For Zoe and I, it was another early wake-up call at 5am. I slept much better, though, as we had asked for a couple of blankets to keep us warm during the night.

We were the first jeep at the park, so we had a wander around and took a few photos. At the entrance to the park is an old Buddha statue which was found in the park around 2000 years ago.

There was also a swing with some angel wings, so we took some photos there, too.

Almost as soon as we got in the park, we saw a male peacock displaying his tail!

Shortly after that, we saw an Indian star tortoise. This is one of the most symmetrical animals in the world.

And then something amazing happened – a sloth bear was walking righting in front of our jeep. He was just slowly ambling along without any worries. You could really see his claws and hear him snuffle out the grubs and seeds. They have padded and webbed feet, and they can close off their nostrils when they are searching through the sand. They make a snuffle sound as they blow the sand off the food they are about to eat. They can live for around 29-35 years.

I did take quite a lot of photos as it is really rare to get that close to a sloth bear.

After watching the sloth bear, named Grylls, for quite a while, we decided to move on. We spotted a green bee eater and stopped to take some photos.

We drove back to the middle of the park to the villus to try and spot the leopard.

We didn’t see a leopard but we did see some more spotted deer.

And then we got the information we wanted to hear. There was a leopard sighting not too far from where we were, along the main road. So we quickly headed back down there.

The park has around 250-300 leopards living in it, but only 14% of the park is accessible to the public.  The male leopards have around a 16km² area as their territory. Once leopards are around 4 years old, they go off on their own, and this is also around the age when they start having cubs. It is hard to tell when the females are pregnant as they don’t have a baby bump as this would make it difficult for them to hunt. Gestation is around 90 – 100 days, and the mother needs to eat before giving birth. It has been known that if the mother is hungry when she gives birth, she may eat one of the cubs.  A leopard can have up to 6 cubs, but the average is 2-3 per litter.Leopards can swim, but it is not something they do very often. They lick themselves to try and hide their scent and not just for cleaning purposes.

The leopard we saw was an 8 month old female, and when we first saw her, she was quite high up in a tree. We waited a while, and eventually, she made her way back down onto the ground. My photos were not particularly clear, but Malmi took some really good ones. We used the binoculars to see her close-up.

That was the best bit for me.

We drove down the road a little bit to have some breakfast and to let other people in jeeps to see what was going on.

In 1987 the entrance to the park was moved from whete it used to be (a bit further in) to whete it is now, to improve the security levels. As part of the Srilankan civil war, terrorists got into the park and shot around 26 people.

Sri Lanka used to be part of the British Empire from 1815 to 1948, when they gained independence. However, from 1983 to 2009, there was a civil war in Sri Lanka. After they gained independence, Sinhalese was recognised as the sole official language of the nation. The Tamil Tigers wanted to create an independent Tamil state in the northeast of the country. It is estimated 80,000 – 100,000 people died over the 26 years of civil war.

As we came out of the park, we saw another hornbill.

When we got back, we showed Mandy and Karen our photos, had a quick shower, and packed up the last bits. It has been an amazing experience with Leopard Trails.

Alam, our driver, came to pick us up at 11 am, and we set off for Anuradhapura. This used to be the capital city of Sri Lanka, and it is a very spiritual area as well as a world heritage site. The founding of the city was in 437 BCEB but it has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement on the island for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Asia

Alam dropped us off at the biggest stupa / dagobas known as Thuparama vihara. This is the largest brick structure in the city. All dagobas contain the remains of a sacred person that the Buddhists pray to, and this one is believed to contain the collarbone of the Buddha.  It is also the earliest documented buddhist temple. It is 59ft tall and was built in the 3rd century BC. While we were there, it was being painted, which was quite fascinating to watch in itself. The paint went on blue but dried to white.

We walked around the dagobas, it is not something you can go inside. There was a sanctum that we did go inside. This contains the five statues of Lord Samma Sambuddha.

Our next stop was the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. This is believed to be a tree grown from a cutting of the southern branch from the historical sacred bo tree, Sri Maha Buddha, under which Buddha obtained enlightenment.  At more than 2,300 years old, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date.

The tree is situated on a high terrace, about 6.5 meters above the ground, and surrounded by 4 other lower-level terraces with Bo trees called “Parivara Bodhi” planted for its protection.

As it was a sacred site, we had to take our shoes off, and the ground was really hot, so we quickly walked from one shady area to another.

And then it was back to the car for another 2 hour journey to our accommodation on Uppuveli Beach in Trincomalee. In one area, we saw loads of bats in the trees, there were 100s of them.

We left our bags in the room, changed into our beachwear, and headed down to the beach, which is literally a couple of minutes walk away.

We went for a paddle in the water, which was really warm. There were a lot of stray dogs on the beach, but the majority of them looked ok and pretty well fed.

And then it was time for a beer and bar snacks.

Once we had relaxed for a little while, we went for a wander down the beach, passing a small church on the way.

We found another little bar and stopped for a bear and used their facilities.

On the way back, the sun was just starting to set. Some of the local fishermen were taking in their nets.

We decided to have dinner at the Cafe on the eighteen, which was just down from our hotel. I had a tuna poki bowl and it was delicious

We stayed down by the beach for a while before heading to bed.