06:01N 080:013E

After a few days exploring Galle, many of the Rally participants – including us – boarded a coach for a five day tour of Southern Sri Lanka.  The coach left at 6.30am and our first stop was a Buddist Temple. A pretty impressive place with a myriad of tunnels and statues and cartoon like paintings depicting the many lives of Buddha.  Also Sri Lanka’s largest Buddha statue standing 23 metres.  We were then taken to Sri Lanka’s famous Blow Hole.  It was a beautiful sunny calm day, the result, no blow!  It was to be a short walk from the coach to the Blow Hole, some 200 metres, but after the first kilometre it was recognised that our guides weren’t very accurate with distances – or time for that matter!  Simonne and the kids turned back for the coach after a kilometre and a half but the rest pressed on for a look at the ‘hole’.  The highlight of day one was the Safari through the Yala National Park.  This included up close and personal encounters with a beautiful tusked Elephant, Buffalo wallowing in waterholes, many different bird species, crocodiles (not too close or personal) and Jackals to name a few of the animals we saw from our safari jeeps.  Day one closed with a great dinner at the hotel and off to bed.  Over the following two days we took in Waterfalls and lots of Sri Lankan scenery.  We stayed at the exclusive Hill Club where we enjoyed a swanky dinner with our friends (suit and tie for the men compulsory).  We also drove through the spectacular tea plantations of the central region.  Breathtaking views of plantation after plantation, so green and very orderly in their construction.  We toured a tea factory and enjoyed a cup in the cafe afterwards.  A cultural show that evening was terrific with fire walkers, masked dancers, plate spinners and other fabulous dances.  On our final day we visited the Penewalla Elephant Orphanage.  The highlight of the tour for many of us.  Simonne was invited down to the waters’ edge where several elephants were bathing to feed them bananas and give them a scratch on the trunk and head.   A special moment, and a little intimidating.  The elephants were enormous and had very curious trunks constantly looking for tasty treats.  We thoroughly enjoyed getting off the boat for five days and feel we really experienced Sri Lanka.  The people were more than friendly with many of them dropping by the boat to see the kids and give gifts and offer help with anything we might have been doing at the time of their arrival.  We would very much like to visit again.