Day 32: Yala West National Park, Sri Lanka (February 8, 2011)

As I expected last night, my room was very cozy while the fire was lit and then was freezing when it went out. It looked really nice for about 90 minutes, though.

Today started with more driving (of course) but the rain finally cleared up. Or rather, we reached a part of the country that isn't getting quite as much rain as the rest (although it's still humid enough that nothing dries). A handful of things we saw along the way to our next stop:

From a hindu temple.

My afternoon/evening were spent on a mini safari in Yala West National Park, on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. It wasn't as impressive as the 5-day safari in Tanzania, but it had a few gems and some animals I'd never seen before. The park is mostly forest, not open plains, so it's harder to spot animals. And it's a lot smaller than any of the parks I toured in Africa. Still, a good way to spend the day:

I think he's called a Bugeater.

I am currently wearing my only clean top and only clean shorts, because this is the first place I've come to with easy access to laundry. So the hotel is (hand-washing?) everything else I own tonight. I've been doing it myself most days, but everything was starting to look a little dingy. Let's hope it actually comes out clean and then dries in this unbelievable humidity. The glamour of international travel never ceases.