Colombo, Kandy, Sri Lanka

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March 8, 2008

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

After a late night arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka ( “Ceylon” for us old guys ), we started our day after lunch with a drive to Kandy, Sri Lanka. On the way we stopped at an elephant orphanage that was set up to rescue orphaned or injured elephants. Now the facility has about 80 elephants of various ages up to over 60 years old. Some are babies and some have been abandoned by the herd or injured by land mines in the north of Sri Lanka. The resident herd is also producing more offspring and adding to their numbers.

The land mine issue is a result of the 24 year struggle with the Tamils ( originally from India ) who are living in the north of Sri Lanka and want some kind of separation from the rest of the country. Basically they want ½ of Sri Lanka as their own country. This is a population that makes up about 12% of the country’s total population.

We continued on to Kandy and our resort hotel up in the mountains with a spectacular view of the valley and the city far below.

March 9, 2008

We were met by our guide this morning for a city and area tour of Kandy. This city is a favorite for all Singhaleese ( Sri Lankans ) from Colombo as it is up in the mountains and is a little cooler than Colombo on the coast. Kandy is a very busy trading city with lots of small businesses and small factories ( Jewelry, silk, spices, etc. ). We toured a small jewelry factory, a local very impressive park and botanical garden and visited a spice garden with every imaginable local spice and herbs. It was very interesting to learn about the different trees, flowers and plants that are growing in this tropical paradise.

We continued on our journey with a drive through the countryside to the city of Dambulla in the north central interior. On our way we took a short side trip to a 3 hour jeep safari through the local protected jungle looking for wildlife. We were not disappointed and got some great photo opportunities with close up encounters with several groups of wild elephants, deer and many different birds as well as some spectacular scenery. This was a very enjoyable trip and in spite of some short rain showers we had a great time bouncing along the 4x4 trails through the trees and very tall grass.

Tonight was spent in the very nice Amaya Lake Resort, a beautiful resort, on a nice lake surrounded by the forest. ( in the middle of nowhere ). Beautiful place.

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