I had to get up at 4:30 for a 5 AM departure to the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. I can get ready in 20 minutes at a reasonable hour but this early I move slower. It was a 2 hour drive to get to the forest and the last hour of the drive was non stop curves. Oooof! I had to ask the driver to pull over when we were almost there. Some deep breathing and water helped me keep my breakfast in my stomach where it belongs. When I booked this excursion the guide told me that the last 5 km of the trip would have to be on the back of his motorcycle as the road was "broken." I was not sure how this was going to work and I warned him that I was a large man. So when I arrived at the end of the road and saw the little motorcycle I had my doubts. The guide handed me a helmet, I jumped on the back and off we went. The 5 km started out easy enough as the road was pretty smooth. Soon enough the pavement was all cracked and broken as it was originally described. This elicited many a ooof and arghhh as the shocks bottomed out and the bumps were intense. The road up to the entrance of the reserve gained over 1000 feet and lucky for me we stopped several times on our way up to see birds. Right off the bat I saw a new bird a Crested Serpent Eagle. Eventually I would see 22 new birds, out of a total of 31 different species. 12 of the species that I saw live only in Sri Lanka, also known as endemic species. Once we got up the mountain, we walked 5 miles and had an additional 845 feet of elevation gain. We spent four hours walking and at the end I was happy to get back on the motorcycle and ride on that rough road back to the car. It was great fun and a very good haul of new birds.
It is nice and misty as the sun is coming up
Endemic birds in the mist
First bird is a white throated kingfisher
Then a crested serpent eagle lifebird #1
Layard's Parakeet Lifebird #2 and a species endemic to Sri Lanka
This area has tea plantations on the slopes
Nice stream
Still pretty early
Sri Lanka Green Pigeon Lifebird #3 and an endemic
Yellow Fronted Barbet Lifebird #4 and an endemic
Crimson Fronted Barbet lifebird #5 and an endemic
A jungle squirrel and an endemic
Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot Lifebird #6 and an endemic
A beautiful White Fronted Drongo
Lovely views from up on top
Orange Miniver lfebird #7
A Bar Winged Flycatcher Shrike, a lifebird (#8) and the bird with the longest name so far
This is a truck trying to make it up the road
A Red Backed Flameback lifebird #9 and an endemic
My guide was, Achintha, Achi for short
Nice flowers
This toilet is only for the foreign visitors
We are at the gate to the reserve and still more altitude to be gained
Lots of beautiful flowers
The Sinharaja Reserve
Rough terrain
Fern heaven
This is the "road"
Butterflies so big I mistook them for birds
Interesting leaf patterns
Giant squirrel the size of a cat
Giant spider
5 inches across
Monkeys!
The male Malabar Trogon lifebird #10
The female was right next to him
We are really up there. The motorcycle ride gained 1100 feet and the walk another 845 ft
A temple up on top
Do not touch, very spiky
Ashy Headed Laughingthrush, Lifebird #11 and an endemic
The Lesser Yellownape lifebird #12 and an endemic
Orange Billed Babbler lifebird #13 and an endemic. These birds are called babblers because they make so much noise
Sambar deer did not make an appearance
Still smiling
Another mountain stream
A nice place to stop for lunch. Achi and his mom made the sandwiches
Also a good place to tend to my leech wounds
We have reached the top. There is a lodge further along this road
80 year old tea plants, very gnarly
Tea plantations extend off into the distance, outside the boundaries of the reserve
Purple faced leaf monkey
Yellow Browed Bulbul lifebird #14
The Sri Lanka White Eye lifebird #15 and an endemic
Nice hair
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie lifebird #16 and an endemic
A very colorful bird
Back at the gates
A motorcycle for two
Selfie while riding
Back down through the tea plantations
Rugged terrain to pick tea leaves, see the worker in the center of the picture
Broken road
That is where we were
We drove back through small towns
Very bright robes, a smart outfit wile walking on the Sri Lanka roads
Robo cop
A truck full of coconut husks
