Sri Lanka Holiday
February 2005
by Jon Ashworth and Fiona Harris

[ A Birding and Wildlife Trip Report: Sri Lanka]


SITTING in the back of a Land Rover in Yala National Park, we gazed upon a scene of devastation. The beach at Patanangala where tourists on game drives used to stop for morning tea looked as though it had been shredded by a giant claw.

Uprooted trees lay scattered about like flotsam and the grass was dead.

Kalu, our driver, said he had been there, pulling his Jeep away from the beach, when the tsunami struck. He looked back to see an 18m (60ft) wave crashing over the roof of the beach restaurant. Revving the engine, he sped away down the dirt track with the sound of the water roaring in his ears.

Some 70 Japanese and Sri Lankan holidaymakers died at Patanangala. It is a sinister place, with a wild stretch of coast sweeping round to giant granite boulders. The ocean was funnelled into a deadly wall of water which swept Jeeps and people before it. Tourists no longer stop here for tea.

Yet about 100m inland, you would never know there had been a tsunami. Deer graze peacefully, and peacocks perch in the trees. The park bustles with Sri Lankans in four-wheel-drive vehicles seeking Yala's famous leopards, but there were few overseas visitors.

We had booked a holiday in Sri Lanka five days before the tsunami struck. Our immediate reaction was to cancel. We imagined roads choked with relief lorries.

And how could you enjoy a holiday amid so much suffering? More than 30,000 people died here and many more were left homeless.

We stuck to our plans, mainly because our dates, travelling in the first half of this month, were just far enough removed from the horror of those first television pictures. Our itinerary promised ancient cities, wildlife and the cool of the mountains, with only a couple of days on the beach.

Because we had booked through Jetwing Eco Holidays, based in Colombo, and flew SriLankan Airlines, our money was going into the local economy. We would do more harm by not going, we decided, and it turned out to be the right decision. At no point did we feel guilty about enjoying ourselves while others suffered. Thousands of Sri Lankans rely on tourism for a living. We were helping them to get on with their lives.

Jetwing is run by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, a well-known wildlife photographer.

A throwaway remark that he had found many bodies in Yala but had "yet to see a dead animal" was picked up by news agencies around the world. Rangers reported seeing buffalo running inland moments before the wave struck. Did the animals sense it coming?

In a day of game drives at Yala, a more prosaic answer emerged. Patanangala aside, Yala sustained little damage. There are patches where the sea broke through, leaving a sun-bleached stain and a smell of seaweed, but the evidence is limited.

Animals are undoubtedly more sensitive to changes in nature, but few of the big mammals were in danger.

Either way, they seem none the worse for it. Yala is teeming with elephant, buffalo, wild boar and all manner of birds. Painted storks strut around like stiff old men, and the air is thick with green bee-eaters. It is a magical place.

The park sprawls across the sun-baked plains of south-eastern Sri Lanka. Our original choice of hotel, Yala Safari Game Lodge, had been flattened by the tsunami, so we stayed in nearby Yala Village, which is protected from the ocean by sand dunes.

Over drinks, our guide Supurna Hettiarachchi (Hetti to his friends) told us how he had escaped death on Boxing Day. He was driving south from Yala Safari Game Lodge when he noticed water ahead on the road. He got out to take a look and nearly slipped. The water was like grease. Realising that something had happened, he drove to higher ground and took refuge on a rock. A second wave engulfed the area where he had been standing.

Workers at Yala Safari Game Lodge describe entire sections of rooms sliding towards them like giant chocolate bars. Nine staff members were killed, including the general manager and the chef. Now, workers have begun clearing the rubble and the hotel is due to reopen next year.

The result is that overseas visitors to Yala are down 90 per cent on pre tsunami levels, which is a disaster for the safari Jeep drivers, who earn their living from tips.

Driving round the coast from Yala to Colombo, the horror of the tsunami became apparent. Smashed fishing boats line the roadside and there are miles of refugee tents. The road is clear, you can sit on the beaches, but the houses have been obliterated. Don't let this deter you, though -there's a lot more to Sri Lanka than the aftermath of the tsunami.

* Tips for tourists

Tourism workers in Sri Lanka rely almost totally on tips. Safari Jeep drivers, for example, are paid as little as 135 rupees (70p) a drive. So tipping is essential.

As a guide, this is what the local travel industry recommends:

Tip Jeep drivers Rs500 (Pounds 2.60) per game drive. Trackers should get at least Rs300 (Pounds 1.60) per drive.

Chauffeur guides are paid a small fee per tour. Tip them at least Rs5,000 (Pounds 26) for a week's tour.

The drop in tourist numbers has hit service charges shared among hotel staff. The most needy are the bellboys and room cleaners. Tip bellboys Rs100-Rs200 (55p-Pounds 1.10) each.

Tip cleaners Rs200 each per day.