Our last full day in Sri Lanka wasn’t billed as down time but we chose to make it so. There was an optional whale watching boat trip but me and modestly sized boats do not get on well at the…

Oddly, we managed to sleep beneath our mozzie net in our fan-assisted oven. We didn’t have to sleep too long because we had yet another 0-dark-30 start, our alarm being set for 04:15. Had there been tea in the tent…

Laundry done – we have enough to last the rest of the trip – after two nights staying in Farm Resorts at Dickoya, our next stop will be the Athgira River Camp. That should be interesting. First and foremost it…

We had one 2-night stop but that was very early on in our tour, on nights 2 and 3, at  Wilpattu National Park. Now at our Farm Resorts accommodation we have another 2-night stop which is more interesting; it means…

We had our first sensible morning start time, at last. We left our swanky but very busy, large hotel at 08:30 along with three other larger tourist buses. Today we were heading into Sri Lanka’s Golden Valley of Tea. Our…

The pace of this Explore! tour was described as moderate. We, however, have decided we would describe it as full on. This is day #5 and so far our most civilized alarm (yesterday) has been 06:00. Our first three days…

Have I got a treat for you? Not just one more temple but two. Yes, two temples in one day. When we visited Cambodia we saw eight temples in one day so Sri Lanka is a bit of a lightweight…

Day three and the third early morning start. We were heading back into Wilpattu NP for another half day before moving on. Once again, because we’d be entering the park at 06:00 we had been given a packed breakfast. After…

Our second day and our second early start; even earlier this morning at 05:45 to be precise. We’re heading into Wilpattu National Park itself, which should my main event. Wildlife is mainly active in the earlier morning and again later…

This was our first full day in Sri Lanka and we were up early to get to the local fish market at Negombo before hoards of other tourists arrived. We tipped out of our bus to get an hours worth…