H
anging like a pendant
from the ear of India, as
Michael Ondaatje put it
in his exquisite
Running in
the Family
, Sri Lanka is at once luscious
and deliciously romantic, deliriously
colourful and evocative. Known as
the “Island of Serendipity”, Sri Lanka
rises from an azure blue coastline
fringed with palms, to a mountainous
interior roamed by elephants and
leopards, to the cool highlands rich
in temples and impossibly green tea
plantations. It is simply beautiful.
To travel to Sri Lanka is to
experience a country where nothing
is standing still, where the energy
of change abounds. Although the
island is still recovering from more
than 25 years of civil war, and the
2004 tsunami which claimed 35,000
lives there, it is now a safe and largely
undiscovered paradise. Sri Lanka’s
2,000-plus years of culture can be
uncovered at ancient sites throughout
the island – few places have as many
UNESCO World Heritage sites (eight)
packed into such a small area.
Happy days
We travelled with friends and our
three children, Georgia (six), Ollie
(four) and Lucia (one), and started our
journey in the fabulous Galle area.
Galle has a busy commercial district,
but pass through the Fort gates and
you are taken to a jaw-dropping
fortress crammed with colonial
flashbacks. Built by the Dutch in 1663,
the fort area now houses chic shops,
cafes and upscale hotels. Muslim,
Christian and Hindu children all live
in harmony, with each of their houses
of worship positioned side by side
within the Fort. We dined at the Galle
Fort Hotel, which offers a stunning
mix of contemporary chic and five-
star luxury.
From Galle, the road took us along
the dazzling white beaches, past
fishermen perched atop stilts, to the
wonderful Polheena Estate, where
we were staying. Nestled in the tea
plantations and built in the early
19th century, the Estate is known
locally as
Walauwe
, or manor house.
As with most places in the Galle area,
the architecture has been influenced
equally by the Portuguese, Dutch and
British. Early-morning walks were
an unmissable ritual for the children,
when it felt as though someone had
left the gates open at the zoo: flocks
of peacocks flew through rice fields,
troops of monkeys leapt from banana
to mango trees, metre-long monitor
lizards leisurely crossed our paths, ox-
peckers sat undisturbed on buffaloes’
backs and turquoise kingfishers flew
overhead.
The fish market was alive with the
early-morning catch, where wriggling
lobsters sat by silver swordfish, giant
tuna and out-sized blue-antennaed
prawns (a steal at US$6 for four!). The
spice market smelled of a bygone era
and the children raked their hands
through giant buckets of colourful
powders – salt, cinnamon, pepper
and cardamom. Back at the manor,
pre-dinner cocktails under the stars,
and the faint humming sound of the
early-evening prayers from Yatagala,
one of the oldest Buddhist temples in
the region, coupled with a barbecue
of goodies from the morning’s visit to
the fish market meant the days passed
very happily.
Into the deep
For my animal-mad children, a visit to
the turtle sanctuary was a must. Five
miles from Galle, in a simple shack
on Habaraduwa beach, sits the Sea
Turtle Farm & Hatchery – a not-for-
profit organisation aimed at protecting
the eggs left exposed on beaches.
These are collected and incubated at
the farm, and as dusk set, the children
Spectacular Sri Lanka
Sonia Jackson Henrich
and her family set out to explore
Sri Lanka’s endless beaches, fertile lands, timeless ruins,
welcoming people, crazy trains and oodles of animals.
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