Sri Lanka is an island off the south east tip of India. “Ceylon” until 1972, it is known for its tea and cinnamon and more recently for tourism. I am hoping to get to know it for its wildlife.

I’m taking a photography tour with Backcountry Journeys – King of the Jungle: Leopards and Sloth Bears – where we will spend 10 days in three national parks shooting wildlife.

Sri Lanka has the highest density population of leopards in the world, and one of the parks we are visiting is known for them. Sadly, the population is in decline with fewer than 800 remaining. The header photo is one I took in Kenya. Apparently Sri Lankan leopards, a subspecies native to the island, are slightly yellower and a bit smaller. I’ll be sure to fact check that with the first one I meet.

Sri Lanka also has the highest density population of Asian elephants in the world. The Asian elephant is quite a bit smaller than the African elephant and only a small percentage of male Asian elephants grow tusks while the females never do. African elephants – both male and female – grow tusks but Asian elephants are cuter, They have freckles!

There are between 400 and 520 bird species in Sri Lanka. At least 240 breed on the island; the rest are migratory. The national bird is the Sri Lanka Junglefowl, ancestor of all domestic chickens in the country. I had expected something more exotic like this lucesic white Indian peafowl.

In preparation for the trip, I did a bit of reading. Return to Sri Lanka: Travels in a Paradoxical Island – is billed as a travelogue, but is also an in-depth history, culture and current affairs collection. Author Razeen Sally, an economist who grew up in Sri Lanka and Wales but hadn’t visited for a number of years, crisscrossed the island visiting places he remembered from his childhood and people he both knew and had heard of.

Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje is loosely based on the author’s upbringing in Sri Lanka. I read this book as an audiobook narrated by Ondaatje himself. He is a brilliant writer, but not a terribly good narrator. His voice is very low and soft and expression-free, and I found my mind wandering quite often. There were parts that were hilarious and I think that had I read the book instead of listening to it, I would have found it much funnier. The books complemented each other in that the hijinks that the two authors’ families got up to were remarkably similar.

Getting to Sri Lanka is no easy matter. My flight from Vancouver this evening leaves at 12:20 am. (Maybe I can doze at the gate? 🤞) After spending 9 hours cooling my heels in Hong Kong, I take Malaysian Airlines to Kuala Lumpur where I wait another 3.5 hours, then finally arrive in Colombo at 10:30 pm Sri Lanka time – a trip of almost 25 hours. I am arriving a couple of days early to give my brain time to catch up with my body. I’ve taken a page from my friend Shelley Molnar‘s playbook and have secreted an air tag in my suitcase for just in case…

I hope you will travel along with me. Backcountry Journeys warns that the internet may be a bit sketchy so I may not be able to post as often as I usually do. ඉක්මනින්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් හමුවෙමු. (See you soon from Sri Lanka. 😊)