Ayubowan Sri Lanka!

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We arrived in Sri Lanka after a very long flight from Christchurch by way of Singapore. We were met at the airport by our guide and driver “Sam” Samarshinge, who was very polite at formal at first, but we got to know him a lot better over the next two weeks.

We were welcomed again at our villa in Negombo by porters and were helped to our room before falling straight to sleep.

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The next morning we were taken to a canal in Negombo to hop onto a motorboat for a tour of the Hamilton Canal and the Negombo Lagoon. Despite the jet lag it was a really interesting trip. We saw fishermen heading back with the days catch after an early mornings fishing and in the harbour we saw lots of colourful boats including a few that had been badly damaged in the 2004 Tsunami that were still waiting to be fixed. We also saw lots of wildlife. The were storks, egrets and herons, monitor lizards and bats and groups of macaque monkeys living in the mangroves at the edge of the lagoon. A great start to this leg of the trip, but one that eased us in gently as well.

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After a cup of tea at the house of the owner of our boat, we took a tour around the town with Sam and he then took us to the famous Fish Market. We weren’t sure how well known it is outside of Sri Lanka, but it definitely was impressive. Lots and lots of fresh fish for sale as well as some drying on the beach. Some were the standard mackerel or sardines, but there were also spiky puffer fish, sword fish and big tuna. Claire had to over come her fear of fish eyes (she thinks that dead fish can still see you!), but was definitely fascinated by the variety on show.

After being dropped back at the villa and going or a dip in the pool (we had treated ourselves a bit in Sri Lanka with an agent booked itinerary) we headed to the beach for a stroll, mostly to keep us awake during the afternoon!