This year we spent our Easter holidays in Sri Lanka
The distances we drove:
Colombo airport-Wila Safari Hotel 350 km
Wila Safari Hotel - Kulu Safari Camp 40 km
Kulu Safari Camp - Negombo 430 km
Negombo - Colombo airport 40 kmAll within 6 days.
At Colombo airport!
We were met by people from Wila Safari and transported to the hotel. We didn`t know that the trip would last for 7 hours in bumpy roads at the speed of 30-50 km/h.
We have been flying for 5 hours, so after some hours by car, a coffee break makes us happier.
The reception at Wila Safari.
Here we got a welcome-drink. Very good after a very looong journey.
The adults were asked if they wanted to enjoy icecold beer, witch is a little unusual for us, since we for the time being live in a muslim country (Qatar)
Johannes gives a big smile.
Dinner at 23.00, with a very tasty beer.
In Sri Lanka they have what they call “Fullmoonday”.
There shouldn`t be any alcohol this day, but they made an exception for us.
The Sri Lankan people will take care of, and are very attentive to their guests.
They are also extremely friendly and cheerful.
We play some Nintendo-games before we fall to sleep – freshly showered and exhausted!!
Breakfast for Johannes, mommy and daddy.
All of the others are still sleeping.
Linnèa enjoys her breakfast.
Daddy and Johannes went for the ATM in the city.
Peder found someone to play together with.
Everything we had heard and read about this country seems to be correct - they love children and care for them ;-)
The hotel garden!
Ylva and Einar are watching birds, while Ask is exploring rest of the garden in his hunt for exciting insects and other interesting things…
Ready for Yala national park. We enjoy to go in an open car, because it is very humid and hot here. Safety belts, children´s car seat and other safety items are totally missing…
The entrance board at Yala national park.
The Gate. We are very excited for what we will experience...
This is our tent. We were told to keep every zipper for bags, tents etc. closed . There are a lot of curious monkeys here, and they will search everywhere for food.
Luckily they don´t know how to open zippers….yet.
The camp
Monkeys visited The Håkonsen tent. They found only shoes, concluded that they couldn´t eat it and threw it away.
The camp were situated in the jungle next to a river, and we spent some hours here to cool down
Twice a day we were out to watch the wildlife. Early morning at 06.00 and in the afternoon at 15.00. Here we are at a water hole the first day.
Egrets in the trees!
It was a swarming birdlife, with a lot of colourful spieces.
A spieces of Kingfisher and a Little Green Bee Eater
Another spieces of Kingfisher
We observed a lot of crocodiles in different sizes.
Here is one of them in the water.
When we came back to the camp, we got surprised. Dinner by the river, with a fire and dieselfilled oil-lamps. These lamps burned all night and kept big animals away. Elephants, leopards and other animals don´t like this smell.
Ask found a piece of burning wood
We were served traditional Sri Lankan food. We thought it was extremly spicy, but the adults enjoyed it and found it very tasteful.
The moon made an evocative finish of the day.
Little Green Bee Eater.
We got up early next morning to go for a wildlifetour. This (and in the afternoon) is the best time of the day to observe animals. At mid day it becomes too hot and the animals are hiding in shaddows. We didn´t eat breakfast (only coffee and some fruit) before we came back to the camp aprox. 3 hours later.
Hornbills taking a sandbath
A manmade dam just to make sure the animals have enough water.
If you got to go, you got to go...
Ask needs to pee. It is not allowed to leave the car, so Ask ment that peeing from the car while watching elephants was a highlight. When the adults had to pee, we found a "safe" area, while the driver and the tracker kept watch.
One of the many eagle-spieces we observed.
Monitor
Sri Lanka were also hit by the tsunami.
There were a camp situated here and aprox. 40 were killed, out of totally aprox. 30000 in Sri Lanka
We were lucky. This bear is rarely observed:-)
We were suprised when we came to the camp for breakfast. The brekfast table were set and they had placed it in the river. Very refreshing and different ;-)
Daddy enjoys a cup of coffee and a bath...
...while we plays crocodile together with Johannes.
There were many nice trees to climb inside the camp. Perfect to play monkey and Tarzan. It has been some time since we climbed that many trees... In Qatar we only have some boring datepalms to climb...
Ask as a monkey
There were also some lianas that we could use.
Inside the camp there were many hammocks for us to use. Linnèa relaxes with a game of Nintendo when the heat is at the most intense.
Mommy also relaxes, and is really impressed by being served an icecold beer without lifting a finger...
After some relaxing time, we went for an evening tour. Here is a male elephant witch suddenly came out of the forrest.
A mother elephant nursing her baby. FABULOUS!!
Daddy constantly shoots with the camera.
One of the highlights was to observe the leopard. When it was nearby, we really could hear each others heartbeat!!!!
There were a lot of wild boar and spotted deer.
Mongoose, the snakekiller, was a strange animal.
Pren drives the other car for Kulu Safari
It is morning the last day and the table are about to be set .
Detail from the breakfast table
Leader Mark together with mommy.
Mark arranged lift for Negombo and rooms at the Goldi Sands Hotel. Helpful and nice person...
The minibus to Negombo - extremely hot and humid. Mommy and Anne Grethe almost died....
Anne Grethe and Johannes counting money to pay Mark and co.
The currency unit in Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan rupi. There are very few ATM´s, and those existing paid out only 20.000-40.000 rupies. So daddy and Johannes had to go many, many times before there were enough money.
We were impressed to see all that money, and Mark asked them if they had robbed the bank...
On the way to Negombo, we passed Uda Walave national park and observed this enormous male elephant
A four membered family riding their moped.
Cars aren´t normally held by Sri Lankans. They normally walk, own a moped, Tuk tuk or a bicycle.
A couple with a big pan.
Streetview.
No wonder 30 km/h were max speed.
Fruit/vegetable shop at the roadside.
The roads were poor and narrow.
The rivers we passed are used for washing clothes and bathing. The houses at the rural districts aren´t normally connected to waterworks.
A tamil tempel
There were very many Tuk tuks.
Finally at the Goldi Sands hotel. Here we are outside of our bungalow. In this country you don´t have to cover your shoulders nor knees. Mommy, Anne Grethe and Linnéa enjoyed it.
The pool was just meters away from the bungalow.
The water was nice and warm, and we enjoyed to swim before we will leave for Qatar tomorrow morning.
The bungalow seen from the pool.
Nicely decorated.
Mommy and daddy slept at each side of the king size bed, while we slept across it.
Ylva arranges a sunbed for herself.
Lunch
The adults couldn´t praise the tasty food enough.
We ate mostly bread and fruit - because we don´t like very spicy food....
A red flag at the beach told us that swimming was forbidden. (Big waves)
We only played a little bit by the water´s edge.
Evening at the beach.
After check-in at Colombo airport, very early in the morning.
We left the hotel before breakfast, so crackers are handed out.
Empty stomachs=grumpy kids and should be avoided;-)
The Håkonsen family are still in queue. There aren´t so many white persons here...
Here we are in the airplane on the way back home to Qatar after a fabulous vacation, in a marvelous country with friendly people and unforgetable wildlife and fauna.
Sri Lanka are highly recomended!
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