Around the Cinnamon Wild hotel - the Tank and the beach

As noted in an earlier post, my hotel in Yala had its own lake in front of it which was pretty much stuffed with wildlife. So on our "day off" I chose to start my morning by circumnavigating the lake, having heeded the warnings to beware both the crocodiles and the water buffaloes. Having said that I wasn't sure what I should do about either, other than maybe not go swimming.

Anyway, the bird life at least seemed benign. No one is mauled to death by elegant white egrets or the skittering little stilts.

 A swamp heron

An egret posing with a grey heron

And now posing with a croc and a couple of stilts

 Pelicans nest on an island in the middle of the lake

The electricity wires around the place make ideal spots for both swallows and bee-eaters to perch

A stately spoonbill

I got pretty close to the water buffalo. I admit I was a bit nervous of them, but all they did was stare. A little rude of them I thought.

You can just see the top of the restaurant block of the hotel in the background

Grey Heron - although I have seen these a few hundred yards from my house in Palmers Green

 A cormorant tree

Ok, I am really proud of this shot - a bee-eater and a kingfisher sitting on the same dead tree. Two extremely attractive birds.

 I said I didn't know what to do if any of the buffalo turned nasty. The hotel helpfully explained what to do if one encountered an elephant as one could.

Having gone round the lake I then back tracked through the rear of the hotel bungalows to come out onto a pretty much deserted beach.

Me well on the way to getting sun-burnt for the only time on the holiday

On the way back I encountered a wild boar. Not so very wild out here it seems.

 Finished up with a well-earned beer in one of the hotel bars, and what should wander past but the hotel's resident wild boar, sauntering through by the pool. I told you they weren't very wild.