Day2-4: 12-14/02/2024 – Sigiriya
Sigiriya is a UNESCO world heritage site popular with tourists who visit the Lion Rock, an ancient rock fortress, and climb the steps to the top. We did get better views of the rock from our minibus but didn't take photos in anticipation that we would see it well when we were closer to it on foot - but that proved not to be the case and the above is the best I can provide.
After a further birding session in the Vivanti Hotel grounds and a nice breakfast, we met our driver Herath who skilfully negotiated the many hazards of the road for the next 2 weeks. Our transport was a comfortable air-conditioned minibus and on Day 2 we had a 4 hour drive to the Sigiriya village hotel.
We made a short stop en-route when we found Ashy Woodswallows and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters on wires by the roadside.
After a further birding session in the Vivanti Hotel grounds and a nice breakfast, we met our driver Herath who skilfully negotiated the many hazards of the road for the next 2 weeks. Our transport was a comfortable air-conditioned minibus and on Day 2 we had a 4 hour drive to the Sigiriya village hotel.
We made a short stop en-route when we found Ashy Woodswallows and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters on wires by the roadside.
At another stop we met our first non-human primates - a group of Toque Macaques making their way along electricity cables by the roadside.
The hotel was set in wooded grounds and the rooms were good cabins.
After lunch and a siesta we did a birding session in nearby woodland. On day 3 we did a pre-breakfast session in similar woodland and after breakfast we spent time in a more open area with paddyfields. After lunch and a siesta we visited a buddhist temple site and later we did some successful owling. We noticed that Indian Peafowl seemed very common in Sri Lanka and it was great to see them both displaying in the wild and flying and perched up trees – the ornamental ones in Europe having their wings clipped to prevent such activity. Some images of the wildlife, paddyfileds and temple areas are shown in the gallery below (click on an image to enlarge and scroll through). |