June 2004 I was able to take a long weekend to Yala East National Park (and the Kumana bird sanctuary) in Sri Lanka. I say a long weekend, as it was about 10 hours driving each way with the last quarter of the trip on a one lane “highway”. However, there was an exciting part to the drive - an elephant crossing about 30 miles from the east coast at Lahugala Kitulana, where every night about 100 elephants cross the road going from the foothills to the jungle. We arrived at the crossing at dusk and stopped for some very quick pictures.

Yala East NP was re-opened in 2003 after 17 years of closure due to conflicts in the area. I had heard of good leopard sightings in the park but that was not the case for us. Other than one set of tracks we saw no cats. Inside Yala East is Kumana, which is a mangrove swamp bird sanctuary. The migratory birds were obviously gone in June but the Painted Storks, Spot-bill Pelicans and Eurasian Spoonbills were there nesting.

There are no hotels or bungalows in Yala East and the closest hotels are two villages north of the park entrance – about an hour’s drive by jeep. The pictures represent two days in the park – with two shots at the elephant crossing at Lahugala Kitulana. Along with the pictures I am including a small commentary on the scene and the camera settings.