Feb. 7th - Puttalam to Eluwankulama - Kim and Glory - Cycling beyond

February 7, 2024

Feb. 7th - Puttalam to Eluwankulama

Wilpattu National Park safari

The baby was adorable. As we were leaving, mama elephant trumpeted and did a mock charge. It was kind of funny, but only because we already had a head start!

Finally, a good day on the bike and an even better afternoon. Probably helped that I had just under 20 miles to go. I left Puttalam headed towards the town of Eluwankulama, which has some guest houses. A cycling friend had referred me to one of them so I thought, "Why not." Booked a reservation last night and because of my "Booking Genius status" received a free upgrade to the villa. I heard it's the newest and nicer than the rooms. Still, out a chunk of change over my daily budget. I also had already arranged the "evening jeep safari." Don't know why they kept referring to it as "evening" as it starts at 1:00pm.

Pleasant morning on the bike and saw my first monkeys. The second time I saw a whole group of them, that would have made a fantastic picture, but by the time I stopped and grabbed my camera, they were scattering. Darn it. It's not even like they were that close. Their tales were really long!

It was also really nice to be out of heavy traffic. I'm already tired of all the horn honking. It's excessively excessive!! Sometimes they honk at the last second and I get really annoyed! Trust me, they honk for any and every reason.

Noticed I had a lot of little gradual ascents. Will be a great ride back especially since I will finally have a tail wind!

What the hell is this rather large flying creature?!

Those branches dead center, just above the water, had a whole family of monkeys on them. By the time I got my camera out, only about 3 were left.

I am the only guest tonight which is kind of weird, but they showed me to my villa and I got settled in. I was told not to leave anything on my bike or the monkeys will take it. I waisted no time in getting into my plunge pool right outside my villa and then the monkeys appeared. It was so fun watching them....

This literally made me smile. It was so funny how one would appear, then another, and before you know it, I had a bunch!

Unfortunately, this is the only leopard I saw today

But first we have to cross the bouncy suspension bridge

This is cool and creepy at the same time

The guide told me it's butterfly season. There were tons of white ones everywhere!!!

Spotted deer - amazing how they blend in

Langkur monkeys with their cute little black faces and really long tails

Wild boar. Earlier in the tour, we scared a bunch on the side of the road, and they all charged behind our vehicle. They weren't the only ones startled!

Asian green bee-eater bird. Beautiful blue neck

I told you this was an adventurous journey! Our driver only got stuck once for a minute. He was excellent...thank goodness!

Mugger aka Marsh crocodile (my naturalist told me it was a "freshwater crocodile" because it was in the lake😂

Mischievous monkey tugging on another's tail

That didn't get your attention, let me bite it!

Who knew rabbits were a thing in Sri Lanka? I didn't. I guess sometimes I focus on the exotic instead of worldwide creatures.

As were were pulling away, mom trumpeted and did a mock charge at as. It was funny, but had we not already been leaving, might not have been!

My eagle eye caught this as we were leaving. Croc in the water.

Today's ride: 19 miles (31 km)
Total: 871 miles (1,402 km)

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