First, I'll say that in the moment, there were times on this trip that we were exhausted and frustrated. We were traveling with two small humans who were overall, fantastic, but keeping them entertained and happy while on two or three hour drives got hard. Finding things they would happily eat was a challenge. While Sri Lankan food is really good and not overly exotic, it was still different and unknown to the girls. Colin and I loved it, but it wasn't out girls favorite. Luckily, our hosts did a great job cooking items each meal that the girls would be familiar with, like pancakes, french toast, green beans, chicken, etc...
We definitely had some challenges on our trip, but in the end, we are so glad we did it and saw some amazing things. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, full of beautiful, kind, caring, patient, genuine, and happy people, and full of amazing creatures.
Our trip had a rushed start. After Christmas and Connor's visit to Oman, we took one "down day" and quickly packed for the flight that night. We took a red-eye at 11:30 and landed in Sri Lanka at 5:30 AM. It was immediately followed by a 4 hour ride from the airport to our hideaway in the hills outside Kandy. Being tired and worn out, our poor girls did not do well, nor did I, with the windy roads and stop and go traffic. Aberly puked twice, Emalyn once, and I almost did once. It was a rough ride, but we made it to our beautiful spot and quickly relaxed in front of our amazing views with a great lunch, followed by a refreshing nap.
Our rustic house in the hills!
Fantastic views!
Aberly was excited that our hosts had kids, one of them being Jurayna, who was just a bit younger than her. Their communication was hindered by Jurayna's minimal English, but they got along fine. They also had a little boy who Em loved to pal around with. Since neither of them spoke much of anything, they did fine!
Taking a walk down the road by our place.
Me, always enchanted by the plants!
Mommy's turn to carry me!
Both of the girls enjoyed tuk-tuk rides. Probably because they didn't have to be belted in!
Victoria Dam
Hiking out to mini-World's End. Our tuk tuk driver guided us out. Full service!
Up in the hills, they have pine-like trees, but they are a lot smaller. These looked like Ponderosas.
At the "World's End"
The leech that had hitched a ride on my ankle.
View of the land around our hike. It was such a unique blend of plants and trees.
We were relaxing one afternoon outside when a family came wandering in, curious to see the "hotel" and meet us. The girl in red next to me spoke really good English and communicated for the group. They were very interested in seeing our girls and taking photos with them.
We went to two different elephant orphanages one day and it was really neat to see them so close and personal. The girls were definitely fascinated!
Watching the elephants parade.
Getting to feed the baby elephant. Emalyn let go of the bottle when it got close. It was a serious mad house and we were lucky we got the girls their turns as quickly as we did.
Elephant ride!!!
Not out best shot, but all of us with the elephant.
Aberly's 2nd highlight was getting to wash the elephant.
She is thrilled, and I am thrilled, but also thinking, "Mr. Elephant, don't roll over PLEASE"
Inside the Tooth Temple (this temple is where they have a tooth artifact that they believe is the first Buddha's. If you didn't know, which I didn't until visiting, that Sri Lanka is mainly Buddhist.
Sweet sisters exploring together.
Let's go, daddy!
Monk sighting.
One thing Sri Lanka has a lot of is wild life. It's pretty fantastic. Here's a few snaps of the types of critters we encountered.
Fuzzy caterpillars. They will give you a serious rash if you touch their fuzz!
Chameleon
Gorgeous birds! This is a hooded bee eater. We saw so many different kinds of birds, including green parrots and hawks.
Jungle princess!
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