Water monitor

The second highlight of our river safari up the Balapitiya River in South West Sri Lanka was seeing the water monitor. We spotted it swimming towards the middle of the river, but as soon as our boat with the noisy outboard got anywhere near it, it headed back to the mangroves.

I felt sorry for the monitor, as our guide was literally chasing it back into the mangroves with the outboard at full throttle. A chased animal combined with the noise and diesel fumes of the outboard spoiled the otherwise magic encounter.

I will leave you in suspense with what the third highlights of this boat trip was.