The courtyard/entrance to the 4-villa compound; this 3-bedroom villa was ours for a week in mid-December. 
Our side of the villa with open porches around the pool/sea side. Breakfast must be ready as most of us are at the table and waiting!
Joseph, William & Hendrik Atsma with Christine are already at the table. The atmosphere was casual, Christine ate many meals with just a sarong over her swimsuit.
View from the lounging area of the veranda. Swimming pool with beach just beyond. There had been a cyclone recently which wash away a large amount of our beach. We would walk down the shore line to a bar, find some lounge chairs and have a few Lion beers while we watched the boys play in the surf.
We had just arrived and were all exhausted. Breakfast was being prepared (note cornflakes on the table).
Typical dinner: seafood or chicken curry over rice, salads and lots and lots of fruit. Luckily both Joseph and William are fabulous eaters and we all enjoyed the meals. We had a female cook and a male house host. They were at our disposal from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM and met our every need. It was wonderful.
River Cruise: Scott, Joseph, Christine, Guide, Katherine and William. Hendrik took many of these photos and shared so our blog looks good. He is a better photographer and has a great camera. Kudos to him for his skill and generosity!
Scott with the crocodileThis is a Blue-Tailed Bee Eater, we also sighted Cormorant & Grey-Headed Fish Eagle while on the river.
White & Cattle Egrets were in evidence throughout the island. Like India, cows roam freedly in Sri Lanka and were there were cows (everywhere) there were Cattle Egrets (everywhere, too!)
Hendrik got a great shot of this lizard, there is a startling variety of reptiles on this island.
Crocodile at the edge of the mangrove.
William and Joseph on the bow of the boat, tour was almost over and the guide urged the boys to the bow as we sped toward homebase.
Christine with the crocodile on her shoulder, she is smiling cause she is nervous.
William the Brave, the crocodile is on his head!
Turtle farms, they rescue the turtle eggs, bring them to the farm and take care they hatch before releasing them back into the water. There are three different type of turtles here, all just 1 day old. (loggerhead, greenback & leatherback)
Albino - quite rare and untouchable (trust me, I know, cause got my hand slapped when I tried.)
The area where the turtle eggs are buried and dated/marked for research purposes.
Katherine with a beautiful, large and heavy turtle. The guide who slapped my hand away is in the background.
White & Cattle Egrets were in evidence throughout the island. Like India, cows roam freedly in Sri Lanka and were there were cows (everywhere) there were Cattle Egrets (everywhere, too!)
Hendrik got a great shot of this lizard, there is a startling variety of reptiles on this island.
Crocodile at the edge of the mangrove.
William and Joseph on the bow of the boat, tour was almost over and the guide urged the boys to the bow as we sped toward homebase.
Christine with the crocodile on her shoulder, she is smiling cause she is nervous.
William the Brave, the crocodile is on his head!
Turtle farms, they rescue the turtle eggs, bring them to the farm and take care they hatch before releasing them back into the water. There are three different type of turtles here, all just 1 day old. (loggerhead, greenback & leatherback)
Albino - quite rare and untouchable (trust me, I know, cause got my hand slapped when I tried.)
The area where the turtle eggs are buried and dated/marked for research purposes.
Katherine with a beautiful, large and heavy turtle. The guide who slapped my hand away is in the background.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sri Lanka is the teardrop shaped island nation off the southeastern coast of India. Known as Ceylon, it became independent of British colonial rule in 1948 and changed its name in 1972. Due to location, Sri Lanka is a link in the ancient Silk Route. It is also the center of the Buddist religion with Hindu, Christian and Muslims representing much of the balance. The vast majority of the citizens are of Sinhalese origins; the separatist Tamils are based primarily in the north and northeast (we were on the SW coast just south of Colombo). The major issues between the Gov't and Tamils erupted into violence in 1983, with 10's of thousands dying or leaving the country. A ceasefire was brokered by the Norwegians in 2002 with peaceful negotiations still in progress.
We took a night flight (sat on the tarmac an extra hour in Abu Dhabi), so there was a planeful of exhausted and irritated passengers. Landed in Colombo, met our driver and were on our way to Wadduwa in the early hours. The road system has not updated since the British left, so travel is "interesting" and progress is slow... Our house was lovely, open and airy and very safe! We spent the first few days just relaxing by our own pool (no one in residence in any of the other 3 houses our entire stay), walking down the beach, sitting on the veranda and eating the delicious meal prepared by Miss Pushba (our cook).
Our first venture out was a river cruise, lunch and visit to the turtle farm/sanctuary. This was a successful trip with all 6 of us enjoying ourselves. Hope you enjoyed our photos, with more to follow on our trips to Colombo and Galle.
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