Deborah & Family Explore Sri Lanka Summer 22

Posted on 11th Oct 2022

Sri Lanka literally means Resplendent Island, and this could not be a more befitting name for this incredible country. I had heard so much about it and everyone I spoke to who had visited, raved about it but could not pinpoint one particular thing that makes it so special. Now that I have been, I understand. There are so many things that stand out. The nature, the food, the people, the scenery, the wildlife….it all goes into the great melting pot of what makes Sri Lanka a truly WOW country.

I spent 2 weeks there in August 2022 with my husband and three children aged 16, 14 and 9. We moved anticlockwise around the central parts and the south of the country ending on the beach in Galle. Each stop brought something different.

After a night of rest just outside Colombo, we started with 3 nights in the cultural triangle at Sigiriya, enriched with the origins of Sri Lankan history, Buddhism, and spirituality. Of course, climbing the 1200 steps of the towering Sigiriya rock is a necessity. We also visited the Temples of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa and made a sunset trip to Anuradhappura, the centre of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist civilization. We sampled holistic treatments at an Ayurvedic spa and learned about the local spices and plants at a spice garden. We enjoyed a wildlife safari at the Minneriya National Park – July to October is the best time to visit Minneriya when you can see more than three hundred wild elephants gathering for the dry season.

Kandy was our next stop for 2 nights. We were lucky that our stay coincided with the famous Perahera (festival of the tooth), an explosion of music, dance, colour and light, so important to the Sri Lankan people. We also shopped in the bustling markets of Kandy where we bought tea and spices.

Travelling by train is a wonderful way to see the scenery transform as you journey up the country into the green hills. We loved meeting the locals travelling in the same carriage as us who fed us with their home-cooked food and sang throughout our journey from Kandy to Hatton. We spent 3 nights in the tea plantations of Dickoya walking the tea trails, visiting a tea factory, and taking a cookery class using locally picked produce which we then ate for lunch. The hills are much cooler than the rest of the country and our evening meal was eaten in front of a roaring fire before we turned in for the night with a hot water bottle.

The longest stretch of our journey was down to Yala National Park where the temperatures soared to over 30 degrees. We spent 2 nights in an air-conditioned luxury tented camp and experienced two game drives per day with our incredible private guide. Although the highlight is to view the elusive leopard, there is so much more to the park – no end of colourful and noisy birds, deer, monkeys, crocodiles, water buffalo, warthogs and of course elephants. My favourite sight was a gathering of three generations of female elephants all helping to raise and protect the baby calf of their family. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and taught us so much about the animals, the trees, and plants and how to eat like a local with our hands. This was my favourite part of the whole trip.

Our final stop was Galle. We stayed just outside the town centre closer to the seaside town of Unawatuna with its white sandy beaches and little cafes and surf shops. A tuk-tuk into the more cosmopolitan and historic Fort area was but a few pounds so we enjoyed the best of both.

Sri Lanka cannot fail to charm. We all fell in love with the kind and friendly people, the constant birdsong, the healthy and delicious fresh local food, seeing tons of fresh fruit and vegetables sold by locals on the side of the road and the beautiful plants and flowers everywhere. It feels safe and peaceful, and I am already planning my return to visit the East and the North. Plus, I will need to buy some more tea very soon!