I went to some places I had visited last year (like Yala and Bundala National Parks), but also some new places such as Kalpitiya and Wilpattu in the north west. Kalpitiya is on the coast and is a base for whale-watching. We didn't see any whales and my camera got soaked by the waves splashing over the boat and stopped working for a couple of hours, so in that respect it was a bit of a disaster. However, once the camera was working again I really enjoyed shooting the Gull-billed terns down by the beach (my 2 best photos of them can be seen in the 'Wetland Birds of Sri Lanka' gallery) and the Sanderlings (small waders) trying to cheat the waves.

Wilpattu was particularly good for raptors, but I was disappointed not to see a leopard there as other people staying at the same lodge as me had had good views of one. Yala National Park is Sri Lanka's prime location for leopards and it didn't let me down. I got some photos of leopards on rocks (these can be seen in the 'Mammals of Sri Lanka' gallery) that were definitely better then the ones of leopards in trees that I had taken there last year - the leopards were nearer and not partially obscured by vegetation. I also saw at Yala my first ever Sloth Bear. And Bundala was once again excellent for wetland birds.

All in all it was a wonderful trip and I was very lucky with some of the sightings I had and the photographs that I took.