Tangalle - Sri Lanka's southern coast

On Monday (August 28th, 2023) we drove to Mirissa on Sri Lanka's south coast. After a five hour bus ride, of which Chris had to stand for four hours and Madlin for two hours, we arrived in Mirissa. The buses were so full because the private bus companies were on strike. To make matters worse, the bus also had to stop at the workshop to change a tire. In Sri Lanka this is done even when the bus is full. The passengers don't even have to get out of the car.

In Mirissa, the bathroom in our room was unfortunately completely full of mold and the three other rooms also shone due to a lack of cleaning. Unfortunately, we were unlucky overall with the hotels that day; only the fourth hotel we looked at turned out to be clean and mold-free. The hotel was very nice and the host family tried very hard to make sure we had a good time. Since we didn't like the part of Mirissa that we saw that day or the first hotels, we decided to continue our journey the next day.

As an exception, we treated ourselves to a taxi for the onward journey, as we experienced our first monsoon rain in Sri Lanka when we left. Since it is currently the rainy season here in the south, this is not surprising, but it does not invite you to wait at an uncovered bus stop.

We received a very warm welcome in the new accommodation. It is located directly on a small lake and just a few minutes from the beach. Since it is outside the city, a gigantic variety of birds can be seen here. Sitting in the restaurant we can see peacocks, parrots, starlings, kingfishers and many other birds. Land crabs, monitor lizards and chipmunks also visit here.

There was a full moon on Wednesday (August 30, 2023) and our host family recommended that we go to the beach late in the evening, as turtles come ashore nearby to lay their eggs. Most turtle species are endangered species, so it is a very special experience if you are lucky enough to be able to observe them. In order not to disturb the turtles, it is important to only use red light or the light of the full moon. And we were actually lucky. A giant sea turtle has crawled all the way up the beach to bury its eggs in the sand. The turtle was about 1.5 meters long and a meter wide. This experience was simply magical! Mainly because we were able to observe them in the wild. It was so impressive how this big animal managed the unbelievable effort. And we were able to observe it up close 😍. Such magical moments show us again and again how beautiful, unique and impressive our world is. We will tell our grandchildren about this experience.

After we spent yesterday at the pool, we explored the wider area with the scooter today. We looked at the only "blow hole" in Sri Lanka. It is also the second largest in the world. A "blow hole" is a cave by the sea with a gap in the ceiling. When the waves flood the cave, great pressure builds up and the water shoots up. The fountain can be up to 25 meters high here. As Chris was looking at the museum on the way back, Madlin was approached by a large group of local young people. They all wanted to take selfies with her.

Tomorrow we take the bus back to Ella, from where we board the train the day after tomorrow. This is a very popular attraction in Sri Lanka as the route passes through the country's hills, mountains and tea plantations.