Sri Lanka Archives -

It’s murder

Yes, you are watching an assassination in process, a cold blooded murder! The so called ‘Strangler fig’ is a killer, as the name suggests. It all starts innocently enough. A bird picks up a seed and deposits it high up in a tree. The bird is an ignorant accomplice, a tool, and can’t really be […]

Aliens are amongst us

The other day at breakfast, I was just enjoying my first coffee, my landlord got very excited. ‘Look, look!’, he said and pointed at the bushes next to the breakfast table. At first I thought he was just happy to see them flowering and smiled politely. I had just woken up and was on my […]

Elephants

The Elephant is an important part of the Sri Lankan culture. There are an estimated 4000 wild elephants living on this island. Most of the big herds live in the national parks and can be visited in organised safaris. The herds are living in a matriarchy and as a rule, males are not tolerated in […]

Last post of the year

Meet Gloriosa! This flower is as a deadly beauty. Every part of this plant, belonging to the lilly family, can kill you! Eating the flower itself should only make your hair fall out (if you’re lucky) and of course you’ll be violently ill but if you start nibbling on the stem or the root you’re […]

A Sunny Day

Yesterday was the first day of sunshine after many days of heavy rain, which had turned the streets into canals and forced the temperature to below 25 degrees Celsius. It was really quite unacceptable! This morning looked promising. The sun was bright and clear and a surprising amount of birds of prey enjoyed the warmth […]

Bats

Badulla is in the ‘mountains’ on the southern side of Sri Lanka and much cooler. I found a small guest house near the botanical garden. The people there were very friendly as most Sri Lankans are. In the evening after a lovely dinner I sat outside with the owner for a little chat and a […]