Sri Lanka’s East Coast

We arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the afternoon of my birthday. Because Rich is awesome, he surprised me by booking a room in a boutique hotel in Mount Lavinia, a suburb of Colombo. The room was decorated with balloons and when I got out of the shower, sparkling wine and strawberries were waiting for me (and the wine was tasty!).

Dinner and breakfast at the hotel were both incredible! Dinner was shrimp curry with string hoppers (noodles cooked in a coaster-like shape) sambal, and veggies. Breakfast was egg hoppers (a hopper is a bowl shaped cooking device so the eggs were cooked perfectly into little sunny side up bowls) and plain hoppers which are kind of like toast but much tastier.

We justvstayed one night in Colombo and then caught the overnight train from Colombo at 7 pm that was supposed to arrive about 3:30 am in Batticaloa on the east coast, but delays en route got us in just before 5 am. We took a tuk tuk (three wheeled, open air taxi) to the bus station and waited an hour for the bus to Pottuvil. A three hour crowded and hot bus and 15 minute tuk tuk ride later we arrived in Arugam Bay.

Most people come to Arugam Bay to surf and enjoy the great beaches. We came because it is 1.5 hours from Kumana National Park known for animal spotting.  Beaches and surf were added perks. So after a day of relaxing and another excellent dinner (prawn curry for me, BBQ marlin for Rich, all for about $7 a plate), I met with Sulfi, our hotel’s wildlife guide, to plan a safari for two days hence.

We had a day before the safari so Rich did a surf lesson and I tagged along to explore a new beach (Whiskey Point) and play photographer. Rich got up and rode in three times during his lesson! That evening we hired a tuk tuk to Crocodle Rock south of town to look for elephants and watch the sunset. We didn’t see elephants but sunset from the rock was worth the trip.

And then it was safari day! Best times to spot animals are early morning and evening so we left our guesthouse at 1:30 in the afternoon to arrive at the park just after 3 pm. In Chitwan we shared the jeep with nine other people so having just four of us felt really luxurious.

The first things we saw in the park were a hornbill (bird) and an eagle. About 15 minutes into the drive, Barbara, the Austrian girl, yelled something and we turned to see a wild elephant charging our jeep from behind. He even trumpeted at us! Our driver took off and we left the elephant behind.

Another 10 minutes in and we struck gold. Sulfi spotted (literally) a leopard in the woods!

We spotted loads more during the drive. Four jackals, deer, wild boar, a huge land monitor (lizard), kingfishers, and peacocks. The turnaround point was just past a bird sanctuary where thousands of painted storks and pelicans were nesting. There we saw our second elephant of the day.

We saw more animals on the drive back. The sun was starting to set as we got close to the park entrance and then we saw another leopard lying right next  to the road. We watched it for a good five minutes as it became aware of us and moved slowly into the woods. Two leopard sightings! And we saw two more elephants as we left the park. What a great day!

Not yet tired of animal spotting, Rich and I got up at 5 am to do a lagoon safari with Sulfi. We took a tuk tuk to Potuvil Lagoon and a local fisherman took us in a two hour tour. The boat was made of a flat wooden board across two canoes. We sat on top of the board as the fisherman used a pole to drive and steer.

Right away we saw two elephants crossing the lagoon. We saw crocs, storks, eagles, egrets, herons, and other birds ascwell as another elephant. We stopped for a bit where the lagoon meets the ocean and watched the fishermen at work. Sulfi bought some fresh fish for dinner. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and working out transport to Trincomalee.

We hired a tuk tuk to take us halfway to Trincomalee, which is 6 hours north of Arugam Bay. Then we transferred to a local bus for the rest of the trip. We arrived in the late afternoon and took a tuk tuk to our guesthouse in Uppeveli- 3 km north of Trinco. We then spent some quality time enjoying the AC. It is hot in Sri Lanka!

We arose early to do a 6 am whale watching trip. Ten different kinds of whales can be seen off the coast of Trinco and it is one of the best places in te world to spot blue whales. Unfortunately, no whales had been sighted since the rains the previous week. But all was not lost. We spent the boat ride tracking various pods of dolphins. Some had over 50 dolphins in them. Since dolphins are my favorite animal, I was ecstatic!

That afternoon I went into Trinco and visited a Hindu temple. It is one of five temples that are strategically located around the island and are supposed to guard it from natural disasters.

Our second day in Trinco we went diving. We did two dives near a national park called Pigeon Rock and between the dives we snorkeled. The highlight of the dives were the various colorful fish and corals (one section looked like the lobby of the Bellagio in Vegas). But the best part of the outing was snorkeling as we saw 5-8 black tip reef sharks swimming right below us!

That night was our last on the East Coast. The next day we headed to the ancient cities.