Traveling to Sri Lanka.. what to take ?

tomkbucks

tomkbucks

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thomas
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So im doing two weeks in sri lanka, so far taking 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8 60d, gorilla pod, cleaning bits and bobs (oh and a go pro and compact camear) question is do i take a flash ? im not sure i would use it... but know it may make all the difference when i need it!
 
I didn't use a flash once in Sri Lanka, there were a couple of times I wanted one but only for taking snapshots of the wife or food. I'd make sure you have a cpl as the landscapes opportunities are great and I found one a real benefit as you can't always wait around for the perfect light on a holiday! Will you be going on any safari drives? We went to see Elephants up North and to try and see Leopards down south, Loads of Elephants no Leopards! If this is in your plans I'd get a 1.4x or 2x tele convertor for your 70-200mm as you will want all the length you can get.

Slight aside if you are planning to visit Pinwalla or any of the other Elephant 'orphanages' then do some research before you commit they are often not what they appear to be and while you will get an up close experience of Elephants it is not necessarily something we should be encouraging with our tourist dollar.

Little teaser for you!


Sigiriya Rock Temple, Sri Lanka by a1ex2001, on Flickr
 
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Waterproof bag too... can't remember when their rainy season starts, but things often got very wet very quickly when we were there in October. And some bags of silica gel if the humidty is up.

As per Elephant orphanages, Yala national Park (for Jaguars) also has mixed reviews in terms of animal welfare...

Likewise never used a flash. Tripod was essential for the various cave temples around.
Cir-pl and some grads were used for some of their incredible sunsets/sun-rises - especially around Nurwa Eliya and the tea plantations.
 
Durbs said:
Waterproof bag too... can't remember when their rainy season starts, but things often got very wet very quickly when we were there in October. And some bags of silica gel if the humidty is up.

As per Elephant orphanages, Yala national Park (for Jaguars) also has mixed reviews in terms of animal welfare...

Likewise never used a flash. Tripod was essential for the various cave temples around.
Cir-pl and some grads were used for some of their incredible sunsets/sun-rises - especially around Nurwa Eliya and the tea plantations.
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Yala (it was definitely Leopards we were seeking there not Jaguars) is a tricky one, massive improvement on Pinwalla and the likes but desperately in need of better management as are the other national parks up north. They need to quickly find a way to balance the number of vehicles and visitors with the wildlife's needs but then they risk taking the income away from hundreds of families which in turn puts the animals back at risk it's a vicious circle but one they need to solve.
 
Ah yes, wrong cat.

The horror story we heard of Yala was of a leopard being run over by the safari jeeps as they all rushed into see it.
 
Make sure you go into a local town for the markets... better yet, travel on the trains with the locals. You'll see some stuff you'd never imagine! And photography aside, find yourself some beach where the 'sand' is actually ground up coral... best foot massage you'll ever have and you'll have feet as smooth as a baby's bottom! ;)

PS - I never used my flash once.
 
Thanks chaps yes my thinking is correct.. we are 'touring' staying in kandy ,then going up north to stay in sigiriya , then down to the tea picking in the mountains - and yes taking the local train ! so taking the go pro for some time laps :) annoyingly my camera kit is 2x larger than the clothes im taking ! so no room for a proper tripod just the gorilla pod! will got to a few reserves im sure but i have mixed feelings about the elephant orphans as they beat them to 'make them scared of humans' and i think if i see that i will just want to go beat them.... will venture in to all the towns ! and take some crayons for the kids too id imagen...
 
Crayons (sweets = unaffordable dentist) are a good idea: we've done that in a lot of countries where the kids get a poor deal. Just make sure that you hand them out quietly and not when big kids are around unless you want to see the big kids (and/or adults) take them from the small kids.
 
gramps said:
Never saw anything like that when we visited Pinawalla and the elephants seemed to be very happy ...
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Really didn't want to turn this thread into a pinewala rant so apologies to the op!

The real problem with Elephant orphanages in Srilanka is that there are very few orphaned elephants anymore as the number of working elephants in the country has fallen massively. This has lead to pinwalla now breeding elephants so it can stay in business yet it still has baby elephants always available for bottle feeding which means they are forcibly separated from their mothers for no reason other than money. Elephants are routinely chained on very short lengths and the videos out there of the elephants being mistreated are common enough to be a massive worry.

Still it is your choice if you want to spend your money with these businesses just don't believe they are orphanages rescuing abused and abandoned elephants.
 
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yes i get all the points and this is something i dont want to see , but will start on safari first of all , on another point .... i cant decide if i should take a laptop... it goes against the 'packing light' option but i would have room in the main suitcase , its a 12" IMB x100e so not a massive bit of kit weighting in at 1.8 Kg... i would need a decent case for it though as it would have to go in hold... or wrapped in clothes.. thoughts ??? will i need one / use one ? ive got a tablet which i was going to do internet browsing on but now thinking id like to fiddle in the evneing and back stuf up...
 
tomkbucks said:
yes i get all the points and this is something i dont want to see , but will start on safari first of all , on another point .... i cant decide if i should take a laptop... it goes against the 'packing light' option but i would have room in the main suitcase , its a 12" IMB x100e so not a massive bit of kit weighting in at 1.8 Kg... i would need a decent case for it though as it would have to go in hold... or wrapped in clothes.. thoughts ??? will i need one / use one ? ive got a tablet which i was going to do internet browsing on but now thinking id like to fiddle in the evneing and back stuf up...
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I've never taken a laptop or tablet on holiday a phone has always been sufficient for the tiny bit of browsing I do on holiday, I prefer to spend the evenings relaxing with the wife talking about our day etc.

Backup is a tricky one and something that is always a worry, I take a large number of 8GB cards and aim to swap to a new card at least every other day and always put a fresh card in if I'm going somewhere a little dodgy especially after dark. That way if I get a card corruption or robbed I don't loose everything. Spare and used cards live in the hotel safe, this approach has served me well to date.
 
I've always got a backup 'device' with me. Usually a laptop, now a laptop and a Colorspace UDMA2. That way I've got three copies of the images and they're in three different places. If I'm going longhaul then I'm going to do all I can to make sure all my images come home with me!
 
tomkbucks said:
yes i get all the points and this is something i dont want to see , but will start on safari first of all , on another point .... i cant decide if i should take a laptop... it goes against the 'packing light' option but i would have room in the main suitcase , its a 12" IMB x100e so not a massive bit of kit weighting in at 1.8 Kg... i would need a decent case for it though as it would have to go in hold... or wrapped in clothes.. thoughts ??? will i need one / use one ? ive got a tablet which i was going to do internet browsing on but now thinking id like to fiddle in the evneing and back stuf up...
Click to expand...

You should check first with your airline. I'm not sure laptops can be carried in hold baggage. I think they have to be in handbaggage.
 
It is mainly backups, the go pro burns through cards :( shame there is No cheap backups for SD cards :(
 
hum now ive done my final packing my sigma 10-20 seems to have made its way in to my suitcase.. is it worth taking ? its optically not a great lens but hum i cant decide...
 
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