Sri Lanka - The South: Safari and Beaches

We’ve been busy since our last blog making our way from The Hill Country and down to the south. 

Before we left Ella we did the most incredible cookery course run by a local restaurant called Matey Hut. We learnt to cook TEN different things - banana curry, pineapple curry, dhal with spinach, pumpkin curry, aubergine curry, beetroot, okra, coconut sambal, savoury roti and dessert roti stuffed with a coconut treacle mix. The lady who ran it, Madu, was a no nonsense woman who got us all to chop everything by saying “like this, like this, ok now you!” And when you didn’t quite slice it right she waved in your face to get you to do better. 

We made coconut milk from scratch by freshly desiccating a brown coconut with a contraption you might find in a D&T classroom. Then adding some warm water and squeezing it all until the most delicious fresh milk was made. Coconut milk is added to EVERY dish. 

We all took it in turns to make a dish. Madu knew all the spices and quantities by heart. We were surprised how all the same spices are used - curry powder, chilli powder, cinnamon, fenugreek, cumin, cardamon, pandan leaves and more - in each curry but all taste so different. 

If you come and visit us when we’re back we’ll definitely be cooking you some Sri Lankan curry! 

All of the spices

Desiccating the coconut

THE MOST DELICIOUS FOOD!

Before we leave Ella, Alex climbs Ella rock again on his own and beats the previous days record! 

We travel from Ella to a place called Tissamaharama, Tissa for short. We base ourselves here to do a safari at Yala National Park where there is the highest density of leopards in the world. We’re a bit unsure about the safari though as we’ve heard the amount of jeeps chasing to view one leopard is a bit much. 

We met up with our friends Hana and Usman here and we’re all so happy to all be together after nearly 3 years after their wedding in Malaysia. Usman does all the talking in Sinhalese and we manage to get better food and a cheaper safari! Result! 

The safari ends up being quite bumpy, dusty and hot but we still had a great time and saw lots of animals - a herd of elephants, peacocks, mongoose, toucans, crocodiles, lots of water buffalo, lizards, wild boars, spotty deer, monkeys, lots of birds. The highlight is seeing two leopards, both sleeping. Some deer got quite close to one and he got up and we thought we were going to witness a chase but the leopard just moved to a shadier spot to carry on sleeping! Our guide was great and avoided the crowds, he looked about 20 but was in his 40s. We didn’t feel like there was too many jeeps where we were which was a relief for us and the animals. 

Leopard prints 

Spot the leopard!!

There is a leopard there, promise! 

After the safari we start making our way along the coast.  First stop Mirissa and we also met up with Loraine and Steve, Rach’s friends parents. They’ve been travelling round Sri Lanka for the last month too and we’re really glad we managed to meet up. It’s really great to spend some time with good friends and see the gorgeous beach sunset and eat good curries together. 

After Mirissa we head to Galle just the two of us. An old fort town built by the Dutch and Portuguese it’s incredibly hot but picturesque. Bring here we are reminded of a previous trip to Georgetown in Penang. We try and fail to recreate the Chinese tourists posing so fabulously around the ramparts! 

We’re sent lots of pictures from back home of the snow and we’re in complete opposite weather where we try and find aircon to try and escape the searing heat. One of these times we go to a maritime museum and can’t work out why it was so expensive and where the whale skeleton or the tsunami education bit is as promised by the guide book until hours later we work out we were in the wrong museum!

We’re currently in a beautiful beach town called Hikkaduwa. We’ve been to visit a museum and photo gallery dedicated to the people who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami. It also works as an education centre for the locals making sure they know how to recognise signs of a possible tsunami and know an evacuation route. It was utterly heartbreaking to see the photos during and after the tsunami and listen to the stories of the couple who ran the photo gallery. There is a huge Buddha that was built after the tsunami looking out to the sea in a pose meaning fearlessness and protection.

For the rest of our time we’ve mostly been spending it sat on the beach drinking the most delicious and refreshing king coconut (aiming for at least two a day), sun bathing, reading (Becoming by Michelle Obama and the Cormoran Strike series - highly recommend both), swimming, more sunbathing. Oh and also snorkelling on the coral reef and watching turtles coming to feed on the seaweed at dusk! 

We’ve only got two nights left in Sri Lanka. We can’t believe where the last month has gone. We’re going to miss this gorgeous country but very much looking forward to our next stop - Japan!

Rach and Alex xx