Carl Fernando was known to me ever since we joined the FIELD ORNITHOLOGY GROUP OF SRI LANKA [Fogsl] in 1996. An outdoor man, a bachelor who enjoyed the company of like-minded friends. And a gentleman motivated for the noble cause of giving.
He is today recovering from a Cerebrovascular Accident [CVA] and very much confined to indoors with his grandnieces and nephews in Dehiwala. However, we still are in contact over the phone and share our past rendezvous in the wilds. Carl with his blinking memory had been narrating his childhood pranks and adventures continuously to me and what follows are some of the stories that I noted down with difficulty for his speech is now of a low throaty tone.
(Written as narrated by Carl)
Lost in The Madhu Jungles & the first-ever shooting experience
This happened around 1957 when he was about 17 years when the family went to the Madhu church and they camped out as was the tradition on these Madhu pilgrimages then, says Carl. Hunting was a regular sport in such outings then and they carried their firearms also in these trips. Having finished putting up camp, the elders with the children went out in the two cars and the motorcycle of uncle Alloy to the Sinnavillu tank in leisure. While the elders were seated at the tank bund those in the cars went about site seeing. Uncle Alloy with Carl who was yet to use a shotgun went along the road looking for a suitable target when they see a jeep approaching in the distance. Fearing of the jeep to be wildlife rangers on patrol they all creep into the jungle to avoid possible questioning for an underaged to handle a gun.
Taking advantage of the situation they now venture deeper into the forest but being new in the jungles they did not know the basics of marking trees and establishing other landmarks to find their way back if they were to stray off in the forest. To their amusement, a Gray Langur appears on the canopy and Carl bags his first-ever game shot in the wild. Not knowing whether to take it with them they decide to leave the monkey there and wonder about and come back to the monkey. After about half an hour in the forest, they could not come back to the monkey carcass and decides that they are lost for sure. Darkness falling, they look to the setting sun to get directions but a clouded sky did not provide for directions. By then uncle Alloy finds a track and decided to follow it. Which by the way was a creek that was dry without water; which during the rainy season took the rainwater runoff to the Sinnavillu tank. The creek took a winding snaky route and just before darkness fell, exhausted and drenched in sweat they see the silvery waterline of the Sinnavillu Tank. There was nobody to be seen and the cars had gone. Another shot fired in the air Carl’s parents come to open and they join with them and gets back to the camp.
His second shooting experience was at Kuttukatchchi tank. This time it was his father uncle and cousin Ivan. At Kuttukatchchci his father shoots a waterfowl in the water and asks Carl to swim across and fetch the bird. Carl seeing a baby crock in the water and refuses to swim fearing for a crocodile attack. However later with Ivan aiya shoots a sea eagle in the water but this time as it was his shot he swam to get the eagle but seeing it still alive kills it after hitting it with many sticks that would break off. Ultimately swims back with the eagle.
Swimming Across the Bentota River dead in the night.
This was a time when the Bentota area was not very popular with tourists but the sand bar between the sea and the river had many holiday homes and government circuit bungalows. It was quite common for families from Colombo to book these lodges for weekend outings. Once they planned for an outing and were discussing the trip the night before when they hear a dog bawling and it was considered an omen in hearing of a death. Terrified the discussion is ended and they retired for the night. The following day they land at the river ferry late in the night after 10:00 p.m. as one guy in the group did not oblige to skip his rugger practices. No boat or boatman around and seeing the lights of holiday home across the river Carl decides to swim across expecting the boatman and boat to be on the other bank. While Call was in mid-stream they hear a dog bawling just as the previous night and everyone are terrified and many were in prayers for Carl. The urge to get to the other bank and looking for direction from lights across Carl did not hear a bawling dog but the splashing water from his long arm strokes in the water. He gets to the other bank and reached the bungalow and gatecrashes to a session in high spirits. They were the famous undertakers in town, the Raymond brothers.
On inquires as to how Carl came across without the boat, he said “I swam across” …. To which the brothers said “you are a mad bugger”, Carl replied I’m a good swimmer… “still a mad bugger” was their reply.
However, he did manage to get the boat and go over to bring the others. Only to find many were still on their knees praying for Carl’s safe return.
Sailing in the Nikaweratiya Tank
Eight friends plan a camping trip in the catchment of the Nikaweratiya tank as planned in the premises of the Irrigation Engineer Nikaweratiya. However, they frim that a catamaran boat sailing event had also been scheduled at the same time in the tank. None of them had had the experience of manoeuvring sails to traverse a boat and accepts the offer to take part. It was fun alright but someone got the bright idea to sail to the campsite on the far side of the tank where the water was shallow and got stuck in the mud and was unable to get off the boat until rescue came in with even the many rescuers also getting bogged down in shallow water.
Sea Anglers in Trincomalee.
The sea anglers club was one of the oldest recreational establishments in the country with its mail head location being the Marble beach in Trincomalee. The club catered to the panting expatriates then and later to the Colombo’s Mercantile Sector. Their land in Trincomalee was on a lease and once the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCAF) was established in the late 1950s, the land surrounding the China Bay airfield was taken over by the RCAF. This was known to the membership only when the Air Force noticed the club that they were squatters on Air force property. Unable to lay their long lease as the Kacheri in Trinco was set ablaze in the 1983 riots the Anglers club is now taken over by the RAF and now the owners of Clappenberg Bay, Trincomalee.
This story is about when the camping companions also members of the Sea Anglers Club went fishing in the sea. Carl's bosom pal Nihal de Silva was an enthusiastic angler and had a piece of well-stocked angling equipment with rubber baits of flies and others. This particular day they went into the sea from the Anglers club and that day Nihal used a rubber squid as the bait and the boat trolled the squid and line behind the boat. A White-bellied Sea Eagle scanning the sea from above spots the squid dangling in the water and swoops down to snatch it with its beak rather than to carry it away. Doing so it gets hooked to the line and is dragged along with the rubber quid. Finally, the bird was dragged into the boat and with assistance from an expatriate member in the boat, the eagle was dehooked and released.
Professor Carl, in India
Carl goes to India on a birdwatching trip to Slim Ali Bird Park with Lester Perera and Uditha Hettige. At the park office, they had an excessively long waiting until they were registered for their stay.
Lester knowing that the Indians like the association of scholars he approaches an officer and apprises that they are from Sri Lanka and the elderly gentleman Carl is a university professor. This prompts the officer to inquire from Carl of his scholarly discipline two which Carl prompted Applied Mathematics. The office says he is a graduate in Biology and the registration did quicken.
They are booked into a lodge in the park with two guides. With the enthusiasm to get to the park and make the best use of the stay, they venture into the park for birdwatching. The climate was similar to Nuwara Eliya they risked the walk without any warm clothing and as evening fell it became colder. At one stage the other two decided to proceed further on a downhill track where Carl being much elder than them decides to go back. One guide stays behind with Carl and the other proceeded downhill. The climate turned chillier and Carl finds it difficult to stay but the guide insists that he needs to stay till the other come. Carl now decides to do the return on his own and reaches the lodge without any mishap drenched in sweat in the high humid forest. However, he finds that he is locked out as the key to the lodge was with Lester.
Unable to do a change and shower he asks to borrow a lungie and a towel from the caretaker and freshen up himself. Instead, he gets two verties. (large lite cloth worn as a sarong) He has a bath and wore one verty and covered himself with the other until the return of the team.
Deep-sea fishing in a trawler.
This was while at Ceylon Seafood Industries when they hired an Indian trawler to fish in the deep seas Carl was interested to go out to sea and experience the fishing staying for days on a trawler. His requests were turned down many times by the trawler master until one day he opted to accommodate Carl on a trip. They set out from the harbour and the first two days it was without any significant catch. But he enjoyed the experience more than the sea voyage but the expending the utilities all equally. The water is rationed by the mug to all the sleeping times while some were on lookout duty and of course the loo habits. Sleeting was in the holds either in the lowermost or mid-way. The lower section was colder being deep in the water while the mid area was heated during the day and was of a higher temperature. Carl preferred the r deeper sleeping. These trawlers then had no loo houses. This was performed at the stern side and one at a time discharging directly into the Indian Ocean and ablution water was also from the sea.
On the third day, they ventured into the bay of Mannar and laid nets along a two-mile stretch and the long wait before the collection of the net. Night fell and Carl retires for his nap when he has woken to a commotion onboard above. Their net is entangled with Indian fishing boats that come into our waters in the night to bottom trawl; an illegal way of fishing. The choicest filth in its plainest way was exchanged by both parties in their native tongues. Their lower garment was raised to express animosity and finally, the long net was cut open in a section for the illegal boats to pass. With no success on the third day as well, they return to port. However, on the way, a huge Marling is caught and the fish being too large for the hold it’s lashed to the side of the boat as in Hemingway’s novel “The Old Man & the Sea”.
Snowing in the Grand Canyon.
Carl on his visit to The United States way back on a September in the fall had a rare experience to find it snowing the day he visited. It's generally too early for a Grand Canyon winter.
Elephant Blocking the Way.
The day was when the opening of the Gonawiddagala Bungalow in the Udawalawe National Park. Carl with his friends happened to be in the park that day not knowing of the event on the official opening of the bungalow. It was Col. Anuruddha Ratwatte the State Minister of Defense; the dignitary at the occasion. It was a waring time in the country and a helicopter was used for surveillance for the minister on the way to Gonawiddagala and back. In the midst, the elephants in the park were disturbed with a low flying chopper and the pachyderms came onto the road and blocked the way for traffic that morning. The jeep that held Carl and friends were blocked by a huge bull elephant that would not move at all. The tracker tried all his tricks up his sleeves to avail. The entourage carrying the minister nears the blockade and just as any politician’s security goons would say they commanded the jeep to proceed.
With the bull elephant still blocking the road the jeep backed up off the road for the minister to pass. What a shame for the goons none did budge forward until the elephant felt enough and moved ahead and crossed into the thicket.
Reliable Rally, Lotus Rally & Economic Rally.
Motor rallies in the 60 was a thrilling adventurous event that had on an annual calendar then. Carl's friend had a vintage Motor Cruiser bike of 135 CC series and the couple decided to enrol for the first-ever Reliable Rally way back in the 1960s. The rider was the friend while Carl was the navigator.
The rallies were different for races as one had to drive between set checkpoints to a predetermined speed on a fixed time chart that was given to the participant. The chart is entered and authenticated at one checkpoint and is carried to the other point by the participant itself. The route is also determined and issued to the rider/driver at the start of the rally.
The event commences with the participants flagged off at 2-minute intervals. The Motorcycle that Carl was navigating had a speedometer that read Kilometers and they had to modify it by attaching a Milometer as the rally was conducted on a mileage distance. This was no easy task as they had to match the wheel circumference to relate to the milometer. They start in a Northerly direction from the old parliament premises in Galle Face and even before they reached Ja-Ela the modified milometer packed up and they were in two minds whether to give up the rally as they could not monitor the speed at which they had to ride. Carl as the navigator decided to continue with the wristlet and the mileage markings on the culverts and bridges doing the calculations by memory. They were slow alright and a host of other riders and drivers overtook them and probably were the last to continue. By evening they were into the mid-country and at sundown in the tea plantations and there were no signages on culverts and the timing went haywire. Being late they did not favour stopovers and refreshments. Carl had planned the trip with his garments to have ample pockets and sling bags to hold emergency repair tools and first aid kits. A generous portion of sandwiches was in a cloth sling and eating was in the ride. As night fell there were rains in the estates and the sandwiches became soggy and were thrown away.
The faint light on the motorbike was not sufficient to find the road and many a time they ended at closed barriers leading to planter’s bungalows. Finally, they started following the tire marks of other vehicles and soon it was dawn. Still, on an estate road around Pundalu Oya, they encounter goats on the road, that were startled and crash into them. All three including the motorbike sustain injuries. They pick themselves up and continue feeling that they seem to be sitting on nothing. Their buttocks went numb after sitting for over 12 hours. Finally, they arrive at the Galle Face after 5:00 p.m. the following day. Handing over their rally card and log notes to the organisers and go home to sleep a full day after a refreshing bath. A week after the results of the rally are announced and the two were present to see the outcome. Hurrah they turned out first in that bike capacity below 175CC as none of the others had completed the rally.
The euphoria continued and it was followed with the Lotus Rally .. where Carl was in a car as the deputy navigator. This time they finished the rally in style but for a position in the outcome.
Uditha Wijesena
udithawijesena@gmail.com