An elephant is grazing on the succulent bulbs of reeds, tugged out of the marshy earth around a waterhole, utterly unconcerned by our presence.
We’ve bumped across rutted red tracks, detoured around defiant water buffaloes unwilling to give way to our jeep, spotted open-mouthed crocodiles sunbathing beside streams, and startled herds of skittish chital deer who bound off into the bush.
The trees too, are full of life, troupes of langur monkeys with sooty black faces argue in the canopy, and the birds trill in a seemingly co-ordinated chorus. There has been recent rain and water is everywhere; small billabongs blooming with lilac lilies, and ephemeral lakes, the celeste blue and cumulous white of the sky mirrored on their placid surface.
It could almost be an African wildlife reserve, but this is Yala National Park on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, where the jungle meets the Indian Ocean. It’s one of 26 national parks in the country and is believed to be home to the world’s highest density of leopards.
