Wildlife of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island in the Southern tip of the Indian Sub- continent. It was also known as Ceylon when it was under the British rule.  Even though it is close to the Tropical, the oceanic climate enables rich collections of wildlife and flora flourish in the island.  In the early trade between Europe, Mid-East and Asia, Ceylon provided many treasured commodities, such as gems and spices, to the West.  Harry Williams wrote a book on Ceylon in 1950 and called it pearl of the East. 

My wife and I made our first visit to Sri Lanka in March this year.  Initially, we had reservation due to safety concerns.  After thirty years of racial conflicts and civil wars, Sri Lanka had just put the Tamil separatists under control few years ago.  Our trip turned out to be quite interesting and safe.

(Wild elephant in the Yala National Park)

Majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, along with Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The island is getting crowded with local population over twenty millions.  There are seven national parks in Sri Lanka to sustain its wildlife and flora.  

(Monkey taking rest in the tree)

   

(Male deer in the Horton Plains National Park)

(Migrant birds resting in the wetland)

We enjoyed watching many wildlife during our trip.  The morning tour of the Yala National Park was the highlight.  We saw not only elephants, deers, boars and many beautiful birds, there were footprints of jaguar. 

(Wild boars with their little one)

(Indian peacock)

The British Empire had turned many of their colonies into plantations to provide required commodities for its global trade.  Sri Lanka was famous for its tea - Ceylon tea.  Many natural forest areas were converted into tea plantations in the central highland areas.  This had caused soil erosions and depletion of wildlife and flora.

(Workers picking tea leaves in the plantation)

At the same time, we noted that population pressure and economic development have put pressure on the national parks and wildlife.
There are cattle and buffalo farming on the national parks.  The blooming tourist business leads to many hotel development projects in the natural forests. 

New Zealand : the Land of the Long White Cloud

We had wonderful experience travelling through New Zealand in our previous land trips.  This time, my wife and I took a cruise from Sydney to see its beautiful South and North islands. 

The cruise sailed across the Tasman Sea in two days. We did not see a single boat for these two days as we were not sailing along the sea trade route.  In the early morning, we finally arrived Fiordland in the South.  This was what we saw.

(High mountain shut up from the sea with hanging white cloud)

(Beautiful and peaceful Milford Sound)

(Glacier, waterfall and hanging valley)  

The cruise spent most of the day sailing across the Fiordland from Milford Sound to Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound.  Quite contrast to the Tasman Sea, water in the inlets was calm. The moist air from the Tasman Sea reached the mountain ranges and formed long white clouds in the fiords (as New Zealanders called sounds). When Maoris first came here, they possibly saw the same beautiful scenery.  No wonder they called it the Land of the Long White Cloud.

When the settlers of the Free Church of Scotland came here about one hundred seventy years ago, they found a place in the South Island that was close to Scotland - hilly, windy and cool.  They built a garden city in Dunedin.  Reputable schools and the University of Otago were established here.

(Garden of the Olveston House)

    

(Century-old Botanical Garden in Dunedin) 

(Maize in the Botanical Garden)

As we sailed further to the North, weather became warmer with more sunshine.  We revisited Picton, the gateway to the South Island.  Many years ago, I took the ferry from Wellington to Picton. When Captain Cook explored this part of the world three centuries ago, he stopped here several times.

(Sail boats in the Shakespeare Bay near Picton)

(With abundant sunshine, palm trees grow in Picton)

Visitors coming to the North Island would love to see Auckland and Tauranga.  We also visited Waltangi. This was the historical place where the British misrepresented the Waltangi treaty to the Maori tribal leaders.  Under the treaty, Maoris would under the British colonial protection. However, it took more than one hundred fifty years for the Maori to regained their rights in the country.

(Beach in Waltangi)

(Cruise ship off the shore of Waltangi)