Elephants galore

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The first 20km of todays ride was along a picturesque stretch of beaches with small islands just offshore. Little fishing markets were being setup everywhre to sell the big catch from last night. From there we headed inland where the scenery bacame greener and we started to see more ricefields. I really enjoyed being exposed to such a rural area as we were able to see the traditional methods used by farmers. Around almost every corner you would see rice laid out on tarp to dry before being cleaned. Today we rode a total of 75km but had to stop short of our destination so we could head off to a Jeep Safari.

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Our safari took place at the Uda Walawe National Park. I highly recommend this to anybody visiting Sri Lanka. We were no more than 5minutes into the trip when we saw our first elephant. They are an awesome creature and you cannot help but think about the immense power they possess. It was not long before we saw an entire herd of elephants, including a number of small babies, they looked incredibly cute! We were so lucky to get up so close to some of the elephants. We also saw an abundance of other wildlife including many birds, monkeys, wild buffalo and even a snake!

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We got back to the hotel quite late and didn't sit down for dinner till about 8:30pm. It was worth it though, the buffet was huge and most of the food was delicious. The food has sofar been great. I'm in love with the small tropical bananas, not to mention the pineapple mmmm ... Most of the buffet food has been great as well, although I do suggest they give up trying to cook Western food and stick to what they know best, the local stuff. By this stage I had started to get to know the group quite well and we all seemed to get along. I had spent a fair bit of time talking to Annabel and liked what I knew of her.