Blogs from Habarana, Anuradhapura, North Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

Elephant Safari: A most unforgettable adventure for us--definitely one of our top experiences this trip. "The Gathering" of elephants that happens here toward the end of the dry season each year (August-September) is listed as 6th in the top wildlife experiences in the world. (Lonely Planet?) Our guide, with 8 years experience, was very helpful. He spotted many things we wouldn't have seen, including the larger native squirrel up a tree, a mongoose skimming across an opening, a monitor, a native hornets nest (big guys flying around it--2 cm long)... Our guide also explained how to tell a male elephant from a female one at a distance. The female has a boxy shape, with a flat back. The male has a rounded (convex) shape to his back. (I hope I got that right. No one would ... read more

After what seems like a silly amount of time we finally made it to the first hotel - I say hotel, but, I've got a little cottage type thing to myself which is pretty cool - it's been a massively long journey. The transfer from the airport was somewhere around 5 hours, but, between the bits where I nodded off (looking special with my gob open!) I've seen quite a lot of the country, architecture and culture as we've woven around what must be some of the biggest pot holes in the world, had most of my fillings rattled out and been scared half to death by randoms wandering in the road so they don't have to walk through a puddle, buses and tuk tuks! Saw a few monkeys, elephants and cows - they were mostly ... read more