Day 16 in Sri Lanka

Today was meant to be a day spent relaxing. But the children made me swim and swim and swim. 

The morning involved a buffet breakfast where I accidentally fed the fish below us.  We saw a crab eat bits of the best bread rolls in Sri Lanka and after swimming in the morning I may have accidentally done the same at lunch.  However, in the morning we also saw a bird try to eat the fishes who were trying to eat the bread roll.

It was swimming again with the children in the afternoon until it was time for bed, and this post. My son, still thinks that he is not that good at swimming, but he is brilliant, improving throughout the day.  And much to my annoyance, my daughter was able to swim faster than me.

Day 15 in Sri Lanka

Our tour of the island is over and we now have two nights in a beach resort.  We had an early morning trip to see if we could spot a leopard, but sadly we did not. I think the comments of a friend are right for she said that they probably hide the leopards to encourage people to return to Yala.

After this, we checked out and went to our beach stay, stopping on the journey for curd and honey.  

And we love it here.  And we got to see an elephant close up, twice!

Day 14 in Sri Lanka

We left for a safari today.  We went on the way after an early morning departure, to Ella and took in the magnificent views from there.  Then it was a drive to our hotel, and then our off road trek into the wilderness where we saw an elephant, loads of buffalo, a wild boar, amazing birds and the kids loved the 4x4 pickup going through the mud!

When there, we learned about how the Tsunami of 2004 affected people in the park looking at a bungalow that was washed away with the deaths of those within. 

Day 13 in Sri Lanka

Well that was an interesting Christmas Day.  I went out for a walk when everyone had started to wake.  I was hoping to go for a walk with others, but I felt that would not work out (I was later proved wrong).

 After a morning stroll around Nuwara Eliya, (where I saw this transformer,) I returned for breakfast and then handing out the presents.  Lunch was served afterwards and after the afternoon walk which I thought might not happen we went out about town.

We got to see a market, try the worst Espresso I have tasted and later return (for my wife and I) to the Grand Hotel.  We had stayed here for our honeymoon and the place is smarter than before.  And the Thai restaurant we went to looked amazing.  But we did not think so during all the 75 minutes that we waited for our food.  And the order was wrong.  But we did get a free meal and the hotel manager was very apologetic.

Maybe we should have remembered that it was our 13th day!

Day 12 in Sri Lanka

Today was much more relaxing compared to others in a way.  There was a lot less driving and in the morning I had gone for a walk, a nice long one to make up for all the time that I had not been able to swim as much as I would like.  It was not as long as I would have liked ideally, but this break is not just about me, but it is also about the family.

After lunch we went to look at the St Clairs Falls.  We had considered other options including the scenic railway trip, but decided on one that took us down memory lane.  Before, when we had visited Sri Lanka in the past, my wife and I had chocolate cake and tea over looking the falls.  Since then, a dam has been built upstream of them and the place that we ate, has moved.

But it is still beautiful there.  And while we did not visit the location from the past to eat and drink, we went to were it has moved to.  We were not able to watch a film about the history of tea there, but it still was a place that the kids loved.

We bit of late night shopping and pizza and now it is time for bed while the children wait for Christmas day tomorrow.

Day 11 in Sri Lanka

Today was a tiring day for the children.  After waking and packing, it was a trip to an elephant orphanage in Pinnawala which we all loved.  We had been hoping to see the elephants being fed milk but missed this.  However this means that we get to return in a few years time to watch this.  After that, it was a drive to Nuwara Eliya.  I helped to navigate, though most of this was done using Google Maps.  But it has been an exhausting trip today, but one that is worthwhile.

Day 10 in Sri Lanka

Our tour continues. 

We walked from out hotel to the Temple of the Tooth.  While hot, the weather was nothing compared to what it had been before and while uncomfortable at times, it was bearable.  After a detour for shopping, we went to the temple.  My wife and I had been here before, but my children had not and they got to learn about the Tooth, Sri Lanka and also Buddhism.  As before, it was a memorable experience, though I had forgotten that the museum is devoted to the tale to the Tooth, not to Buddha himself.