Sri Lanka 2026

This morning, it was raining as we went to breakfast, it made no difference to the temperature though! Still very hot and humid. We boarded the bus at 8.30 a.m for the hour and a half drive to the elephant transit home along quiet roads lined with the occasional group of stalls And across a causeway with another reservoir to the right Most orphans are here mainly because of elephant human conflict, particularly between farmers and elephants. We arrived in good time and had a great view of feeding time. We sat on concrete steps under a metal roof which was pretty warm but it was a wonderful experience. The elephants were held back behind an electric fence and let through a group at a time. Some literally ran to the mik bar! There was a lot of trumpeting and jostling for position. Plenty of characters including one of the larger ones who took charge of a plastic tray of corn and strategically manoeuvred it to make su...

A 4.45 a.m wake up call and 5 of us had boarded our jeep by 5.15 a.m We arrived at the entrance to the park 20 minutes before it opened so wandered around by the jeep taking a few photos of a peacock and listening to the dawn chorus. There was no other traffic on the road, apart from two more jeeps that joined us. Had an amazing 3 hour game drive, the main body of water was a man made reservoir built around 20 years ago complete with dead tree trunks. We spotted deer, all sorts of bird, water buffalo and had  wonderful morning. The air was cool and still early on but very hot and humid by the time we left the park at 9 a.m On our return there was an elephant in the road Back to the hotel for a late breakfast a chill by the pool, we had a quick swim, the sun was too strong for much else. But we did sit in the shade with a cold drink. The waiter informed us that as it's a full moon today they were unable to serve...

Last night we had another Fawlty Towers evening, this time we realised that our room door didn't lock, added to the fact that the safe wouldn't lock! Luckily we were able to put our valuables in another of our group members safe, but they never managed to fix the door.  We left the hotel at  6 a.m in minibuses as the roads are far too steep and windy for our coach driving for around  1 hour 30 minutes to Horton Plains National Park. We followed a circular route of about 9k, the air was cool and clean, there were lots of trees with lichen to prove it! First stop was mini world's end with some lovely views, before the clouds roll in in a few hours. Along our walk we saw Dusky squirrels  A horned nose lizzard And some very vocal frogs Then onto World's end Baker Falls After the walk we drove on to the Yummy hotel for a homemade traditional lunch which included veg...