Turtles and Masks

A beautiful morning although the sea had got up overnight. At 10 we met Malick and first he took us a little way up the coast to Ahungala Sea Turtle conservation and research which cares for injured turtles and fishes and rescues eggs for hatching. Next we had a boat trip on the Mandu river which contains 64 islands and is surrounded by mangroves. We saw land and water monitors, cormorants and little terns, pond heron monkeys kingfisher and at the sea end a jellyfish.
We visited a fish farm where my feet were given a tickling and a cinnamon island where we saw the process of stripping the layer of cinnamon and tried some cinnamon oil, which has medicinal properties.
To complete our morning we visited a traditional mask factory and museum. All very fascinating.
Afternoon spent around the pool.
At 5 we were picked up and taken to Bentota where we met Aleem of Earth Trip and Amith who jointly run newly formed Lanka Island Tours, and their staff before visiting Pearl Ocean fish restaurant for drinks where we were joined for a very pleasant evening by their other halves, Hasanthi and Isabella. Lovely food and company and a late evening.Read more