Last drink with the group.

Elephant on the road

Sooo close

Elephant orphanage, but plan to get back into the wild.

Buffalo in the water, hence their name

Showing off their ability to fly.

Looking at us, are we food? Crested Hawk-eagle.

Blue tailed bee eater.

About a 1 month old baby with sister and mum. Unbelievably cute.

We woz here.

Sunset at Udawalawa National Park.

Working beach, working boat.

Do I have to, Mummy?

07:30 am start, to drop Bill and Janice at airport for their return home to a freezing Glasgow.  Hope it went well.  Dropped our bike bags and surplus kit at a hotel closer to the airport,  discovering how little we really need to carry in our panniers, managing to shed a fair bit of weight.  Marcus, very kindly, drove us down to Udawalawa National Park for a jeep safari.  Best place to see elephants, particularly this time of year as there is plenty of fresh grass.  We weren’t disappointed.  To see a one-month old feeding from his mum, right in front of us was extraordinary.  We dropped in to the elephant orphanage where they currently are taking care of some 35 youngsters with regular top ups of milk.  Hopefully, they will be re-introduced into the park when they are more mature and can feed themselves.

An onward drive down to Yala National Park, much bigger at some 66,000 hectares for a 5:00 am start tomorrow. Then back onto the bikes. We are missing them.