Journey Through Wilderness

About me

THE WAIT…..

Wildlife photography is to me, the most fascinating activity a person can have. It is filled with enormous pain and cherished smile. Around the age of 10 or 11, I used to build small wooden boxes to hang on the branches close to the window of my old house in Mount Lavinia Sri Lanka, to keep fruits to attract birds. It worked really well and I use to observe the birds by using my uncles binoculars. My passion for nature really came like that. Gradually my intensions were built to go for a camera. The first camera was brought when I was just around sixteen (Minolta SRT 303b with a 200 mm Tele lens).
Each & everyone have their own style of capturing wildlife photos. I have my own. I always try to put more distance in the picture to have more breathing space in the final result to have something more constructive. I always make sure to put more importance on the environment or play of light, rather than the animal itself. I would like to take a picture of a common bird in a beautiful environment rather than a close up of a very rare bird. It is my passion.
Always remember that there are two sides in wildlife photography. The vulnerability and safer sides goes hand in hand in this field. An elephant is a powerful animal. In size it is huge, massive and very intelligent specie. Sometimes you feel so small when faced with the power of nature. When it is in few meters front of you and when you hear its breath, you will not know what next going to happen. When a wild elephant looks at you, there is an incredible intensity which will give you shivers. The only machine what I have is to escape if the crisis become verse is my Demak DTM 150 Dual Purpose Adventure Motorcycle.
There are moments when you take photographs where the atmosphere or the light is really beautiful or the moment is so calm that you just need to be in harmony with the environment.
There are moments with the serenity, when you are just waiting without really seeing time go by and that moment you are completely disconnected with the rest of the world. You only pay attention to the surroundings of the Mother Nature. That is so cool and I cannot express this to another until they experience that moment. Some people see nature as completely a separate thing from their lives. What they do not realize is that they are also a part of the Mother Nature.
When I arrived in new location for the first time I do not really know where to start. Finding your bearings always seems to take such a long time. You walk kilometers and kilometers, sometime all alone, and you start telling to yourself that, at the next turn you will see what you are waiting for and it may fail. It can be another five kilometer walk and still you may not achieve it. To me the wildlife photography is a cat and mouse game. We may try to find them and they may try to hide from us. ‘”PATIENCE” is one of the key things to have in this field. Also you have to endure the starvation and all that pain what comes with that word “PATIENCE”. Without patience you will not be able to capture the glimpse of nature. If half hour, and hour passes and you will be really been fed up and wanted to leave the hide thinking it is just not going to work. It takes large amount of time, and sometimes one week to take a shot and you know exactly where the animals do appear.
When I am on trip and it is been a day or two and haven’t taken a single shot, and then I ask myself, why?, and what I am doing here?, wouldn’t be better at home with my mother a side rather than walking and crawling on mud and dust?. Why you have to go through agony? Will the rest of the world appreciate what you are doing? When challenges accumulate it will not hold you back. Every pain to me is an extra bit of motivation to what I am looking for. The next hour or day everything might change. Sometimes the Mother Nature is so unpredictable and spending two or three days you may see nothing. But very next day it will BOOM right in front of you. It will provoke so much of emotion. It will be such an intense moment, and it is a moment that will last just thirty seconds, one minute and sometimes five to fifteen minutes, whole day of waiting and all depends, how Mother Nature is going to give that moment to you. Person who understands Mother Nature will understand the behavior of hers. At least you will have some kind of a clue and then you have to anticipate what will happen next. Once that most waited CLICK is done all the difficulties what you had disappears and you will have that micro instant of life that you wanted, and I always think that i am privileged because I am the only one to witness that moment and the final CLICK is what captures all of that, and that, and that is the shot. The wait.
Thank you for reading
Dhilip De Alwis

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THE TRAILS ETIQUETTE AND SAFETY

Ayubowan to everyone, who are exploring "Journey Through Wilderness" blogger page for information. Please note that I conduct bird, Wildlife and wildlife photography trails to anyone who has a liking towards the mentioned activities. I have my parameters when handling these trials to minimize the capacity of the participants at one given time (half a day or full day) to conduct a remarkable trail. I only take one person to six people to ensure a more educational and pleasing atmosphere. Morning trails begin at 6.30am and continue until we all achieve the desired goal. Evening trails begin at 3.00pm.

The full day trails will be conducted from 6.30am - 10.30am and then we stop for lunch and proceed again from 3.00pm till dusk.

Also, I leave an option to you, if you are a solo person interested in doing these trails other than visiting into any of the national parks, that I can offer you to be a pillion rider on my dirt bike, paying a reasonable charge for the transportation, where we can explore more mileage at the end.

Always remember that you will not be granted permission to isolate me at any given time without prior notice. This will be very strictly applied to persons more than one. Also, the same rules & regulations will be applied, if you happen to visit any selected national parks nearby. The solo explorers too, should obey the same rules as, all trails will be conducted close proximity to the wilderness and isolated areas. One more major thing to remind you to avoid feeding primates as they can be a real disturbance to our trails. Generally, all species should be kept alone if you need to get the maximum leisure, pleasure and enjoyment.

Hope that you will experience my trails no sooner than later if you visit Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Thank you,

Dhilip de Alwis (JTW)

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GENERAL EVENTS

ANNULAR ECLIPSE OF THE SUN
(වලයාකාර සූර්‍යක් ග්‍රහනය)
Date (දිනය) - 2019-12-26
Location (ස්ථානය) - NCP (උතුරැ මැද)

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ADVENTURE MOTORCYCLE TOURS

PLANNING FOR THE 2nd ADVENTURE MISSION

When i take part in an adventure motorcycle

tour i do carry a message to the people whom

i meet here and there about the values of

Nature. Now i do not have to spend hours of

talking the subject. They can watch and learn

for the betterment of world tomorrow.

DAY TRIP TO MANNAR ON 08TH FEBRUARY 2019

LEFT AT 3.00 am AND REACHED VANKALAI BS MANNAR

AROUND 5.20 am

On our way back the sceneries were fantastic. This picture above

contains farmers waiting for their harvest

DUAL PURPOSE ADVENTURE MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY

THROUGH WILDERNESS – PART ONE

(Finishing The Unfinished)

HABARANA - KATARAGAMA - HABARANA

DUAL PURPOSE ADVENTURE JOURNEY

It is really fun. Unfortunately, I did not have any supporting riders to share this fun. I started my journey from Habarana Sri Lanka around 5.45 am to travel 280.5 km to Kataragama. It was my planed destination. At 112 km I stopped my Demak DTM 150 dual purpose adventure bike to ease off my hands and legs. I drank enough water to stop from dehydration while travelling. Bakamuna to Hettipola and thereafter from Hettipola to Bibile the road was classic. Ridden through many sharp bends (corners), climbs & steep down hills like it have been tailor made for dual purpose adventure riding. When I reached Buttala I just stopped for a break and to get attended to the adjustment of the chain tension. After the adjustment of the chain tension the plan is to reach the required destination. From Buttala I turned into Kataragama road to conclude the days travelling. I was maintaining a speed limit of 92 km to 100 km till I reached the 37 km post from the nearby town where I started my journey after the second break. There was a huge road block….The famous Elephant named Raja. This fellow elephant always stands on the roadside waiting to demand for food from the pilgrims who take this road to Kataragama. It is advised that you to take some fruits to give him. After offering of fruits, then he moves away from the road, allowing you to proceed ahead. I faced the same and I offered him a melon and then went pass by him. Finally, I reached the most waiting destination. I stayed at the Sri Lanka Tourist Board Guest House made for local tourist and I had a cool shower, slept for a while to take part in the 6.30 pm service at the Historic God Kataragama Shrine. After the service was ended, I came back to the guest house, and I met two personalities the farther in law of the Manager Mr. Dushyanth Mendis of the guest house. The night was spent seated and talking in the veranda on various subjects, mainly about elephants. The sleep came dashing and the good nights were heard then walked into my room No.15.

As usual I woke up very early and I packed my things on the bike. The breakfast was at 7.00 am. Rotti, Dhal & coconut samboll (vegetarian guest house) were served at the breakfast with a cup of milk tea.

The clock marked 7.30am. The time has come to start my journey back to the place where I started. First thing first and went to the pumping station to fill the tank. Here I go…Again at the 37 km post I encountered the elephant, Raja. He was having his breakfast facing the bush. I did not have any problems escaping from him. Reached Dambulla by 12.25 pm and while heading towards Habarana got caught to heavy rain and I was held up for almost two hours. Finally, I made it home after doing 561 km both ways. Touch-wood the bike I traveled the Demak DTM 150cc never made any kind of fussiness of taking all the beatings. The ride was just extremely fantastic. It is a real JOURNEY THROUGH WILDERNESS.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

Extinction Rebellions Plans More Mass Disturbances

Roger Hallam, the co-founder of the environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellions says more disturbances are planed for London.

EXTINCTION REBELLION want UK Government to declare a "climate & ecological emergency" and take immediate action to address climate change.

BBC News

Watch the full interview here -

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-49374289/extinction-rebellion-plans-more-mass-disturbances

Amazon Fires

The National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) said it's satellite data shown an 84% increase on the same period in 2018

BBC News

More Info - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49415973

Ex- Rebels Become Eco-Warriors To Save Rain Forest

Former Farc rebels in Colombia, who spent decades fighting the Government over land and power, have reinvented themselves as eco-warriors protecting the Amazon rainforest from illegal logging.

According to the Colombian Government deforestation in the Colombian-Amazon rose by 66% between 2015 and 2018.

BBC News

More Info - https://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/49372320/former-farc-rebels-become-eco-warriors-to-stop-deforestation-in-the-amazon

SCENERY

WAY TO ELAHERA

MINNERIYA

GIRITHALE TANK

ROAD TO ELAHERA

ANCIENT MINIPE CANAL

ELEHERA ZONE

HISTORICAL SITES OF SRI LANKA

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RITIGALA (ARITTA PABBATHA)

Ritigala is an ancient Buddhist monastery and mountain in Sri Lanka. The ruins and rock inscriptions of the monastery date back to 1st century BCE. It is located 43 km away from the ancient monastic city of Anuradhapura.

At 766 m above sea level, and 600 m above the surrounding plains, Ritigala is the highest mountain in northern Sri Lanka. The modern name Ritigala is derived from the ancient name Ariṭṭha Pabbata (Dreadful Mountain), mentioned in the Mahavamsa.

Ritigala mountain range consists of four peaks of which the main and the highest peak at the south of the range is named Ritigala Kanda. Ritigala mountain range, a 3776-acre (1582 ha) Strict Nature Reserve, in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, is managed by the Department of Wildlife of Sri Lanka together with the Forest Department of Sri Lanka.

Ritigala Kanda (Mountain) rises to an elevation of 2513 feet, higher than the other main tourist attractions of the north central plains, namely Sigiriya, Dambulla and Mihintale. The significance of this topographical feature lies in the abrupt sheerness of the massif, its wooded slopes and wet microclimate at the summit. During the North East monsoon (December to February), Ritigala experiences the highest rainfall (125 cm) of entire dry zone.

The wet micro climate at Ritigala is a singular occurrence in the north central plains, the ancient Sri Lanka’s “Wewe Bandi Rata” meaning “the land of rainwater reservoirs” in Sinhalese.

Legends abound on Ritigala. One of mysterious aspect is the belief of powerful medicinal herbs found near the crest. A herb called “Sansevi” is believed to have the power of conferring long life and curing all human pain. According to legend, all vegetation on Ritigala is protected by Yakkas, the guardian spirits of the mountain. The venerable Prof. Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907–1997), a Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, a Buddhist monk scholar, in his “History of Buddhism in Ceylon, says "the term “Yaksa” denotes superhuman beings worthy of respect. It is possible that it was applied, by an extension of meaning, also to some pre-Buddhistic tribe of human beings, aboriginal to Ceylon".

The legend has it that Prince Pandukhabaya (3rd century BC) was assisted by Yakkas during his battles against his eight uncles at the foot of Ritigala. Another legend refers to a duel of two giants, most possibly Yakkas, named Soma and Jayasena. Soma being killed in the duel, Jayasena became a legend.

According to popular belief, non-human Lord Hanuman of supernatural powers, traveled over Ritigala, and, by accident, dropped a chunk off a mountain of the Himalaya range he was carrying from India to Lanka for its medicinal herbs. Lord Rama's brother, Prince Lakshmana was mortally wounded in battle and only a rare herb in the Himalaya could save his life. The pocket of vegetation of healing herbs and plants at the strange mini-plateau at the summit of Ritigala, which is distinct from the dry-zone flora of the lower slopes and surrounding plains at Ritigala, could thus be accounted for.

Lord Hanuman has visited Lanka on a previous occasion. That was when he was sent by Lord Rama in search of his consort Sita. It was King Ravana, a devotee of God Siva, who seized Sita from Parnasali in India, the holy hut of Lord Rama and brought her to Asok Vana, a beautiful park at Seetha Eliya (close to Nuwara Eliya or Little England, as the British called it three millennia later) on the Pusparaga (Dadumonara) in an air chariot, without touching her. (The peacock logo of Air Lanka, the predecessor of SriLankan Airlines and successor of Air Ceylon, is a stylized version of Rawana’s air chariot.) Having found the location where Sita was held, Hanuman made use of Ritigala Kanda as a launching pad to take a leap across to South India. Incidentally, Ritigala is the highest prominence between the central plains of Sri Lanka and the coast of southern India.

The ruins of Ritigala monastery are located on the eastern side of the mountain at the foot of the gorge which separates the main peak from the northern ridge of the range. The ruins cover an area of 24 hectares (59 acres). The monastery precinct begins at the office of the on-site branch of Department of Archeology of Sri Lanka close to the foot of the reservoir named Banda Pokuna. The ancient man-made reservoir is a feat of engineering with a bund of polygonal plan completing a circumference of 366 meters. The construction of the reservoir is credited to King Pandukabhaya (437 -367 BC). The reservoir possibly served a ritual bathing purpose, with visitors bathing there before entering the monastery.

The order of ritual bathing tank, ruins of entrance complex and a pedestrian path seem to indicate devotees in large numbers visiting the monastery. The procession is similar to that of Kataragama where pilgrims begins with a cleansing bath at Kataragama Manik river and end with an offering to the God Skanda, the benevolent Hindu deity of Kataragama at the main shrine.

The edge of the reservoir is followed in a clockwise direction to arrive at the other bank, and cross the bed of the stream feeding the reservoir. The steep steps here onwards lead up to a beautifully constructed pavement, a stone path 1.5 meters wide that meander upwards through the forest, linking the major buildings of the monastery. The stone cut path is laid with interlocking four-sided slabs of hewn stone. Three large circular platforms at intervals along the pavement allow for rest.

There are stone structures named double-platforms, which are characteristic of Ritigala and other forest monasteries such as Arankele, Veherabandigala and the western monasteries at Anuradhapura. Spread over an area of about 120 acres are about 50 such double platforms.

Raised platforms formed by retaining walls of massive stones are found in pairs, linked together by a stone bridge. The main axis of the combined platforms is set exactly east west. The structures were then most possibly roofed and divided into rooms. These are believed to be used for solitary practices such as meditation, as well as congregational functions such as teaching and ceremony. Over a stone bridge lie interlocking ashlars and the ruins of a monastery hospital, where the medicinal herbs-leaves and roots-grinding stones and huge stone cut Ayurvedic oil baths can still be seen.

The pavement continues straight ahead to reach one of the roundabouts. About 20 meters before reaching the round about, a path heads off to the right, leading through enormous tree roots to a lookout, reached by a stone high above a burbling stream. Further up is another lookout. Then is found an artificial waterfall contrived by placing a stone slab between two rocks.

Another 500 meters and two further sunken courtyards are seen. The first courtyard contains a large double platform structure, one of the largest stone structures in the entire monastery; one of the platforms preserves the remains of the pillars which once supported a building. A few meters beyond lies the second courtyard and another large double platform.

With the exception of a few broken granite Buddha statues in a number of caves, Ritigala has none of the traditional icons of Buddhist temples: no bodhi tree, no stupas. The first Lanka Vihare (temple) was founded near Ritigala at the foot of the mountain in the second century BC. The Aritta Vihare was founded a century afterwards. Royals proved generous patrons. In the ninth century AD, King Sena made endowment of the monastery, a larger complex higher up the slope for a group of Buddhist ascetics called the Pansukulikas (rag robes) monks who devoted themselves to extreme austerity in search of supreme enlightenment.

Such was the detachment of these Buddhist ascetics from the traditional life of Buddhist monks at village temples, their robes were simply cleaned, washed and repaired rags, mostly shrouds picked up from cemeteries, in line with one of the thirteen ascetic practices (Dhutanga) outlined in Buddhism. Site information by Wikipedia web site.

This place may have had civilizations before priests took over. These mountain peaks are directly lined with Sigiriya (present name). Sigiriya was use to transmit signals to other planets during the period of King Rawana and this mountain would have been a encoder or a decoder to maintain the communications with extra terrestrials without any interception. I am into, kind of research with some of my friends.

SCENIC RITIGALA MOUNTAIN WITH A RICE FIELD ON THE FOREGROUND

LARGE BATHING POND OR POOL

1st STONE BRIDGE

INTERLOCKING SYSTEM WAS USED HERE FOR THE BRIDGE TO STAY UNMOVED

THESE CIRCLES MAY BE IN LINE WITH ORION BELT

There are star tracing Stupas were built in Sri Lanka for some sort of communication with the Extra Terrestrials. Ruwanweli Stupa, Jethawana Stupa & Mirisaweti Stupa are the three main Stupas that were built in line with the Orion belt. In the same manner the three main Pyramids in Giza too had been constructed in line with the Orion belt. Who has engineered the Pyramids and Stupas to be in line with Orion belt and for what reason? It is mainly for communication purposes with the extra terrestrials. There is a belief that Stupas have the ability to abstract ENERGY from the universe (Universal Energy). Even the pyramids behave the same. What is this universal energy is? It is a source of a signal, beam or a ray that we abstract from the universe.
I have placed below the pictures of the mappings of the the three stupas, the three Pyramids of Giza and the Orion belt. The pictures of the mappings of Stupa, Pyramids and Orion belt was downloaded from the web.
You can read more about the great three Stupas, great three Pyramids and the Orion belt on the link given bellow.
https://www.srilanka.travel/star-tracing-stupas-of-sri-lanka