“You are guaranteed elephants at Hurulu Eco Park” the man at the hotel said. I had never heard of Hurulu. I knew both Kaudulla and Minneriya National Parks near Habarana usually had large herds of Elephants. In fact, Minneriya is renowned for its “Elephant Gathering” when herds of over 200 elephants are seen in August and September. “No elephants there now” the man said again. This was February.

That afternoon we drove to Hurulu Eco Park in an Acme safari jeep wanting to see just elephants. Hundreds more seemed to have the same idea. There was an endless queue at the ticket office and we waited what seemed an eternity before we were let in to the park. Again, there was no tracker.

We drove in convoy along muddy tracks for hours without seeing a thing, let alone elephants. Then, there was a Changeable Hawk Eagle on a distant…