One one things

The open hooded Defender arrived on time, and two chaps got out, one a young kid who looked younger than me with a baseball cap and stubble and the other in probably his mid 40s in a sarong, shirt and mousthache. The younger walked up to us, grinned and said “hello sir mama chanaka” and pointed at the other guy and introduced him as Mahinda. N asked him where we are going, and Chanaka replied that we’ll go towards Trinco and that there are some dirt tracks that head towards the jungles bordering the road. It sounded good enough so we hurriedly bundled ourselves into the jeep. It was dark by now so we all stood up in the back with Mr. D sitting in front, the cool wind in our hair and feeling on top of the world. After passing Habarana town things became really quiet, the few shops that lined the road became more sparce and few dared walk around in the night with elephants wandering so close to the road. The NCP dry zone is one of the key battlegrounds in the elephant man conflict, and it wasn’t long ago that 3 elephants were killed just by the Habarana rail track, a pregnant mother with her other calf knocked down by a train. We saw an elephant early on munching on some corn left outside by villagers as a sort of appeasement.

Once we passed the villages everyone tensed up in anticipation as we slowed down and Chanaka flashed his searchlight intermitently in the areas where he’d expect to see elephants. The vegetation in the area consists mainly of very tall grass studded with medium size trees bordering the road, and beyond that thick and lush forest, quite unlike the Southern dry zone. Mahinda slowed down near a bunker, and he approached it very slowly. The bunker looked asleep, and then two torches flashed from the gap, followed by a STF officer and a couple of homeguards. Mahinda yelled “Api athulata yanawa, auwulak nah ne?” The soldiers nodded, and one of them yawned. I whispered to Chanaka asking him what’s going on. He explained that whenever we go into the jungle we need to inform the nearest bunker to warn any patrols that we’re in there, if an unidentified vehicle is spotted it will more than likely be shot at. M shuddered and off we went. Whenever I go into the jungle it feels like it’s been too long since I last went, I love the sounds of the insects and birds, the smell of foliage and the solitude. Night safaris are a special thrill. The fact that there’s a world awake around you, that your senses are compromised and that you’re not the boss make it all the more exciting.

Chanaka is an amazing tracker. Within a few minutes of venturing down the dirt track he hurriedly tapped the side of the jeep frame thrice with his ring and Mahinda ground to a halt. No words were said, the five of us looked around wide eyed at the black surroundings, straining to spot that grey mound. Chanaka flashed his light and there they were, 3 or 4 adults with a couple of calves munching away. They were startled by the light, and tensed up immediately. The adults quickly formed a fortress around the calves, surrounding them in a protective embrace. We didn’t want to bother them too much so we headed off, thrilled with the first sighting. We completed the circle of the first dirt track and returned to Trinco road, informed the bunker that we were out and headed north west again. By now the sky was like a canvas, cloudless, unpolluted and dotted with the widest array of stars.

The second dirt road was a bit further up, and again we stopped near a bunker and Chanaka warned Mahinda to approach slowly so as not to scare them. Mahinda again told the soldiers that we’re going into the forest and a voice from inside the bunker yelled “aayeth enawa neda?” Mahinda laughed and said “ow ow”. Chanaka asked one of the homeguards whether there were any elephants around this evening, the guard replied that there were some about half an hour ago and pointed us in the direction where they headed off to. We thanked him and were touched by the friendliness of the military guys in these parts and how helpful they are. They smiled and waved goodbye as we headed off. Mahinda took us into the forest on what was a dirt road in only the very loosest sense of the word. M being an ex-ballerina suggested we all stand on tip-toes and brace as we weaved between potholes, Mr D wasn’t impressed and just groaned about his back. We stumbled upon a larger herd than the first sighting, this time a calf was suckling on its mother/aunt, unperturbed by our collective awww’s. We drove around some more and ended up seeing about 80 elephants that night, other highlights were seeing two elephants kiss one another good night, they embraced one another’s trunks and raised them into an arch before heading off into the night in opposite directions. Our last sighting for the night was on Trinco road where a truck overtook us horning, followed by a loud trumpet. A lone bull elephant was eating on the side of the road and was clearly distressed by the noise. It raised its trunk and trumpeted again before retreating into the forest, we knew it was time to leave. We got back to the Village, had another top dinner and ended the night with some 304 and another lakeside chat.