Sri Lankaka Club Symposium - Bahrain Toastmaster Magazine SLCS Toastmasters Bahrain - Epitome 01 | Page 11

SRI LANKA CLUB SYMPOSIUM TOASTMASTERS Issue October-November 2013 BEST OF THE BEST “LAND LIKE NO OTHER - BEAUTY OF THE NATURE” SESSION 400- TM DUSHAN “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” Eleanor Roosevelt Master of Ceremonies, Fellow Toastmasters and guests I dreamt to join a hotel in Sri Lanka. When I got appointed as an accounts executive in Yala Village hotel head office in Colombo, I felt my dream has come true although it was a new challenge for me. After two weeks, our admin manager Suranjith told me to get ready for a monthly audit at Yala hotel. We had to leave next day. Until that time, I have never been to the wild life park and only seen the pictures of the Hotel. We took the Rathnapura/ Udwalwe road, specially because of the sceneries which I could enjoy as a fresher. Our engineer Carlo also joined with us. I got the front seat as a first timer to enjoy the moment. I saw Suranjith bring all his classic English music collection with him. I know for sure, it’s going to be class classic music on the way. I was told that it will take around 6 hours to reach our destination. “Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” When we reached Rathnapura, the beautiful city of gems, we got caught with heavy rain. Although it slowed our proceedings, I enjoyed the beautiful nature of mountains under rain. Going through the gloomy weather we reached udawalawa dam. Thanks god, rain already stopped. We stopped our pickup to enjoy that beautiful sunset. Then suddenly, I saw a wild elephant for the first time in my life. When others saw my excitement, they laughed at me. When I asked the reason, they told that those elephants have now become domestic animals in udawalawa area. Because people like to feed them, they always wait near to electric fences. My happiness vanished in a moment, like a stone thrown into a deep valley. http://slcs.toastmastersclubs.org .After six hours we reached Yala town. Then they told me Hotel is still 30 min away inside jungle. I got mad, but they assured it’s the best part of the journey. When we entered the gavel road towards Yala jungle, suddenly Suranjith stopped the pickup. I thought it was a break down. But it was a different story; he sensed some wild elephants moving near to road. So we had to wait till they leave. I looked either side, using night vision but only saw a rabbit. I thought they just wanted to rag me. But within seconds a baby elephant ran across the road followed by parents. My heart shattered into pieces like a glass bowl that was dropped on the floor. If we move they will attack us. But I wondered how they knew the presence of elephants. Carlo told me, if you see broken tree branches or fresh dung on the road, elephants are near. Finally we reached the hotel main gate; security staff gave us a warm welcome with cooling towels, which we desperately needed. It was a delightful scene with the illuminated Yala Hotel in the middle of dark jungle. I chose chalet no 51, which was near to back office where I was planning to work till late hours. I got warning from security that elephants trespass the hotel premises at night. It certainly added fear to my mind. Yala village Hotel is a 4 star ranking resortwith 51chalets in the wild where the wildlife roams through the hotel compound, giving a true Jungle feel. Wild boars come almost to your door step early in the morning. Also, this is AN ECO RESORT, so no pretty walkways, only gravel footpaths leading to chalets. What you have is jungle all around.The hotel staff was very helpful. TM DUSHAN KANCHANA [4TH PROJECT CC] They escorted me to the room after dark, as there were occasionally prowling Elephants. I was bit thin those days and even a prowling rabbit could do me great harm. The hotel has preserved the environment through recycling, and can be considered to be eco-friendly. Although the beach was near, we couldn’t swim due to rough seas. But still the beach was dramatic and great to walk along. Just keep your eyes open for animals and remember they are wild. The next day, GM invited me for safari. I heard that The Yala National Park is the best in whole South Asia. We began our safari, the roads were bumpy and dusty, and the wild life was incredible. There are ample herds of elephants, spotted deer, jackal, mongoose, monkeys, wild bows, crocodiles, want to be seen. We didn’t see the elusive leopard &seasonal sloth bear during our 2 & half hour Safari. But there were many Peacocks, jungle fowl, cranes & lot of other birds. After dusty safari we rushed to the hotel to get a good chilled outing i