Sun, Sea and Safari

On our way down to the coast, we stopped in Tissa for a couple of nights and arranged an early morning Safari to nearby Yala National Park. We were sat in an open-backed jeep for the 6 hour safari, with Peter and Julie-Anne, a Canadian couple who will also be travelling around India for 6 weeks at the beginning of March.

Our guide said that the best time to spot a leopard (no pun intended - HA!) was first thing and so we spent our first hour in the park searching for the illusive feline. As we were beginning to give up hope, the driver suddenly shouted, "Leopard! Leopard!", pointing to one basking in the morning sun on top of a large rock - it was amazing. We sat and watched it for the 20 minutes before it got bored and slinked off down the other side of the rock. 

"Leopard! Leopard!"

As well as seeing a second, more camouflaged, leopard, we were able to see various birds (including the prehistoric looking hornbill and beautiful peacock), water buffalo, wild boars, alligators and wild elephants. Although we'd already seen elephants at the elephant orphanage at the beginning of our trip, they were still one of our favourites as it was much more satisfying being able to watch them in their natural habitat. According to the guide, the elephants consume 250kg of food, 150 litres of water and walk 25km each day

We can't get enough of the elephants

Built by the Dutch during their colonial reign in Sri Lanka, the Fort town of Galle was a 4 hour bus journey from Tissa. We spent 1 night here, wandering round the ramparts - reminiscent of St Malo - and having a nose in the small, kitsch, boutique-y shops. We could have stayed for longer (as well as spent a small fortune in some of the shops), but the fact that we could see the sea but not swim in it was too much to bear and so we left for Hikkaduwa the following morning.

A view from Galle's ramparts - you can click to enlarge

As we didn't have anywhere booked to stay in Hikkaduwa, our first task was to find a hostel. We viewed everything from the opulent (way out of our price range), to the dark and dank rooms situated between a nightclub and a kitchen. After about an hour of looking, we came across the New Imperial which offered a happy medium. 

We stayed in Hikkaduwa  for a total of 5 nights, giving us a chance to explore what was on offer, as well as indulge in the luxury of not having to put our backpack on for an extended period of time. We took a couple of yoga with a really friendly guy who originally hailed from Salisbury and who, at 57, was the most flexible person we have ever seen. He managed to get himself into some outrageous position, one of which included 'The Scorpion'. This essentially involved him getting into the handstand position and then curving his spine so that, whilst his head and eyes pointed towards the sky, his feet dangled in front of his face. He also had an excellent repetoire of hippy phrases, including "come along to the class and we can find out a little bit more about you" and referring to the class as "a ballet of the body". Throughout the class, he continually repeated "relax the face and you'll relax the booo-dy", lingering on the 'o' for a couple of seconds to drag out every bit of sound he could. 

We also tried out surfing for the first time, which is pretty shameful given the fact that we come from Jersey, taking an hour lesson each and hiring out a board for the afternoon. Whilst Richard was more successful than Ashley when standing up, we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  

The beach was renowned for snorkeling and diving and so we did both. We took ourselves snorkeling with a rented pair of fins and swam the 1km out to the coral to see the tropical fish. The swim out was challenging as we had waves crashing into us from both ends of the bay. Not only that, but the coral was less than a metre away with lots of sea anemones attached. We powered through, doing our best not to touch them, and made it there and back. It was tiring but well worth it as we saw a number of incredibly coloured fish (not that we know what any of them were called) - vivid blues, pinks and yellows - ranging from a centimetre to a good 1 foot in length.

Sunset views from Funky de Bar

We went scuba diving to a 125 year old oil ship - the first to leave Sri Lanka, but crashed against the rocks just a few kilometres from the bay. The wreckage was 21 metres down (it was still warm down there at 27 degrees) and we swam through one of its windows so that we were inside the boat with schools of brightly coloured fish. Admittedly it was a little eerie, but incredible all the same. Ashley was pretty low on air from the moment we hit the sea bed and, by the time we were making the ascent to the surface 35 minutes later, she said it felt it was as of she was breathing through a straw. This was hardly surprising as her air tank was completely empty, her air gauge reading '0'.

Other than the activities, Hikkaduwa offered beautiful beaches, with fantastic sunsets and atmosphere. We loved the fact that you could lie on a sun lounger on the beach with a large beer for only 2 pound or a fresh pineapple - cut up before your very eyes - for one pound fifty. If you didn't fancy a pineapple, you could always have a fresh coconut for 50p. It also had some excellent restaurants, from traditional Sri Lankan at the chilled out Top Secret or the more lively Funky de Bar, to the amazing and authentic Italian food at Spaghetti & Co. 

You can see the lady who sold them in the background (left)

Our final night in Sri Lanka was a slight splurge at the Icebear Guesthouse in Negombo, - just 20 minutes from the airport. The guesthouse is a Swiss owned, colonial themed gem with beautiful rooms and seafood caught fresh each day by the staff (including shark). It was the perfec end what felt like a very quick visit to Sri Lanka. 

We will miss the people, the indigenous curries, the breakfasts, the sambol (a shredded coconut mixed with lime and chilli that accompanies most meals), the thin and thick roti (think naan meets crepe), the buses and the beach...but there's plenty more to come in India.