Monkey tricks and a day to remember in Yala
‘Poor me’: Trying to pull at our heartstrings
I had seen several years back the Walt Disney movie set of The Monkey Kingdom, filmed in the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa with my sons, and, having grown up with Sri Lankan wildlife, thought, ‘How could a troop of cheeky red-faced monkeys with Beatles’ style bowl hair cuts be such a threat.’ On an all-day trip around Yala – one of the island’s oldest national parks, established in the 1900s, I quickly discovered, over a lunch break in an area set aside for safari vehicles to make a stop that the Toque Macaques have pretty much every angle covered.
Maari, our lovely driver, equipped with almost superhuman long distance vision, who comes from generations of park driver guides, could spot a green snake in green bushy undergrowth far away while driving past it at speed, and even a lizard camouflaged to look just like a piece of tree bark, that even a few metres away, I found difficult to see in front of my nose.
We had been up since 5 a.m. and were all hungry from our exciting morning of spotting 18 different bird species and 18 other animals, including a female leopard hidden beneath an overhanging rock, and a six month-old baby elephant, daintily picking flowers with its trunk, while drinking with its mother in a watering hole carpeted in white lilies. We were told as we got out of the vehicle, to take absolutely everything out of the jeep, even our clothes, as nothing is sacred to these simian jungle rogues. Locking all but our lunch packets in the front of the vehicle, we headed down to the water and found ourselves a sandy bank, wondering what all the fuss is about, as nothing, not even a bee, was buzzing overhead in the midday heat. That is, anything except a troop of 38 Toque Macaques, watching us from their hiding places among some trees along the river banks.
Bonding time: Baby elephant picks a flower
Our first knowledge that we were about to be surrounded was when an appealing female came rushing up to us and put her paw out, staring at us with ‘poor me’ eyes as her baby suckled on her breast. Knowing the rules of the park, we shook our heads and carried on eating until one rather alarming male came charging over and bared his teeth with a terrifying battlecry for others to join him, to which they responded, hanging off the oversized branches above us, making us move more towards a tree stump on open ground by the river.
This did not deter the troop, who sent more mothers and cute babies in to plead for our food, whilst half the group of monkeys descended upon the safari vehicle looking to see if we had left a few tasty morsels behind. Maari and Chamara, one of the park’s most passionate naturalists, explained that they would happily take anything, and told us how some visitors returning from a river swim had found themselves having to go back to their hotels only in their swimming costumes or worse, their underwear!
Finding nothing in the vehicle, they returned to our picnic circle, where my sons had now picked up big branches, not to use, but to show the monkeys that they must behave, as they formed a ring around us, frequently showing us their razor sharp teeth that made it more than clear who was the boss of the jungle. Amzar made a warlike cry, while in contrast Samad, my older son, falling for the ‘poor me’ trembling hand of a mother that had not one, but two babies suckling her, asked, “Why can’t we feed them; they seem so hungry?”
Luckily for me, the noise of another two vehicles arriving made the monkeys vanish like magicians into thin air. Not having the benefit of a jungle-wise naturalist and an experienced driver guide, they were not warned about the monkeys. Within minutes of them alighting to go to the toilets or make ready to cool off with a swim, the monkeys spotting their opportunity, piled into their vehicles and with triumphant battle cries, shook a banana in the air and consumed some boiled eggs left over from breakfast before vanishing into the jungle.
Maari our excellent safari guide
We quickly finished our delicious Jetwing pack lunches and headed for the Menik river known for its gems, to climb on the trees overhanging this idyllic spot and take a paddle in our clothes, as we did not fancy being naked for the second half of the day’s safari.
An epic safari that took us past herds of majestic elephants, ancient grave circles, mysterious ruins and towering rocks with pools of water where an ancient civilisation had ruled. There was even a broken stupa at the top of one of the rocks that looked so old and mysterious I felt drawn to imagine living up there. Chamara, our naturalist, was especially interested in the bat calls and indeed found a small colony of rare insect eating bats hiding out under an ancient rock ledge.
From here, we were lucky enough to see a male leopard cross the road swirling his tail in the air before disappearing into the scrub bush leaving only his footprints behind. I felt sorry for the handful of jeep drivers, who are responsible for showing you this wild world as the economic downturn means as few as ten jeeps are in the parks daily of the 750 registered ones, whose families rely on the area for their livelihood.
My one wish, besides putting Yala back on the traveller’s ‘must see’ map, was to see a sloth bear and, being the dry season and the time when their favourite flowers are in season, we were lucky enough to see one in his heavy coat with war-like scars all over his face, regal in his aged repose. However, for all of us, the sneaky crocodiles, with gaping reptilian mouths, snaking their way through the water to attack a herd of spotted deer, was more than a little exciting, in a park where the laws of the jungle still exist and we must all remember to respect them.
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