Intro
In early January 2019, I went on a GAdventures trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It was effectively 2 separate tours though 8 of us did both trips. The Sri Lanka trip was primarily by bus (14 of us) and the Maldives was on a boat (10 of us on board). Each were roughly a week long and very enjoyable: great food, good guides (CEOs), good fellow travellers, lots to see and do.
The flights in both directions were very long and there is a 12.5 hour time difference to deal with. But it was a good time of year to go and GAdventures is well organized -- everything went well.
Here is the tour offered:
https://www.gadventures.com/trips/sri-lanka-and-maldives-adventure/ASSM/
See below for links to 3 albums of pictures arranged by camera.
Sri Lanka -- Ayubowan
I arrived in Negombo a day early and explored. Long lovely beach. Main road is busy but lots of small restaurants and interesting just to wander. Lots of stray dogs, tuk tuks (3 wheeled taxis), men in long skirts, lots of people barefoot. Friendly, safe, and clean. And exotic. I'm not kidding about the stray dogs -- everywhere.
The first day, we drove to Kandy. Enroute we stopped at a Herb and Spice garden and had a tour and a naturopathic lecture -- some wild claims....
Then lunch at a Planeterra sponsored restaurant.
In the afternoon, we visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth. Buddah's left canine to be precise. The relic is highly protected but occasionally gets out and about, transported by (tusker) elephant.
A popular temple where many meditate.
Our guide bought us each a lily and outlined the meditation process:
bending each leaf back carefully while concentrating on how short life is, and: promising to meditate, create good karma, and do our duty.
Spent 2 nights at Kandy and visited a gem museum, the Botanical gardens (orchids, fruit bats, monkeys, etc). Followed by a long ride in a tuk tuk back to our hotel.
Next day, a long drive to the Amba Tea Estate. Enroute we stopped at a tea factory to pick tea leaves, tour the factory, and learn about tea quality.
Amba Estates is a bit remote and not accessible by bus. Tuk Tuks were required to get us and our luggage up the last stretch. The estate includes a colonial style main building. They can only accommodate a small number of visitors -- we filled the place.
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| Breakfast at Amba |
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| Ella rock view |
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| Ella Rock from Ella |
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| 9 Arch train bridge |
Then a shorter hike (about 2 miles roundtrip) to a famous bridge -- the 9 arch train bridge
And a cooking lesson before supper. garlic sambol.
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| garlic and coconut sambol |
Elephants
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| Tusker |
The elephants are wild but contained in Udawalawe National Park. Some are visible from the road -- they like to stand close to fruit stands and lure tourists to share bananas.
We were fortunate to see a rare "tusker" -- only about 2% of elephants in Sri Lanka have tusks nowadays.
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| meal time |
The Elephant Transit centre feeds milk to orphaned baby elephants and preps them for release into the park. But they need to have developed the right attitude to be accepted by a herd.
Safari
Inside the park we spent an afternoon on safari. Lots to see: spotted deer, buffalo, birds (egrets, cranes, spoonbills, green bee eaters, peacocks and peahens), a jackal, a monitor lizard, crocodiles. And lots of elephants, some fairly close to the jeeps. Certainly a major highlight of the trip for everyone.
We spent the night glamping near the park. Noisy peacocks but running water in the tents.
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| Galle lighthouse |
And a seafood meal on the beach (swordfish for me).
Our guide, Ash, told us lots about the history, culture, language of Sri Lanka. And about the brutal civil war (ended in 2009), and the 2004 tsunami.
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| "Steve" in Sinhalese. |
Sri Lanka was recently voted destination country of the year by Lonely Planet. The tourism industry is not yet fully developed, so go there now while it is still unspoilt.
The next day was a travel day -- to the airport and a flight to Male for 8 of us.
Maldives
The Maldives is a collection of atolls with lots of reefs. It is a Muslim country with strict rules: no alcohol, modest clothing, no dogs, etc. Most visitors stay at (very) expensive resorts exempt from the rules. The advantages of staying on a boat are exemption from the rules, but also a more nomadic trip. We visited several different reefs.
Trip Two. 2 more young guys joined us on the Sea Farer boat -- an upgrade from the fishing boat we had expected. 5 crew for the 10 of us, including a full time chef who was amazing. Our guide (CEO) was a young local guy, Riz. An excellent swimmer (and dancer).
It was a very young group. I was certainly the old guy. But we got along fine.
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| small but comfortable |
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| upper deck |
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| wreck |
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| main street |
Snorkelling
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| lionfish |
The reefs are not in great shape, but there is still quite a bit of seafood to be watched. I brought an underwater camera and took a lot of video and still shots. A bit awkward to swim with, and hard to see what is being captured.
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| Riz |
Final day: Most of us had many hours to wait for flights, so we made a short trip into the city of Male. Highrises, motorbikes, and lots of development happening.
More than 30 hours of flights and airports to get home but no disruptions.
Links to albums:
DSLR:
