Sri Lanka

These are my favourite photographs from our trip to Sri Lanka. The private walking tour we took in Colombo introduced us to some highlights from a local’s perspective. With a knowledgeable private guide we learned about the city’s architectural history. The company offered half-day or full-day tours, each going at your preferred pace. Although we could not avoid a little hectic traffic, especially on the way to the market, we saw so many interesting things and got to feel the city’s dynamic pulse. I personally like to visit locals’ preferred shops when I travel and I like to know what things are usually sold in local markets. Its always fun to watch the activity in the markets. The colours and the textures of the vegetables and fruits are not just great to photograph but getting to know them adds to my knowledge about the varieties of the local foods available Visiting Colombo’s historical building was really interesting too, especially the old Grand Oriental hotel building that has been open since World War II and is still quite well maintained. I never thought that taking a walking tour could be such a great way to get to know so much about a city.

November 21, 2014October 9, 2018 by Nita Strudwick Categories: Travel & InteriorTags: Colombo, Colombo harbour, Grand Oriental hotel, Sri Lanka, traditional market, Walking city tour 1 Comment

I must say, our first holiday trip to Sri Lanka was quite an adventurous journey. It was unforgettable. Especially when we spent three days camping with Leopard Safaris in Willpattu National Park. Willpattu is located in the Northwest of Sri Lanka and borders the Indian Ocean in the west. It is Sri Lanka’s largest National park and is now open to public after years of being closed during the war. It took about 4 hours drive to reach there from Nogombo, the area near Colombo where we stayed for a few days before going to the Park. Frankly speaking, I never anticipated that our planned camping at Willpattu would be the best camping we had ever experienced. So many things to talked about with this place! I don’t know where to start. But let me begin by describing our tent. As this was a holiday, comfort was our priority: our tent was big and its queen-size comfortable bed provided us with a great place to rest. Although there was no air conditioning, the breeze carried a welcome chill every night. I had thought that there would be plenty of mosquitos at the camp site but there were none at all.

We called this “glamping” (glamour camping) as the staff from Leopard Safaris were always on standby if we needed assistance. It was the things that we will never forget that made this holiday great: the food was so amazing. The chef cooked delicious meal every day; breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Sri Lankan curry and Lamb chops that I had for dinner were so good. Although we had no electricity and no internet we found ourselves enjoying nature’s beauty – it made me appreciate what life is really all about. One morning when I decided not to join the safari crew to the jungle, I stayed at the campsite to enjoy my peaceful morning with a cup of Sri Lankan tea that the staff brought, I listened the humming birds and smell the fresh morning dew. It was so relaxing. Fantastic.

During the days we spent our time driving through the jungle searching for animals and birds. I expected to see many leopards but unfortunately the only one I saw was sleeping after finishing his meal. Although I wanted to photograph him while awake, we left him while he was still sleeping. We saw plenty of beautiful Sri Lankan birds – so colourful and gorgeous. Definitely all the great memories will bring us back to Sri Lanka again one day. We thank the Leopard Safari team, especially Pila, who made our journey so memorable and delighted. Please check their website http://www.leopardsafaris.com.