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TRAVEL
228
January15
The sights
It would be very easy to do absolutely
nothing at the villa, but Sri Lanka’s south
coast has so much on offer – and I had
promised the kids five days of activities
and exploring. Information about day-trip
itineraries and where to shop and eat are
all provided by the staff, and our resort
driver, Susil, was available to take us to
any place we wanted to visit.
On our first day this was Galle, the
coastal city with gorgeous old colonial
buildings and a charming historic Dutch
fort that has been well preserved. We
spent a couple of hours walking the
ramparts and enjoying the views out
to the sea, taking in the fresh air and
soaking in the atmosphere.
On the way back to the resort we
stopped at the Sea Turtle Farm and
Hatchery at Habaradura. Despite being
a tourist attraction, this place seems
really genuine and the people running
the farm explained how they were
trying their best to save the turtles.
The project protects the eggs until
they hatch and then monitors the baby
turtles until they’re strong enough to be
reintroduced to nature. Injured and sick
turtles are also cared for here.
The following day we took a 10-minute
tuk-tuk ride from the resort to Mirissa,
armed with layers of sunscreen, hats
and sunshades. This is a laid-back little
town with a local flavour, a beautiful
palm-fringed beach and good surf –
an excellent place to while away a few
hours, and highly entertaining if you like
big waves. The kids had a great time
jumping the waves while I sipped a drink
and soaked up the vibe of the place.
The big tourist draw in Mirissa is
whale-watching, but unfortunately it
wasn’t the right time of year to see them.
With only a slim chance of making a
sighting, we decided to give it a miss – a
five-hour boat trip in choppy, whale-free
waters didn’t seem all that appealing.
We felt a bit more adventurous the
next day and took a trip to a snake farm
in Thelijjavila, a village about 45 minutes
away and a delightful drive through the
countryside. The small farm, run by a
family of traditional Ayurvedic snakebite
physicians, was a fantastic experience
– very basic and not commercial at all.
The owner uses the snakes to produce
anti-venom used in Ayurvedic medicine.
He keeps around 15 to 20 snakes, in a
room the size of a car garage. It was
quite an eye-opener as he displayed
the highly venomous cobras and vipers,
right in front of us. We got to hold some
non-poisonous ones, including a python
and tree snake, and we learnt a lot about
Sri Lanka’s indigenous snakes.
Sri Sharavi
Beach Villas
at sunset