Sri Lanka - South : Part 3

The second half of our trip was down south to the Beach. As it was a long drive, we decided to break the journey and head for Yala National Park, a very famous wildlife conserve for many animals including leopards!

So on Day 8, we are off in a Zeep again to a Safari..and we saw many birds, buffaloes, sleeping crocodiles, spotted deers, etc but no leopards! Maybe our choice to visit the Safari in the afternoon was not good as there were many tourist zeeps roaring away. I think we have also missed the feeding time - typically in the morning. But we witnessed a kyte eating a abondoned kill, probably left behind by the leopard.

Spotted Deers at the estuary

A Kite having his lunch - leftover from the Leopard (Sorry if it seems gruesome)

Our adventure grew when we were confronted by a tusk elephant heading towards a rubbish dump filled with empty lunch paper boxes. Apparently, he found this place and it is routine stopover at 5pm in the evening and our routes crossed! I was not very thrilled with being too closed with a charged up young male elephant. 

The infamous Tusk Elephant

I sincerely hope the Rangers closed up the dump area both for the safety of the visitors as well as for the elephants' health.

I would also like to take a moment to mention about the effect of 2004 Tsunami in the South of Sri Lanka. Site like the Southern Point of Yala has a momentum to remind all of us of the visitors and villages who were killed by the tidal wave.

On Day 9th, while coping with a disappointing beach bungalow, we went to Mirissa beach, and decided to just lazed at the beach after a sumptuous seafood lunch. The kids were more than happy building their "death hole" while I was busy scouting nearby hotels to move both families across to a more palatable surroundings. And we managed to move to a lovely one just here.

View of Mirissa Beach from a nearby small island

View from our Mirissa Hotel Room Balcony - just perfect for chilling out without the sand

The children's creation " Death Hole"

On Day 10th, we got up at 4.30 am, yes, as we set off to Mirissa beach to head off for Whale watching. The boat set off at 7.30am with very bright and cheerful group...but after 30 minutes into the sea, not rough, I must add, it started to claim 2 "causalities", followed by 3 more who decided to head down to a lower deck.

I was still enjoying the breeze but eventually had to join the rest when my head began to spin. Unfortunately, thereafter, I was just waving a no..no....most of the time whenever the boat crew pointed out interesting sightings! At the end of the day, my husband was the one and only (in our group) who "survived" the sea journey and presented us his photographs collection:

Sperm Whale taking a breadth - watched by visitors from another boat

Sea Turtle catching a breadth too in the middle of Indian Ocean

Fishermen at Work Morning and Afternoon

All I could say is for the rest of the afternoon, most of us  spent the afternoon recovering at the beach hotel while the children continued their sand adventure.

Day 11th was brighter, we went to another beach for our snorkeling adventure. NO boat ride, just by the shore, and spent our evening at Galle Fort, a UNESCO heritage venue, walking on the Walls enjoying the lovely sunset! A very lovely town set up by the Portugese, then Dutch and English and  many buildings of the colonial days were restored into either government houses, hotels or shops. Mind you, things are a tad expensive as it is a famous place.

The Fort at the Entrance

Walking on the Fort - by the beach

Soldiers lowering the National Flag at 6pm

Day 12th, we went to a River Safari and caught sight of many birds, swaps and fish farms. At a fish farm, our tour guide helped us to enquire about the famous Sri Lanka mud crab and we were in luck, got a huge one and 2 small ones for only SGD32 and our fantastic Guide hunt around a restaurant to cook for us. Slurp..

River Safari Boat ride

Our Dinner !

 Our day 11th and 12th were spent at another hotel at Unawatuna Beach. While this beach is famous, the rise of the water level eroded few kilometers of beachfront and it is no longer possible to walk along the beach anymore during high tide. It is shame.. 

Unawatuna Beach

Day 13th was our last day and we drove to Colombo to meet up with our friend's boss's wife's family. The traffic in Colombo was a stark contrast to the outskirts. Not enough traffic lights and we were literally crawling. So, I made a good decision not to visit the major city. But I also must add that along the way, we saw beautiful colonial houses, black and white style, standing majestically along the street.

Well, the warm reception and home cooked lunch was more than made up for the jam and after thanking them, we had to head to the airport right away. 

Typical Traffic Condition in city, in this instance, Colombo

We have come to the end of our Sri Lanka trip! You know, we have been back for a month and each time I talked about the country, I am always feel with so much excitement. 

Amongst the various countries we have travelled to, we just love this country. As my husband said, it is a country with so much to offer: Nature, Adventure, Food, Beach, UNESCO heritage sites and great people!


If you still not convince that Sri Lanka has so much to offer, check out a re-run of Peter Kuruvita " My Sri Lanka" series in Nat Geo Adventure on Saturday at 1955hrs.  The episode on King's curry which he cooked at the top of Sigiriya sealed our decision to travel there!


Question : If you have been following my blog on Sri Lanka, tell me which part do you like better, Central or South ?