Gloriosa superba: 'Niyangala' - Sinhalese: 'Kandal' - Tamil, flower, Wewalwaththe,

The flower of the 'Niyangala' or 'Kandal' is very beautiful. Its yam is poisonous and can cause death. I saw this in full bloom, in a wet humid environment, close to Rathnapura.

The Green Imperial pigeon, Malwala, Sri Lanka

On the opposite bank of the Kaluganga at Malwala, where I saw the Brahminy kite, I saw a largish bird, slightly smaller than the Brahminy kite. I took this photo of it. My son in law Charaka identified it as the Green Imperial pigeon - Ducula aenea.

A Brahminy kite on the banks of the Kalu-ganga, Malwala, Sri Lanka

The Brahminy kite is found all over Sri Lanka. It flies very high, riding the thermal air currents and has a piercing cry- something like 'weeeeee........we....we'. It preys on chicks of all species of birds. I saw this perched on a tree on the banks of the Kalu-ganga at Malwala. The camera used by me for this was photo was a Fuji Finepix 5.1Megpix - S5200 - at 10 zoom and anti blur, high ISO setting.

Ferry boat, upper reaches of Kalu Ganga, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka.

An old type ferry boat, built of bamboo trunks. Bamboo grows abundantly on the banks of rivers in Sri Lanka and help to prevent soil erosion on the banks of the rivers..

Old planters bungalow, Alupola, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka

The British planters built very spacious bungalows during colonial times (Pre 1948), in Sri Lanka. They were self sufficient in many ways. They had Jersey cows, rabbits, a chicken run, a well cultivated vegetable and flower garden etc. This is one of the bungalows facing the Alupola waterfall, on a hill side.