasn’t very appetising. Cheese sandwiches, a funny cake with grotesque coloured preservatives and a banana. After much consideration I downed two little sandwiches (they weren’t very nice).

An hour and 15 minutes later we were about to cross over to the Blue Water from the Green. It looked a lot like the mixing of waters in the Amazon River. Soon we would see Spinner Dolphins. I was in my element. The sun and the sea.. The waves and the wind… And sea sickness! What in the world? I thought the stupid sandwiches were supposed to prevent this terrible feeling in my tummy!

Ok now calm down. I can’t get sea sick. This is crazy. “Can someone make this rocking stop!”

So I sat down in order to make my head stop turning. Now here is something I should mention. Never. I mean never ever ever sit down when you feel sea sick. Because if you do, you will just feel so much worse! So I stood up again, and when I did I saw them. A pod of beautiful blue and steel grey Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris). There were at least 200. What an amazing sight. They jumped out of the water and did the most acrobatic twirls like the Ballerinas of the sea. I grabbed my camera and started shooting. They swam towards the boat and started swimming along with it. Cris crossing underneath. If I could just scoot a little lower I just maybe able to touch one. So down I looked completely mesmerised by the sight, when suddenly I felt the bile rush up my to meet my tongue.

Oh bugger…

In a flash I was running towards the back of the boat where I stuck my head over the side and just hurled my little heart out. There went the cheese in all its white gooey goodness. But then, all of a sudden I felt rejuvenated. I felt brand new! I cursed the cheese that made me puke and went back to my post. Just in time too cos we all spotted a Blue Whales spout. We saw about three actually. Hurry! To the whales! However, we ended up making two more circles around the pod of dolphins and by the time we started towards the whales they had already dived. But did that make us stop. No. We just kept going for another hour.

My happy recovery did not last long. About 10 minutes later I felt sick again and threw up plain old greeny yellow bile (I do feel like explaining what it looked like so bare with me), that tasted so sour and foul and also slightly salty (I drank some salt water after I threw up the first time). So for the rest of the journey I slept. I was unable to do anything else. Every time I opened my eyes everything started spinning. It was horrible. I could not enjoy my self one bit. Due to my sea sickness I came away with crappy pictures as well. So much for Whale Watching!

It wasn’t just me who got sick. X and Q were just as sick as I was and slept the entire trip as well. Thing is they slept in the shade and I slept in the sun, which wasn’t too bad cos it helped a lot when it came to ignoring the rocking motion of the boat.

When we did step on to dry land four and a half hours later the entire boat crew grined and said “Anith sare enakota sea sickness tablet ekak ude ganna harida”. Translation: Next time you come, remember to take a sea sickness tablet. No kidding!

- Tigs

A trip to South Africa

The Joyful Jackass penguin at bay worl

the lovely coupleah young lovefun,sun and sandy beaches

It seems that I went on another trip but it was not in Sri Lanka this time it is SOUTH AFRICA .Im also telling you all about the journey to South Africa so if it is boring you can skip.

I realy liked my trip to south africa because my sister did not come

In the morning we got into the airport express van and went to the air port and after all that check things we went to the lounge and waited for our flight and to keep myself entertained I ran the opposite side of those horizontal escalators. When the plane came I stopped and got into it. About 5 or 9 hours later we came to Dubai. Whilst my father sat and waited my mom was going shopping. I had nothing to do so i followed her. After she finished we went back to my father and bought some doughnuts and checked into a hotel at the air port. Whilst my mother and father slept I solemnly ate my doughnut and went to sleep in my clothes because we didn’t have our PJ’s. Then at 11.00 in the night we woke up and checked out again we went through the  check thingy and there was a lady who knew sinhala she was thrilled to see a Sri lankan, she also had quit a knowledge about the places in Sri lanka, so we said bye to her and went into the plane. After about 6  or 9 hours we came to johanas burg (it was in the evening).since there was something wrong with one of the machines our flight was delayed for a tinsy bit.After it was fixed we got on to South African airlines. This flight was boring because it didnt have those tv thing that are stuck on your seat but any way it was only a 4 to 6 hour flight.  Now we came to Port Elizabeth. It was late in the night about 12.00. After we went through all those machine things we got into a shuttle and went to a small nice hotell called Summer Strand. Unfortunately the weather did not live up to the name of the hotel and instead was the total opposite.It turned out to be freezing cold which was totally opposite of my thoughts too (burning hot). At the counter there was a really nice lady who said by to the almost sleeping me, but when they gave that card to put into the slot in our room in the place of a key hole i became wide awake hoping I could put it into the slot unfortunately I couldnt because we where only just introduced to the room and one of the hotel people had  to do it . Once we got into our room I quickly got into my pj’s and got into the bed I will be sleeping in for about 4 nighs, and tried to sleep, but it was quit hard to because it was kind of fun staying up because my mother and father where up to because my mother was waiting for her bag to come from the airport (my moms bag didnt come out of that machine where you take your bags from). Once it came it was a bout 1.00 in the night and my mother turened the lights off and we sleept.

Next morning I was woken up at about 7.00 in the morning.We went down and had breakfast (hash brown,toast,water melon). After that my dad went for a meeting and my mom and i went for a walk. we came out of the hotel door and noticed how freezing it was out side, so we went back in and i wore 2 vests, 2 short sleeve t shirts, 2 long sleeve t shirts, underwear, 1 pair of longs, 1 jersey and 1 jacket and it was still cold. We went out again and stopped at a big sign that said “Nelson Mandela Bay” or some thing like that i was amazed that i was there, because i had heard of this place and wondered what it looks like, well now i got my awnser !!. It amazing a huge beach with some dandilions and some other plants. We didnt walk on the beach but we walked on that wooden platform thing. “THIS PLACE TOTTALY ROCKS!!!!!!”. After the small walk we went back to the hotel and saw there was a small play ground, so i went and played there for a Little while suddenly a lady in a fancy uniform came running towards us “please i am very sorry but you have to go to your rooms,im am very sorry because the monkeys have come back again to eat the eggs of the weaver birds” and she pointed at the the trees that looked like a cypres tree, and we saw it was covered in weaver bird nests and about 5 to 6 monkeys dangling from a branch very dangerously and in its hands was a broken egg from a weaver bird, the yolk dangling from its foul mouth not that i have smelt a monkeys mouth and notl ike i want to.We quickly ran to our room and looked out side from the window and saw the panting lady chasing the monkeys away, and suddenly a monkey jumps in front of me (the window sheilds me from this foul but unusualy cute beast)I ran back the monkey looks at me with a look of amusement its face and sudenly it brakes into a lout screach like laugh. I quikly took a very nice looking stick that i collected on the road, and ran waving the stick the monkey saw me and stopped and ran onto a branch. Now look who’s laughing :p hihihihi. It looked at me with a scowl full of hatred.

Once the monkeys had gone i finnished my newly found fun at the playground after we came back to the room and we ordered lunch i had a hot dog, but it wasnt a ordinary hotdog it was a giant, messy hotdog with sauace and pickles and tomato’s and onions, of course i cant eat the whole thing. After lunch my mom and i watched march of the penguin it went on for a long time and during that time my dad came and went back down………………….. (full stop). After we ate dinner we walked up to the room (i ran with the card to the room).

It was still quite early and my dad went to check his e-mails again and my mom and i had breakfast. We went back to our room and decided to go for a walk and as we passed the checking counter a very friendly lady told my mother that there was a small aquarium/theme park some where close by, so my mom and i caught a bus and we went to this place it was quit noticeable for there was a huge sign saying BAY WORLD so we went in. There was a show of some sort so we went and watched it was about 2 real dolphins, a big male Domino and another one said to be his daughter. After the show we went to see the aquariums. It wasn’t bad. There was a bigger tub like one with small circular windows. I walked towards it and peered inside and a ragged tooth shark suddenly appeared from out of the blue and scared me. After this we walked all over and came to a museum like place with weird thing like a 2 headed puppy (that freaked me out a bit),a baby with 2 heads sitting in a bottle with a human brain (that freaked me out a bit more) and a half preserved corps (now that seriously freaked me out). After this we went out of bay world and took a look at the street pavements. They were very interesting for they were full of various things, for example paintings, statues, bookmarks which i liked quite a bit for they were very creatively painted on leather, key tags which i also like for they are done with great skill. After this we walked back to the hotel and had lunch and i took care not to take the hotdog. After lunch my mom and i decided to watch some tv. I doubt there was any thing to watch, but we found some thing it was Heidi (by  Johanna Spyri) or that’s what I think it was. Then we watched some old Disney movie about some boy who dreamed of playing golf or some thing. Now I’m starting to think that it wasn’t so bad. My dad came back to the room and after about 2 hours he went back. On his 2 hour stay he dropped something on the bed, and the thing he dropped on the bed was a shark egg. Pretty cool huh?

Well life goes on and on and on as it seemed to me. We watched the Marche of the Penguin again but in French and i could say that. My dad came back and we all took a wash and went to dinner. Just if you are curious I ate a hash brown and some thing very odd but very tasty, and finally for dessert mint and chocolate chip ice cream, or some thing like chocolate. I know its bad for me, because i tend to sneeze at very random moments, if I don’t go to bed bed early or if I

The wonderful land of Port Elizabeth The poor weaver birds not knowing whats in store for themThe sea lions at bay world

eat cold things before I go to bed. What can I do thats my favourite ice cream for some very odd reason its not being sold at home.

After we woke up once again we went for breakfast and said bye to my father (as i told you life goes on). So my mom and i went up to the room, and once again i snatched the card from my mother and ran to the room opened the door went inside and waited for my mom to come. A few minutes afterwords my mother finally came.we spent about an hour in the room spending our time watching tv. We watched varius things like how to go fishing and some african programe. After that we went for a walk and discovered a park after going on the swing for about five minutes we were going to leave, when all at once a van full of people stopped and screamed”get out! get out!” and we rushed out the park and to the hotel. Since it was quite a boring day i went to the little play ground at the hotel. there i met some people and they were nice and we made friends with them and played a game with them until we went back to the room. There we had lunch as my father walked into the room.After we had lunch we went for another walk but we did not dare set foot in the newly found playground. What a shame that play ground was really nice.

Flit

Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bats

Right next to the gate at home is a Na Tree (Mesua Nagassarium) or in simple English an Iron Wood tree. You maybe wondering why I start off by mentioning this tree, well a few days ago I was looking into its leafy depths when I was confronted with five brown pairs of eyes looking back down at me. I had a family of bats staring right back at me with equally curious expressions on their little faces. Under close scrutiny I identified them as Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bats (Cynopterus sphinx). I was in the house in a flash and out I ran with my camera to take pictures of my new tenants, however none of them smiled for the camera since I rudely woke them up with my excited clicking. Pictures will be posted on Peppergrass as soon as I reformat my computer.

- Tigs

They are up.

Pictures have been uploaded onto Peppergrass. Finally!

- Tigs

my new PETS

Well I think you have heard the the tale of the Siamese fighting fish, and well today my dad and I have decided to buy two, and breed them. So tomorrow my dad and I shall go and buy two Siamese fighting fish. If you wanted to know why Fifi was fighting with the other fish, it’s because it was in a small place and the dominant male wanted his territory back, and also in the wild when the Siamese fighting fish fight, the looser goes some where else, but in the tank it has nowhere to go, so the dominant one just fights it to death. So you must never keep them together. So my friends you have learned a good lesson, and that’s why fish shop owners drag the word fighting, because they really mean it.

- Flit

HI!! I Flit now have 6 Siamese fighting fish.I have 3 males and 3 females .

MALE 1:Name: Squish

Colour: Blue

MALE 2: Name: Fifi

Colour: White, Aqua green

MALE 3: Name: Flicka

Colour: Magenta, Red

FEMALE 1: Name: Slushy

Colour: Blue

FEMALE 2: Name: Slish

Colour: White, Aqua green

FEMALE 3: Name: Slosh

Colour: Red

I am very sorry i cannot provide pictures of the females, for I could not locate them after I let them go but I can provide pictures of the males. Flicka has camera fright so I took a lot of trouble to take a picture of him. I can also provide a video of Fifi and Squish fighting. It’s only when they are fighting you can see the magnificent colour and patterns fully on their tales and fins, because they open them up. They do this to show dominance and size.

Fifi fighter

Squish fighter

Squish and Fifi fighting

Flicka fighter

The sad “tail” of Fifi the Siamese fighting fish

Last week Ammi, my uncle, Minkrow, Caffeine (my other cousin – by the way cousin do you recognise your new screen name?) and I decided to go see our aunt and uncle and their two year old daughter Flicka. Well, Flicka loves fish. So we all decided to drive by Ananda’s Aquarium. Once we got there Minkrow, Caffeine and I hopped out and entered the shop. Fish invaded our senses. From boring old gold fish to the 10,000 Rupee lung fish (I personally wouldn’t have minded owning one of those).So we searched among the tanks looking for the perfect fish.

Suddenly we came face to face with zillions (well not zillions, say about 40) of MD jam jars. Each one contained a single brightly coloured Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). Three smiles illuminated the room as we all dashed to choose the perfect pet. First we picked up a red one, then a blue, then a red and blue, then a gorgeous peacock blue, however none of them had the personality that we were looking for. Eventually after much debate we set our eyes upon a pinky-purpley one, who looked quite fat and content with itself. We picked the jar up carefully and took it to the counter. 50 Rupees was paid and into the car we jumped. By the way here’s what our new purchase looked like.

On the way to the house we debated on a name, and after an intense argument we settled on the name “Squish”. Now if Squish became James Bond, he would introduce himself like so:

“I’m Squish”

“Squish, the fish”

Anyways, once we got to their apartment, I rushed around the kitchen looking for a new home for dear beloved Squish and finally found the perfect vessel. My uncles new beer mug I must say that Squish took to the new home quite well, and Flicka seemed to enjoy looking at the fish. She even gave it a spoonful of Sprite for good measures. We were happy, Squish was happy, and little Flicka was thrilled. Later on that night I got a text that said that Flicka renamed Squish, Fifi which suited him better… I think

All went well until, I received an email from my aunt. Here’s what it said, I warn you that the content is quite heartbreaking. Also please note that when we first presented the fish to its new family, I did mention that the he was in fact, a Siamese fighting fish. The word “fighting” should have kept them on their toes.

Haai!

Fifi’s episode!

When I went to buy fish food for Fifi I got tempted to buy another fish just like that.  When I put that fish with Fifi the two of them fought like I have never seen before!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  They tore each others fins apart!  Can you believe it…..then I had to seperate them.  After that I didn’t want Fifi anymore….so… I asked my maid who also watched this battle if she could take them away and she agreed.

That is the tale of Fifi.  She is still alive and so is her rival!

xx

Yes, the fish is gone. It was traumatic news for us all. As my mother told my uncle, “Our collective hearts bleed”. So I will end this by saying:

“Good bye to a brave and kindhearted fish. You fought a battle to protect your turf. Fighting, a noble act that was instilled in your blood by your ancestors for decades. It was a part of you it made you a cut above the rest. I hope that where ever you are, you still are the fish we all knew. I hope, that you have not lost the art of fin ripping and eye-ball punching. Also, I just hope you aren’t eaten by a stork. We love you Fifi. Even Flicka still pines for your presence in that glass.”

*Names have been changed in order to protect the identity of the individuals mentioned above.

- Tigris

Ritigala forest reserve

There again we set of on another adventure Minkrow and I and others, and again Tigris did not come (sigh). You dont even get leeches there, its the dry zone.

Anyway it is another beautiful and peaceful place. It’s filled with trees and caves and full of animals, but something was wrong the butterfly which i really wanted to see was not there which gave me such a disappointment, and the butterfly that i wanted to see was the banded peacock. As for that my uncle thought it very funny that we didnt see the butterfly but we saw some more butterflies.

Some of the butterflies i saw :

• Indian Sunbeam
• Blue Mormon
• Tree Nymph
• Red Spot Duke
• Common Sailor
• Green Jay
• Common Albatross
• Tamil Yeoman
• Dark Wonderer

Again we did not only see butterflies we saw the other species of vine snake!! It’s kind of weird that on my two most recent trips, i touched both species of vine snake. Tigris is missing all the fun !!!

- Flit

A trip to the land of the tiger

About four months ago my father took my brother (Onca) and I to Jabalpur in India. Now Jabalpur is home to the Bandhavgarh National Park, which is a small tiger park. Now to me this was like hitting the jackpot. I was finally able to go see the utterly magnificent Bengal tiger. Note my name, do you see what am getting at? Anyway, we got to Delhi and from there we had to hop into this little propeller plane, which presented us with a not so smooth ride. It basically made our brains turn to mulch and knotted up our already knotted up, seven meter long small intestine. Once we landed in Jabalpur, we were faced with a rather bleak and barren landscape. Luckily for you readers, I have pictures to prove it. By the way, the cow in front of the airport is the bus

So anyhow, once we found the vehicle that we would be using it was time for our six hour car ride into the heart of Jabalpur, to Bandhavgarh. As always I slept for most of the ride. I’m more of a nocturnal creature. However, when I did arise from my slumber I was lucky enough to witness a few women and the occasional child turn their backs towards the road, hike up their skirts or Sari’s and “Just let her rip”. My loss of appetite was just a complete shocker for all of us. Excluding the brown landscape, lack of mountains and the open air latrines, the drive to the park was very much like driving towards Kandy or Trincomalee here at home, so it wasn’t that different. But hey, how would I know, I was asleep!

At the end of the journey we unloaded at the Tiger Den, a little lodge that we were to call home for the next four days. Was quite a nice little place with friendly staff, who asked us if we would like some “Mango juice, please?” All in all the place was awesome. The food.. Oh the food, how I long for that food! Oh well, life goes on.

The safaris started at the crack of dawn. Five in the morning was just not my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, I had my first cup of Chai, and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t quite enjoy it. I think it was the cardamon and other spices that just put me off. And since we are on the subject of Chai.. What’s with Starbucks and their Chai Tea Latte anyways?  Let me get this straight you American coffee company! Ehem!

Chai: A beverage made from spiced black tea, honey, and milk.

Latte: A type of coffee drink made with hot milk.

Tea: An aromatic, slightly bitter beverage made by steeping tea leaves in boiling water.

Ok seriously, what gives? In simpler terms, the Chai Tea Latte is a “Spiced tea, tea coffee”. Does that even make sense?

Moving on with the task at hand, I passed the tea to Onca and then we made our way to the park in a rather cool safari jeep. Crikey! I felt like Steve Irwin. The park reminded me of the Yala National Park at home. Pretty much the same landscape except for most of the wildlife. We drove around looking for tigers for hours, but the drive wasn’t in vain because we saw a multitude of bird life and other mammalian species. Here is an example, though I’m not quite sure of this species.

Then suddenly there was a mad frenzy as the jeeps in the park (all 30 of them) rushed towards a lonely road that bordered a valley that had small river that ran through it. Apparently there was a tiger in the reeds. Well fancy that. How was anyone be able to see a tiger through that? As I thought about this I heard a familiar sound. The sound of a Mahout leading his trusty steed towards the cluster of jeeps. Two other elephants joined us, allowing the tourists to climb aboard one of the beast’s back in order to get up close and personal with the gigantic tiger Bokah, who was sprawled in the cool water that tickled its belly on that hot summers day. So on we hopped on to a little female elephant who was rather jittery, due to the constant bullying that she was forced to withstand from the older male. From my new vantage point I was able to get a good look at the second largest tiger in the park. And boy was he a beauty!

On day three we were on a drive through the park when I was hit, square in the face by a freezing cold gust of wind. Lucky me, I had my camera in a white pillow case which had turned a charming rust colour thanks to the dust. So after I was whacked silly by this wind, I looked yonder into the horizon. Dear chicken in a pot of boiling sugar, the sky was black as steel! A very dark slab of steel at that! The first rains of the monsoon season were about to hit us. I was excited. To all of you who know me, it is a known fact that I love running in the rain so this was like a dream come true. But then I realised that we were in an open top jeep and I had my camera with me. Curse the clouds and all the water droplets in it! But then I heard a voice, “Jolly-O, let me keep the camera on my feet under the dashboard”. It was the tracker, so I gratefully passed it to him for safe keeping. A second hadn’t gone by when it started to drizzle. Onca, dear brother of mine, how I laugh at thee. He whimpered and I quote “Ow! Akki the drizzle hurts”. Everyone just stifled laughter as we looked at him cowering from the evil drizzle that burnt flesh! On we drove when suddenly, “Bugger what was that?” I said as I looked above.

CLAT, CLAT, CLAT, went the heavens as they opened up their water logged gates.

HAIL!

The ice came in lovely little chunks. Perfect to cool a glass of coke or my favourite drink of the week, Mango Fruity – fresh and juicy! The hail hurt. I mean, it really hurt. After withstanding the 15 minutes of battering it stopped. I looked around me, the jeep was full of ice. The thought of popping one in my mouth was quite tempting but I was forced to abandon those thoughts when I saw the light coating of dust that has accumulated on each chunk. It was depressing.

All good things must come to an end, and so after four whole days of scouring that park I managed to see seven different tigers. Three adults whose names are as follows, Bokah male, Chobehera female and Jujubah female. I also managed to see two sets of cubs. One set that belonged to Jujubah female which consisted of three year old cubs and the other set which belonged to Mirchena female which comprised two one and a half year old cubs (here’s one of them).

Other species that I managed to get a glimpse of were:

1. Tiger – Panthera tigris
2. Common langur – Presbytis entellus
3. Rhesus macaque – Macaca mulatta
4. Nilgai or Blue bull – Boselaphus tragocamelus
5. Sambhar – Cervus unicolor
6. Spotted deer or Chital – Axis axis
7. Wild boar - Sus scrofa
8. Five-stripped palm squirrel - Funambulus pennanti
   
9. Common mongoose – Herpestes edwardsi

I lost the list of birds that we saw How annoying, but all in all the trip was awesome! Except for the annoying little brother part. LOL! I will be posting the pictures of the trip on peppergrass.org if anyone is interested.

- Tigs

Bdellophobia

Put me in a room full of snakes or any other creature, just not with a measly leech! Considering the fact that I have spent almost 90% of my life with those foul creatures on a tea estate in Deniyaya, I still find those minute annelids absolutely revolting! For some reason seeing them slink towards me just gives me the creeps. Yes, you can’t feel a leech, or even notice when one is happily feasting on the warm blood that flows between your toes or leg, but still!

I tried facing my fears when I went to Kanneliya, on a work assignment about a month ago. And after finishing for the day, the people I was with thought of trekking through the jungle to go see a rather lovely waterfall. So I, like a mara bigshot decided to put away my childish whims and face my fears. So I trudged behind them, with an air of dignity and confidence.

And then.. DUM DUM DUM!!!

We come across a tiny path strewn with leaf litter. I gulped. I felt beads of sweat form a thin coating on my brow. This was the land of the leaches. I was assured by the bungalows cook (who was a pukka guide!) that I was safe from their greedy little jaws. But I could sense them watching me. Eyeing my limbs. Waiting…

So I took a step back and refused to take a step further. On, the rest of my fellow humans went, towards that thundering body of water! And there I stood. In the middle of a forest. Surrounded by blood sucking beasts.

I stood there. Stock still. Watching the ground, waiting to see that slink. Then it struck me. I need to be on higher ground. So I hopped on to a fence and sat there, perched like a wounded bird.

Suddenly, something at the back of my mind said “Tigs my dear, be a jolly good girl and look down”. So down I looked. And there it was. A line of brown that stretched and contracted towards me with a look of sheer joy on it’s ugly faceless face. I could almost hear it chant “Blood! Blood! Blood!” I freaked! I looked about with a mixture of panic and intrigue. There were more.

“How the hell did the buggers find me?”

I was surrounded on my fence. Here I was, all alone balancing on a thin fence that looked like it would collapse at any moment. One wrong move and my foot would slip and I would be in their clutches. Oh what luck. I squeaked. No one heard except for a band of Trachypithecus vetulus (Purple Faced Langurs) that looked at me in amusement.

What was I to do. So to pass the time I decided to find out how these fellows found me. Could they smell blood? I knew they had no eyes. So how did they know where I was. I looked down and saw one right under me. Stock still. Praying for me to fall. I wanted it to move a bit so I blew upon its brow. How I wished I didn’t do that. It went berserk! Then it struck me! Carbon Dioxide! That’s it! It was attracted to CO2! I was certain of it, because even more popped out from under dead leaves. I could hear their chorus. They said.. Brace your self.. “OH HAI! Fancy seeing you here. How about sharing one of your ten toes with us?”.

“Oh, Lord please deliever me from this evil. I promise to be a good girl from now on. Just get me out of here, please.”

Half an hour later I heard everyone return from their amazing waterfall trip. Grumble I missed it. They saw me and held back fits of laughter and asked me if I was ok. I gave them a look of exasperation and requested the jeep door to be opened. Then at the count of three I was off like a flash. The leeches didn’t know what hit them. One minute there sat lunch of a brittle fence, and the next minute it was gone.

After that horrible experience I refused to leave the safety of the jeep till I was out of the forest. I also realised that I have been doomed forever with this immense fear of a rather harmless creature. But then again such is life. I’m an aspiring wildlife conservationist who can’t stand leeches xD

-Tigris