Leaving Ella we journeyed southwards by the mountain pass that clings to the side of Ella valley. After a few miles we stopped at the Ravana Falls, the subject of many legends centred around the story of Ramayana. In the monsoon season (April) this waterfall becomes a raging torrent that covers the road, but today it was just a modest flow.
Further on we turned off the main road to see the Dowa Rock Temple, founded in the second century BC by King Walagamba. It has a 38 ft (12 m) Buddha image sculptured from a rock and some paintings belonging to the Kandyan era, depicting various Jathaka stories. Our knowledgable guide gave us a fluent account of its history, but soon picked up on my love of nature and was delighted to,show us a camouflaged chameleon and a black hooded oriole chick in its nest.
We arrived in Yala just in time to transfer from our comfortable car into an open sided jeep ready to begin our safari into Yala National Park. This park is famous for its population of leopards. Three bone-shattering hours later we had seen plenty of wildlife, but not a leopard. Then suddenly our driver got a tip, and off we sped, heedless of the ruts in the track, at breakneck speed, overtaking other vehicles both left and right. Yes, we got to see a leopard, silhouetted on a rocky outcrop against the setting sun. Sadly it didn't make a good photo, so you will have to take my word for it. And would you believe it, it was less than half-a-mile from the entrance where we first came into the park.
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