Yala Safari II

Elephant Rock from the beach inside Yala National Park.

First off, let me confess my editorial blunders.  The National park we were visiting is called Yala, not Yalu.  I guess I was thinking about North Korea.  My apologies.  

Any endeavor whose measure of enjoyment is whether or not one sees wildlife is a tricky endeavor indeed.  Everyone wants to see the snow leopord or the blue whale or whatever rare animal it is that is reputed to be in this or that sanctuary.  I remember scoffing at the idea of actually seeing a Mekong Dolphin, one of the rarest of marine mammals, and yet I got on the boat anyway.  And son of a gun, it turns out the Mekong Dolphins don't know that they are the rarest of their kind and cavort shamelessly in the same spot everyday.  

Okay, have I built up the suspense enough?

Of course we did see an elephant, a smaller male, just below our jeep and for quite a good long while.

I know that I should value the jungle fowl just as much as the elephant, and I do, on an intellectual level.  Sort of.  But the real truth is that elephants are cool, smart, big and goofy and fun, all at the same time.   It was a delight to see one of these wonderful creatures up close and personal in the wild.  I've played with a baby Indian elephant in the Thai elephant orphanage and I have literally bumped into elephants in some of the Thai markets, but spending a bit of time with this elephant, a little more on his terms, was very, very amazing. 

Oliphant!!

And our time drew to an end as our elephant decided to amble.

Our day was not done, however, even though we were heading out of the park to meet the mandatory 6 PM closing.  We slowed a bit as our driver thought he spotted something.  I got to be the lucky guy who saw the sloth bear and point him out in the brush.  He was a bit too elusive for any meaningful photo with my technology, but we had a few good looks at him all the same. The sloth bear sighting was made even sweeter by the knowledge that they are far more difficult to see than elephants.

Our second sloth bear happened just as everyone was making the dash for the gate and produced a crazy jeep traffic jam.  This was a smaller bear, but his presence had a phenomenal effect.  

Chaos, chaos I tell you!!!  There must be a critter here somewhere.  Most of the day was spent very peacefully with only one or two other jeeps in sight.  

The day was gloaming as we drove the last kilometers to the gate.  Despite the jarring to the butt and back and one good smack on the noggin when head met roof, it was day of rich sights and splendors.