Touring Sri Lanka
We landed in Colombo and were met immediately by our wonderful private guide and driver from the Sri Lankan tourism board. Ananda was amazing the whole trip- going above and beyond on many occasions whilst we were travelling around this fascinating Island.
We spent our first 24 hours acclimatising a little, not too far outside of Colombo, in Negombo at a hotel with a beautiful pool overlooking the lake. Once settled in and relaxed we were taken on a tour of the fish market early the next morning which was very interesting if a little challenging first thing after breakfast! Next stop on the journey was a couple of days in the centre of the island at Kandy, where we visited the Temple of the Tooth and spent a morning wandering around the botanical gardens.
From Kandy the next stage of the journey was via what has to be the most scenic train journey in the world - we couldn't believe the dramatic changes in both climate and landscape between the hot and humid cityscape of Kandy and its outskirts and the beautiful hill country on the way to Nurawa Eliya, or "Little England" as it is known to the locals. Its easy to see why, everywhere was so lush and green - a bit of a welcome break from all the humidity so far! We were staying in Nurawa Eliya over Sinhalese New Year, and every hotel and guesthouse was packed- not just with tourists but many locals celebrating too which made for a lovely atmosphere and we were really able to feel part of the celebrations.
Moving on from Nuwara Eliya we were headed next to Udawalawe National Park to spend some quality time with elephants! Before we even settled in at our hotel next to the National Park we were lucky enough to spot two large female elephants munching away contentedly beside the roadside and were able to stop for a selfie thanks to the electric fence surrounding the park! Up very early the next morning to catch the animals at their best and busiest we spotted many many bird species, crocodiles, water buffalo, monkeys and plenty of elephants - the leopards were unfortunately elusive on this occasion, but that provides us with an excuse to come back again one day at least!
Our final destination, via a stop off in Galle to see the old Dutch colonial fort town and of course its famous cricket ground, was to the south coast for some beach time. Hikkaduwa didn't disappoint, we stayed at a lovely design hotel right on the beach where the girls were able to dash in and out of the crashing waves and we were able to spend a few days unwinding and processing all that we had seen, experienced and learned about the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Thank you Sri Lanka- we'll be back one day!