Sri Lanka Dec 2025 week 1 (of 3): In the wake of Cyclone Ditwah

We finally got on board our flight to Doha (Qatar) to fly to Colombo (Sri Lanka) after a week of wondering whether our tour was on or not! Cyclone Datwah had been building and made landfall on 27-28 November while we were scheduled to fly on the 30th! Heavy winds, rains and landslides destroyed houses, bridges, train lines and killed more than 600 people and left more than 200 missing. We flew as scheduled.

   
Upon our arrival, it was made clear that all of our 21-day trip was on with the exception of the train trip to Horton Plains National Park with its heights of 2200 meters (7000 feet), breathtaking cliffs and waterfalls, and the starts of three major Sri Lankan rivers, which had just wreaked havoc on the country. We would also miss the historical “Little England” (Nuwara Eliya) in the highlands and the largest tea producing region, which was unreachable.     
     Transport  from the airport to hotel went smooth but there was no offcial group introduction (it was late). The group was small, with only nine people, and cliques were made that evening.    
      The next morning, we were driven and walked around different parts of the sprawling port (and capital) city of Colombo with its mix of old (a fort, a huge seven-floor mosque) and new (museums, government buildings). I found the mosque as one of our first stops a little surprising as I knew that Sri Lanka was mostly Hindu or Buddhist. The Sri Lankan traffic (chaotic) and buses (beautifully painted on all colors of the rainbow) were fascinating.

  
Later on the same day, we stopped at a turtle breeding place. It was also an orphanage for turtles that had lost limbs (in fishing accidents, for example). There was one with no limbs whatsoever in a shallow cement basin no larger than the animal itself. This sight gave rise to a mixture of emotions. Euthansia was presumably out of the question…. 
     In the stifling afternoon heat, we also stopped at a mask-making place. Labour-intensive enterpise. And after a relatively long drive (that is, a few hours), we arrived at our lovely resort hotel where we would enjoy a swim and spend the next two nights (Hikkaduwa) on the Indian Ocean.

December 3rd brought a so-called boat safari, which was welcomed after the previous busy days. We spotted bats in trees (and not caves, thus), huge iguanas, the tangled roots of swamp mangroves, colorful mini Hindu temples, fruit shops (to stop at with your boat in the middle of the lake), the occasional crocodile and luminescent tropical birds. We saw how Ceylon cinnamon is peeled from the ao-called inner bark of the cinnamon tree, a labour-intensive manual practice that is still followed today. Also the second highest export from Sri Lanka, after tea. (Bet you didn’t know all that!) Our guide treated us to FRESH red (slightly sweeter)  coconut juice along the way. Once back at our hotel, I dared to look at the day’s temperature: 32 with a feel of 37 celsius (90 and 99 fahrenheit, respectively). But the humidity…

On 4 December, we headed to Galle (still on the southwest coast of the island) to visit a 500 year old fort erected by the Portugese and later seized by the Dutch to protect the Ceylon tea and spice (cinnamon!) trade. Later the Brits would conquer the country. 
     The sweltering afternoon heat took us to our first  temple, which meant taking off shoes and covering shoulders. The Wewurukannala temple is known for its recently erected HUGE golden Buddha, resident elephant (on a chain) and unsettling Tunnel of Hell. The latter depicts the consequences of not living in accordance with the principles of Buddha: demons skewering humans, ripping them apart or boiling them (among other things). Not quite what we expected to see in Sri Lanka!

Having arrived at our next stop, the lovely Elephant Reach Hotel on the southeast coast of the island, we were up early the next day for our first land safari (also to avoid jeep traffic jams when something exciting got spotted 🤣). On 5 December, Yala National Park did not disappoint (see photos). We did not have the impression that the elephants (or any of the other animals) were bothered by the diesel jeeps or people close by. In fact, they freely walked along us — sometimes with a young offspring in tow. We could almost touch them. And we didn’t even bother one elephant’s sleep! (Did you know they sleep standing and only 2-3 hours a day?) (see photo)

If you had back problems before the jeep ride, you wouldn’t afterwards. We couldn’t believe the roads, the bumps and the gullies. Scary at times. 

The water buffalo covered in mud was pretty much what we longed for: cooling.   
    That evening, we visited a combined Buddhist/Hindu temple complex. It was raining. It was hot. And we walked barefoot for at least a mile (1.5kms) along neon-lit stands selling kitsch (plastic) offerings to take to the temple but also beautiful fresh flowers, fruit or incense. Drenched in sweat (remember we had to cover shoulders and knees), we got on the air conditioned bus and back to the air conditioned hotel to of course get a cold. 

On Sunday 6 December, we visited the Elephant Transit Home where orphaned elephants are fed human milk and raised to return to the wild. Sad to see so many of them having lost their mother (and we will probably never see so many elephants together again). Loved the elephant standing along the way there crossing his/her legs, then this way, then that — a real photo model. 
      On yet another safari in the afternoon, we saw more elephants, noisy peacocks, beautiful birds, playful monkeys and lovely deer. Again thought the jeep was going to topple over at times… 

 See weeks 2-3 next.