Tuesday 17th & Wednesday 18th February 2026

No alarm was set for this morning; there are no plans apart from exploring a little and relaxing.

We started the day with a cuppa on the balcony which overlooks the hotel’s garden.  It was almost dark when we arrived yesterday so we haven’t seen the grounds or the ocean as yet.

The hotel is situated in Kalutara on the south-western coast.  Kalutara is just 43 kilometres from Columbo.

Just before 10 am, we settled down on a couple of sunbeds to relax. The pool area is lovely, as are the surrounding gardens.

A couple of chipmunks are chasing each other and there are quite a few varieties of birds flying around.

 

The weather is overcast, so the Indian Ocean reflecting the sky is a dark grey colour.  After a while, it started to rain lightly, I have my fingers crossed that the sun will come out and the sea will then reflect a beautiful blue sky.

Unfortunately, a wire fence separates the hotel (I assume for security reasons) from the sea and there is no beach, just rocks.  A beach is, however,  just a few hundred metres away.

Later, we went for a walk, passing through the grounds of our hotel and through the pretty gardens of a couple of neighbouring hotels. One of these hotels had covered their perimeter fence with a pattern weaved from large leaves.

It looked better than the wire fence at our hotel which I disliked.

However, it was often covered with multicoloured sarongs that the local ladies tried to sell to the tourists.

A security guard stood outside a little hut at the end of the hotels’ gardens and opened the gate that was separating the local area and the locals from us tourists.  We had a chat with some of the locals and continued.

 

 

 

 

 

The beach was lovely, tall palm trees, colourful wooden boats pulled up onto  the shore and the odd local fishing.  There were no big commercial outlets, just a few little shelters with tables selling coconuts, t-shirts, souvenirs etc.

A few people were cloud bathing as there was still no sign of the sun showing its face.

A bird flew quickly passed, and into the trees and we stood patiently hoping it would return.  Our patience paid off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further along the beach, a few small wooden dwellings offered beauty treatments and Ayurvedic massages. One guy asked if he could show us their massage room, it was just as one would expect, spotless, with piles of fluffy towels; candles and incense were burning to add to the ambience

There was a massage centre at the hotel, but I preferred to give the locals the business. I booked a massage for the following day.

As we reentered the hotel grounds, we spotted some more birds.

Before dinner, we sat on the balcony for a while, and spotted what we first thought was a big black bird, then 3 and then 4.  We quickly realised that the ‘big black birds’ were the large fruit bats.  Within a short amount of time we counted 17.

 

 

 

 

 

At dinner, we met up with Pete and Anne, they had done a little more exploring than us and visited a temple.

The following day was our final day in Sri Lanka.

Dave and I spent it similarly to today. We had a bit more banter with the locals as they again attempted to sell us things we didn’t want.  I had a swim and a wonderful massage and a walk through a few streets in the town.

The weather didn’t improve, so unfortunately the Indian Ocean appeared more like the North Sea during our stay, rather than the stunning turquoise colours that we have been fortunate to see in the past.

Tomorrow we have an early start, we will be driven to Colombo for the first flight of our journey home.

When I read through this journal and glance again over the plethora of photographs, they remind me of what a wonderful adventure we have all had.

I did what I always wanted to do; I washed an elephant!  The fond memory will always bring a smile to my face.  We’ve travelled from grand temples to local villages, and ancient ruins to colonial towns.  We’ve witnessed stunning wildlife, lush landscapes and intricate carvings and statues, all punctuated by an incredible train journey and an action packed jeep safari.  The list of experiences is endless.

And of course we have made many more fun memories with our dear and crazy friends.

Thank You, Sri Lanka!

 

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