Kumana national park, Sri Lanka. part 2

Going on safari in Kumana early in the morning means the same ritual, get up early, have breakfast and then set off again on 14 km of dirt roads full of potholes. 

Like the day before, the driver arrives on time and gets a cup of tea before we leave. Today we drive in one piece to the park entrance. After all kinds of formalities we can enter the park. We soon leave the main road through the park and turn onto narrower roads that cross part of the park. There are very large areas in the park where Safari Jeeps have no access, these are the so-called quiet areas where animals and birds can stay in peace. It amazes me every time how diverse the landscape is, for to many people it all seems the same and very dry. If you look closer you also see different areas where it is more humid and mosses, mushrooms grow and sometimes special small flowers. That also brings food for insects, lizards and frogs, which in turn are eaten by birds. Then that life cycle, too, is complete. 

The spotted deer is really everywhere in the landscape, as are the wild boar and the water buffalo. Animal life goes its own way, until you hear a cry of alarm from the toque macaque or spotted deer. Then it becomes quiet and you listen to the sounds of nature. Is it the leopard trying to catch something, you hear it several times during the safari. Most of the time it is a false alarm. I can tell you that we did indeed see a leopard chase that day. The leopard was rustily hiding on a lower tree trunk with bushes in front of it. Nothing special you say, he spun around a few times on that tree trunk. 

A moment later he slowly rose from his position and began to walk. First there were a few spotted deer nearby, the leopard suddenly accelerated, with such speed that it looked like a Formula 1 car. It is incredibly fast that animal, unfortunately we could not see the rest so we did not know if the hunt was successful. It was an impressive moment… 

Until lunch it remained quiet. After lunch there was probably a phone message for the driver, a leopard had been spotted in another location. So off at full speed to the deserted village of Kumana. Once we arrived at the buildings that are still there, including a small schoolhouse, there is a leopard lying at ease at the top of the window opening, occasionally looking around and wondering who those crazy people in the jeeps are who are constantly making click, click noises. It keeps me off balance. For a year now, a male and female have been visiting this village, it is in their territory. Jeeps crowd each other for the best position for the clicks, after a while I tell the driver to drive on, I find it a bit annoying to bother these animals in their activities. Others probably think otherwise. But after all this was another beautiful day in this park. 

The gear we used:

OM-1 MK1 + EM1 -MKIII cameras

MZuiko 100-400mm f/ 5-6.3 lens

MZuiko 300mm f/4 lens

MZuiko 1.4 MC teleconverter

MZuiko 2.0 MC teleconverter