Loved Sri Lanka

Time to relax! I had just finished the first semester of my third year of teaching in Thailand, so it must be time to travel again...

Daughter Carrie and grandsons Aidan and Taylor flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok where I met them for a continuing flight onto Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Arriving late evening, we had a short night of sleep before departing with a car and driver to see the Elephant rescue park. Amazing to see the exquisite animals bathing and playing together in the river. It reminded me so much of the African Safari that I did over 10 tears ago.

 

After a very yummy vegetarian curry lunch overlooking the river and a bit of shopping we were back in the car on our way to the city of Kandy where the famous “Temple of the Tooth” is located.

On the way we saw a special local parade celebration with street musicians and even beautifully decorated elephants.

Of course we had to see paper being made from real Elephant "poop" called dung.

That evening before visiting the Temple, we took a walk along the lake and then saw a traditional music and dance show complete with loud drumming and fire walking. Our driver had even reserved four seats for us near the front, a welcome relief as the venue was packed with many tourists.  As it was Sunday eve many ‘locals’ were dressed in all white as they brought flowers and offerings to the Temple.

The next day, leaving from our pleasant stay at “The Mansion” we journeyed to the top of the mountain to visit the huge Buddha statue and light some candles for blessings.

Then onto see Sri Lankan Tea being produced and enjoy a cup of tea with small cookies. The next stop, a busy outdoor market to shop a bit before the long car ride to the seaside resort at the very southern tip of the Island.

For a late dinner we ordered pizza, a big mistake, as it wasn’t very good…lesson learned: stick to the kind of food that the natives eat. Anyway we were staying at the beach for the ocean and not the food! Another short night as it was early morning when we boarded a Whale and Dolphin Sightseeing vessel, luckily we saw both and got a little bonus sunburn sitting on the top deck of the boat.

The next day Taylor and I hung out on the beach and took some photos while Carrie and Aidan took surfing lessons. Amazingly they were both surfing "like pros" within an hour. "Surfs-Up"

Then it was time to travel to the Safari Camp where we would enjoy luxury tents, even with bathrooms and hot water showers inside the tent. Camping in Wisconsin was never like this! 

Treated to wet towels and cool lemonade as we arrived hot and hungry, we were advised that our outdoor lunch was ready to enjoy before our first afternoon safari ride. First class gourmet multi-course meals were a pleasant surprise and delicious too! We also had a campfire at night and roasted marshmallows.

Traveling into the park in our own safari vehicle we saw lots of wild life in the early morning, afternoon and even a night safari, with elephants in the road.

We learned to spot animals at night because when a light beam is shined, their eyes reflect different colors depending on what kind of animal they are. When we made a list in the car on the way to the airport I think we named over 50 different animals including leopard, water buffalo, deer, crocodiles, cranes, snakes, birds and monkeys that tried to attack the safari jeep for food!

We all agreed that out time together in Sri Lanka was FANTASTIC! 

Before we left to go to the airport, we had time to visit another temple that we fondly named “Disco Buddha.”  Blessings to All.