Misty magic ~ 1

Day 2 in Sri Lanka.

It was arranged that a man with a jeep would pick us up reeeaaalllyyy early the next morning, and take us to Horton Plains, a plateau 2100-2300 metres above sea level.

It was cold, drizzly and foggy, and I began to get doubts about how warm our flimsy cotton hoodies would keep us…

The driver stopped at a bend in the road, where he thought we might spot white-bearded monkeys in the misty trees.

And we did 🙂

It was a longish drive, but our gazes were riveted to the landscape we were passing through, forests, rivers, lakes and farms with Fresian cows grazing on the slopes, all enveloped in cloud. The driver was friendly and eager to educate, so he shared titbits of information as he pointed out various noteworthy sights, some left behind by the British, like this forest of Australian eucalyptus, a non-endemic species, not to mention a thirsty bunch of trees.

And a sulky monkey.

I was amazed that the driver’s eyes were sharp enough to spot this poor badly injured female (whose name I forget, a species of lizard endemic to Sri Lanka as I was informed).

How did we know it was a female? Take a look at that egg…

Nothing much could be done, but to pick her up and deposit her in the foliage on the side of the road.

We drove on, and soon….

As we drove in after paying the fee, the sharp-eyed driver once again pointed out something I would surely have missed. A Sambar deer, sheltering near a rhododendron bush

We ate our packed breakfasts huddled in the relative warmth of a bare basic restaurant, where we drank some horrible but warming coffee before setting off on our hike, umbrellas in hand. I had half a mind to skip the whole thing altogether, as my hoodie and three t-shirts were doing nothing to keep the wind from chilling me to the bone. But then I figured walking would warm me up…..and it did.

I’m sure glad I didn’t chicken out, as what followed turned out to be a dream-like hike through surreal landscape, the undisputed highlight of our SrliLankan experience 🙂