Bundala National park to Tangalla

We had a slightly later start this morning with a 6:30 alarm to be ready for breakfast at 7 :00 and then leave that towel at 7:30 .

I'll first stop was Bundala National park. This area was far far quieter than Yala and is an area which has a number of mammals although no leopards along with a rich bird life.

The journey to the park took about 40 minutes and then we transferred to more Jeeps and spent about 3 hours roaming the park. We saw loads of different bird types and lizards along with two different types of monkey but sadly no elephants and certainly no leopards.

Once back at the bus we began the journey to our next stop. About 15 minutes alone we stopped at a long line of shops or selling the same sort of thing to sample some Sri Lankan sweets. A number of a bought some sweets to take back - I hope my colleagues enjoy them!!

We continued on our journey with our leader looking for somewhere to have some lunch. We had a very brief stop to see a water monitor lizard which was the first one of these type that we'd seen. Shan also pointed out some development in one of the towns that we went through on the way paid for by Chinese money at large interest rates and which are now sitting empty!

After about 90 minutes we arrived at A small roadside restaurant with lovely views right onto the beach. Here we ate lunch which was a bit of a slow process but worth the wait. Another local who was clearly pleased we'd stopped.

From here it was about 20 minutes to our hotel and we arrived at around 3:30.

The hotel is a resort right on the beach and probably the nicest Sri Lankan hotel that we've stayed in so far. We've got a large balcony on our room overlooking the beach.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and having some drinks by the pool with other travellers before having a meal at the restaurant and then retiring to bed.Read more