ayubowan!!!! wow....look at that

Yesterday Eleanore and i woke around 7am & prepped for wasgamuwa. she will be teaching while i do conservation work. The bus arrives a couple hours late and headed out on our 7 hr journey to the park. Everytime i thought we were as far as we could go into the sticks, we would make a left and go about twenty more miles. we are deep in the forest and the place is so untamed. The trees are giants and block out any sign of sunlight and seem to stretch all the way to the heavens. Its really exciting being able to stay in an area of sri lanka that most people never get to see. Once we made it to our site it was....errr...surprising. Our site is nothing but the basics. Our place consist of a cement floor with large holes in it, the frame is made from the branches of a jackfruit tree, and the walls consist of two made from mud and the other two from bamboo curtains. I love it! We have a tin roof, which is great since it rains all the time and for beds we have cots filled with coconut husks. The showers are in a seperate building and there is no roof at all in there so when you shower in the cold water you are looking right up at the trees. We unpacked and had our orientation and it seems it will be a busy two weeks, After a nice dinner we tried to sleep. Once the rain stopped you could hear the whole jungle alive with activity. Around midnight, I started to hear a rumbling, then i realized it was heavy footsteps and they were getting closer.It seemed perfect in this Jurassic park like atmosphere. Trees came crashing down and then trumpets, Wild elephants!!!! much different than the ones at the orpahanage or the beast i got to ride. These guys are killers. Over 150 people a year in this area alone. we laid perfectly still until they had their fill of jackfruit and coconuts and moved on.  Its really strange being woken by one of the largest wild animals there is. You know at any second you could be charged and tehre is nothing you can do about it but sit and wait. you feel ---well----helpless. Finally i was able to sleep again and woke around seven freezing from sweating all night in bed. I got up and had a bit of breakfast then hopped in the land rover to set off for work. Today is fence monitoring and it blows! I have to walk about 8km in 95 degree heat with 90% humidity. I walk this distance with about 2" between my face and an electric fence. Its rather frightening as after some distance the heat gets to you and your footing becomes unsure on the slippery mud hills, another concern is crossing over cobra holes and where they have burrowed into termite nest. I walked the distance anyhow with clipboard in hand and mark if there are loose or missing wires and the voltage at every pole, Usually 6.1-7.2 kvs---fun. Probably be a while til i write again as i am far from civilization and took a 5 hr bus ride to get to this cafe