Day 8 started off really early, for our villa owner had told us that if we got up early, we would witness sunrise at the Unawatuna beach, which was just 5 minutes away. So we all woke up around 6 and headed to the beach.
It was still dark, but the sky was very cloudy, so though the sun did rise while we were there, technically we didn't get to see sunrise.
It was a peaceful, pretty beach nevertheless, and we spent about half an hour there.
Ladies at the beach
Grandpa and granddaughter on the rocks
Of course, Dad went off in search of fallen coconuts to take home, and much to my mom's distress, my dad-in-law decided to help him in this venture.
After breakfast, we set off for Galle fort and spent the morning there. Galle Fort, situated in the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, was built in 1588 by the Portuguese, and fortified by the Dutch in the 17th century. Today, it's one of the most important historic monuments of Sri Lanka, and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Galle Clock Tower was constructed in recognition of Dr Peter Daniel Anthonisz, who was the first Ceylonese to obtain an M.R.C.P. and F.R.C.S. Widely respected, he was the first doctor to successfully undertake oesophagotomy and ovariotomy in the country.
Xena and I pose near one of the gates.
Up in the air!
We even saw a wedding photoshoot happening at the fort!
Ladies of the fort
Family shot
Against the Galle lighthouse
The area around the fort was beautiful and we spent some time just walking around.
The weather was also really nice so we didn't feel too hot to be out in the open at that time of the day.
Xena had her journal with her, and would randomly sit down anywhere to make notes.
Here she is, making a tracing of a shell encrusted in the fort wall.
Aha! Caught ya!
Family selfie, with Mom's adorable 'victory sign'
Next, we headed off towards Bentota.
This was hilarious -- main sponsored by mummy and daddy!
Very tall Buddha statue in Galle town
Just off the Bentota-Galle road in the town of Hikkaduwa is the Tsunami Honganji Vihara, is a Budhha statue erected in memory of the victims who perished in the 2004 tsunami. The statue was erected using donations raised by the Honganji Temple of Japan.
The statue is18.5 metres high, the same as the height of the second deadly tsunami wave.
More information on the statue (click to enlarge). We didn't go into the museum but Viv made a donation at the memorial.
After much research (for there are many turtle hatcheries in Sri Lanka and some indulge in very unethical practices, such as not releasing the baby turtles back into the sea on time, but holding them back just for tourists), we decided on the Victor Hasselblad sea turtle research and conservation centre in Kosgoda.
So the conservationists at this centre buy turtle eggs from fishermen and people who find them on the beach, bury them in sand beds in the hatchery and once they hatch, keep them under observation till they are ready to be released into the sea (roughly three days from hatching). They also treat injured turtles and conduct research on turtle conservation. Special tanks house deformed turtles that would not be released as they wouldn't be able to protect themselves in the sea.
Baby turtles!
We got to hold the baby turtles, though on hindsight I'm just wondering if it's such a good idea for so many people to handle these newborns.
Xena was scared of them at first, but soon she got comfortable.
Adult turtle
It was a small place, but the guide seemed very knowledgeable and there are many informational posters about turtle conservation.
There was a small gift shop near the hatchery, and Xena really liked a wooden mommy-and-baby turtle set, which we bought for her.
Soon, we were on our way again. On the way, we stopped when we saw a green coconut seller and bought some coconut water. Very refreshing!
For lunch, our driver stopped at an eatery along the way, called Pereira and Sons.
Yummy lamprais lunch (and pasta for Xena)
By late afternoon, we had reached our villa. It was the best of all the places we had stayed at. I loved it!
Our pretty villa
We dumped our luggage and set off quickly as we had booked the Bentota river cruise. Basically, they take you around on a boat on the Bentota river and the guide points out various wildlife along the way. We saw kingfishers, herons, water monitors, bats, green tree snakes, an iguana and a crocodile.
Boat selfie with our guide Harinda
Harinda was outstanding. We were awestruck by his sharp eyes as he spotted all kinds of wildlife from great distances, which we couldn't see even from very close quarters. He would then take the boat reaaallly close to whatever he was trying to show us and then we'd all go "OHHH!" and then "OOOOOOH!"
Spot the iguana!
Here's another!
What a vibrant blue!
It took us almost 15 minutes to spot the green chameleon's head in this foliage. Can you?
Bat nests high up in the tree
The old skin shed off by a snake after moulting
Green tree snake (I challenge you to find its head!)
We were really impressed at how keen his eyesight was. We asked him how on earth he spotted those tiny things from so far away. He smiled modestly and said, "It's my job."
Along the way, there was also a man offering the opportunity to hold and take photos with a baby crocodile (for a fee I suppose), but he was not pushy when we declined (we were all too freaked out at the sight!).
Can you blame us? If a baby croc looks this ferocious...
There was also a section where you get off the boat to see porcupines. We were a little distressed to see the caretaker hitting the walls of the enclosure with a big stick in order to get the porcupines to come out of a corner they were huddling in, so we could get a better look at them. We asked her to stop doing that. The place also had a fish spa and a souvenir shop, but we just wanted to get out of there.
One of the highlights of the safari was when the boat entered a mangrove lagoon. It was a surreal experience.
It was full of many low-lying branches, some very close to touching our heads!
As you can see, Mom wasn't too comfortable in this setting and wanted it to end soon.
But the rest of us were fascinated!
Family shot at the mangrove lagoon
Across the river, we could see yet another giant Buddha statue.
Next, we went to Bentota beach and hung around for a while.
Trying on Daddy's sandals!
Xena was thrilled to find so many different types of shells at the beach.
This was some kind of motorised parachute ride, but we didn't dare to go on it.
Dinner was at a place called Bollywood Masala.
The day had been really hectic, and we had travelled and seen a lot. We were happy to go back to our villa and sleeeeeeep! The next day was going to be the last day of the holiday.
