The Best Day Ever

Sea turtles are my favorite. I've felt fiercely protective of them since I was shown a graphic video of them being killed for their eggs in middle school (whose idea was that, anyway?). So when we heard there was a Sea Turtle hatchery near by, we had to go.

It did not disappoint! We learned a lot about the program they are running there, where they rebury eggs that are in danger and have hatches right there at their facility. Very cool.

We made a donation and were able to release a baby turtle into the sea. I was geekin out about it, so excited! Baby sea turtles are about the cutest things I've ever seen.

The three of us carried her to her starting point on the beach. It was important for her to walk down the beach and into the ocean so that she imprints on the beach. In 30 years she will return to the same beach to lay her eggs. 

Super proud mamas

Um, hello gorgeous beach. I'd return to it too if I were a turtle! 

I was tempted to give our guys a hard time because it always looked like they were carrying giant wads of cash. Then I discovered that there are no coins in Sri Lankan Rupee, only bills. He is holding less than $100 US here.

After the sea turtles we thinned out the wads of cash a bit, trying our hand at traditional Sri Lankan fishing. It is a beautiful tradition. Me, Nathan and Brandie are pictured above.

They wrapped up the boy's heads and gave em each a stick pole. Wasn't long before they had each caught a fish. All 6 of us caught fish.

I was super appreciative that the fish I caught (little guy right by my sleeve) was kind enough to match my cover up. He was tie dye green and yellow- we were meant for each other!

Then the real fisherman jumped up on their fishing stands to show us how it's done. I would guess they average a fish a minute, if not more. I could've fished, or even just watched the fisherman fish, all day.

But alas, we headed to another beach for Jeremiah and Nathan's surfing lesson. Nathan did great, hopped up right away and rode the wave in to the beach.

Brandie and I hung out and cheered for our guys, they did awesome!

When their trainers came in they offered to give Brandie and I a quick lesson too. It was unexpected but why not? So we got a condensed lesson and out we went.
Turns out, I can surf! Who knew? It was the most fun I've had in a long time. Seriously, so. much. fun. We were in a pretty great place to learn, as the waves were smallish and good and the water was shallow so we didn't wear ourselves out swimming.
Of the 4 of us I had the easiest time getting up and staying on the surfboard, maybe I had good balance from dance, maybe it was beginners luck. Either way it was the best afternoon.

Best action shot of the day was Brandie bailing. I mean, I laugh every time I see it, it's just SO awesome! She looks so athletic, until you see the nose plug.
At one point I went gliding past Brandie who was paddling back out, she shouts, "DO THE SPLITS!" and so... I did. Without falling off the surfboard. I do have picture and video proof but I didn't want to risk straining my reader's eye muscles from extreme eye rolling.

For the finale Nathan and I got up at the same time. We might just abandon our lives and turn into beach bum surfers... if it weren't for, you know, those 5 kids we've produced....shoot.....

We headed to yet another beach and waded out to this rock out cropping.

The views were stunning as we could see 360* around us. The tide was coming in and the sun was getting low, it was lovely.

We watched this guy fishing with a net for a bit. He was really graceful with how he cast it, clearly it was not his first try.
The following pictures are possibly my favorite from the trip, as Nathan and I were further down the beach and had no idea Brandie was even taking pictures. Having truly candid moments captured is a gift. And I am really grateful for these.

The Villa and Galle

Sri Lanka is still very much a back packers destination. There are no big resorts or chains to be found. The country was deep in civil war until 2009 which certainly played into the lack of development. Because of this our choices were backpacker hostels or villas. With the 6 of us we were able to find a beautiful villa right on the ocean. We arrived after dark the night before so our surroundings were a stunning surprise in the morning. 

This amazing bird flitted by and had us all scrambling for our cameras. It is a Kingfisher, and his long fishing beak and bright,vibrant blue feathers were unforgettable. 

The temperatures of both the pool and ocean water was really warm. Even first thing before breakfast Nathan was trying to chuck me in the pool for a swim. I think I was mostly resistant to the idea of being "chucked". We actually spent a lot of time in the water, and even enjoyed sunsets floating in the pool.

Another highlight of the villa was the food. The cook, Baba (she was amazing) would make whatever we asked but we all really loved the traditional Sri Lankan food. They eat a hearty breakfast of Dal, a bean and lentil type curry, with this yummy shredded orange coconut dish and naan type bread. It was sooo good. Similar to Indian food for sure. There seemed to be less variety than traditional Indian food, but what we had we all loved.

Here are our ambitious boys on our first morning in Galle, headed out to check out the snorkeling at the base of our villa. Snorkeling report was not so good due to the rebar dangerously sticking out just waiting to impale you when the next wave comes in. 

Speaking of waves, the Villa house manager spent quite a bit of time relaying his experience of the 2004 Tsunami. It hit the area where we were staying, it came in two huge waves or surges and then the water receded back out to the ocean 3km. Galle was hit and suffered terrible loss of life and property but the waves came in at an angle rather than straight on which may have saved them from complete and utter destruction. 

He told us many harrowing stories, including the bungalows of an aunt where he was working at the time. The cement wall collapsed on one of their guests and he lost his leg. He pointed to the little hotel to our right, who lost their wife and mother. The managers brother was actually out with a group scuba diving... Just crazy, humbling stories. 

The villa we stayed in actually sits high up off of the water and did not suffer much damage. It was terrible to realize that after all we learned about the tsunami in Galle it was not the worst hit in Sri Lanka, not even close. 

These are incredibly resilient people we had the privilege to visit with.  

We spent a day exploring Galle, especially the Fort area. First we went past the harbor and fishing area.

But just driving through town there was so much to take in.

This is a tuk tuk, just a scooter with a cover and benches. The other two couples we were with both rented scooters to drive around town on but I really felt like that was an unnecessary risk for Nathan and I. We do not ride scooters regularly in Taipei, but I have seen enough accidents to know the dangers. Add to that a foreign country with different rules of driving (both written and unwritten) and the fact that they drive on the opposite side of the road, and I felt it was just a risk we didn't need to take. Nathan was less worried over all but was fine to ride in a tuk tuk with me instead. Him supporting my caution made me love him all the more. (read: him supporting my anxiety made me love him for still loving me)

We saw this scene quite a bit, families out swimming and playing in the ocean. The dads may wade in, in their clothes, to be with their children, mothers did occasionally too -always in their clothes, fully dressed. Children usually had swimsuits but swam in their clothes too.
Slight Tangent:
Our house manager said as Island people they definitely know how to swim and enjoy the ocean. I told him it was funny because the same cannot be said about the Island we currently live on. Taiwan people largely ignore the beaches and ocean they are surrounded by. There is amazing snorkeling associated with the area, but guess how they snorkel? With life vests on, carefully holding on to ropes above areas of coral, where they float on top of the water and put their faces down in to observe the fish life safely from above.  Not exactly what I would call embracing the ocean with open arms!

Back to the Galle. We spent some time exploring the Fort area. Sri Lanka has a rich history which I will not pretend to know all about. But I did catch that the Fort was built by the Dutch at some point. It seemed like you were in this little European village in the middle of India.

I love the swirly letters of the Sinhalese language. Everything is funner when it's in a beautiful script... even if I can't understand a lick of it.

The Peace Pagoda 

(Where our tuk tuk driver took us when we asked to go to Unnawatuna Beach???)

We did eventually make it to Unnawatuna...

Kandy to Galle

 A new driver came up to get us and drive us the 5 hours down to southern Sri Lanka. There was plenty of the culture to see on the drive.

We stopped to try this corn on the side of the road. I wish I could report that it was good Keith, but it was not. It was a more round, rubbery feeling kernel, and it was chewy/mushy and gross inside. Not sweet at all.

But the stop was worth it because we got to see these two boys playing out in their yard. It was interesting to see them with only their poor surroundings, not a toy to be found, and yet they were playing so happily. 

We shared some candy with them and they were pretty excited about that too. 

 We continued on our way and as we crossed one bridge we saw something strange growing in the trees. We asked our driver, Wait, what were those giant black things hanging from that tree?! Were they bats?
Our driver turned around and we went back. No. way. They were giant fruit bats. We could not believe it!

 They were ginormous! The size of a cat, then add wings. The boys threw some rocks towards the tree to get some flying, it was absolutely incredible.

They were amazing, actually.

We made another short stop at an elephant orphanage. The elephants were down at the river when we arrived so we were only able to ride one of a couple elephants. 

 It was nice to see these elephants out in their natural habitat.

 Carrie feeding an elephant a banana.

When the guide asked if Brandie wanted the elephant to spray her, she said sure! She got more than she bargained for! But it made for a fun pic, thanks for sacrificing Brandie!

It was a fun little detour on our way to Galle!

 Thank goodness for our driver because it was 4 hours of two way roads and crazy driving before you hit the new toll freeway, built by China, for the last hour or so. China will collect the tolls for ten years and then turn it over... supposedly. The toll road cut 3 hours off of the drive. It was so strange to be going through these villages on broken roads and then suddenly hit this beautiful, straight, spacious freeway. What a different world it felt like! 

Saree Demo

Our driver took us to this store packed from floor to ceiling with Sarees. The owner even gave us a demonstration of how to dress in the 6 yards of beautiful fabric. I loved it! I kind of wish I could wear sarees everyday, they are so vibrant and beautiful.
While we were looking around there was even a bride trying on different bridal sarees. She looked stunning in her red saree with gold embroidery throughout. (the video turns the right direction once it starts playing)


Things got progressively more silly when our host pulled out these beauties. We tried them on for entertainment but ended up buying a pair, they are so comfortable it's ridiculous! They have a lot of movement when you walk and don't look as much like Hammer pants as they do in the pic. But I liked em enough I didn't care what they looked like in the end.