Day 6 - Whales and Dolphins (no whales)

05:30
I’m actually awake at 04:30, well before my alarm. I don’t feel like I’ve had enough sleep, but will deal with that later. I can still hear the beach party going in the distance. Tempo’s definitely picked up in the 6 or so hours since I last heard it. I decide I’m definitely going to stay in Mirissa a couple of extra days, and make it to one of these parties before I head further East. Vicks is still awake in the UK. I always find it a strange combination of weird and cool when our days are so out of kilter that I can wish her a goodnight after I’ve woken up for the following day…

12:30
Couple of things.

1) There’s another beach party tonight, which I’m gonna go to. This will mean missing the England vs Ireland rugby game, but there’s nowhere on the beach showing it, and the cell/WiFi services I’ve found aren’t up to the job of streaming it. I suspect some back home will believe that I’m intentionally missing the game because England are going to get eaten alive by Ireland. And they’d be (to an extent) right.
2) I think I’m back on for leaving Mirissa on Tuesday. On my whale watching trip (lies - more of that to follow), I meet Maria, a Finnish lady who’s just come from Tangalle. She loved it, can’t recommend it highly enough etc etc, so back to my original plan to head over there on Tuesday.

So - whale watching. Great fun, but should be rechristened dolphin watching. We saw a TON of dolphins, and plenty of them up close to the boat. Some Spinners, some Bottlenose, and a few Risso. All very cool and very cute. Watching them swim underneath the boat and out to the front is something that will stay with me for a very long time. No luck with whales though. Chatting to Dinesh, the guy running the boat, the whales are getting tougher to spot, for a couple of reasons:

1) Pollution - the whales are finding it more difficult to feed with the amount of plastic that’s getting into the water. As we motor out from the harbour, it’s sickening to see how much single use plastic is littering near the shoreline. As we get further out there’s yet more. The whales typically use baleen plates to feed, and can’t filter out the plastic. As a result, they’re feeding further from shore than historically.
2) Unregulated boats - some boat companies will offer to let you dive with the whales. This is illegal in Sri Lanka, but not well regulated. Dinesh’s company have a far more ethical approach to whale watching that is as non-invasive as possible. The number of unregulated boats is growing though, and is scaring the whales away.

Just to really ram home how much humans are fuckwits, on the way back to shore, we sea a dead Jeff, floating aimlessly at sea, the victim of yet more plastic - this time, wrapped around his throat rendering him unable to swallow his food. It’s a sickening sight.

Back on dry land / terra firma etc etc, I say goodbye to my crewmates, and head further round Mirissa Harbour. There’s a little restaurant here that gets incredible reviews, and I wanna check it out.

15:00
Lunch was banging. Nautica are renowned for their yellow prawn curry - a staple of this part of Sri Lanka. I order it, and it arrives rice and curry style, with some steamed rice, an amazing dahl, and a coconut sambal, to which I am now wise. The curry is outstanding - lots of plump, juicy prawns in a mild, but still pokey coconut milk based sauce. Chilli powder for heat I think, as it’s a grower/not a shower. Little bit of sourness, I think from lime juice rather than tamarind. Just brilliant. The dahl tastes better than water, lentils and a few spices have any right to taste. The place I’m eating is basically a small house’s garden area. The restaurant ‘kitchen’ is a little lean-to attached to the back of the house. It’s the best food I’ve had while I’ve been here. All in (including a couple of beers, obvs) it sets me back a tenner.

The sun is beating. During the 15 minute walk back to my room, I sweat from places from which I didn’t know it was possible to sweat. The lovely folks at Sajana Hill have been into my room while I’ve been out and turned up the A/C, as it’s so hot today, and they were worried I’d need cooling down when I got back. They’re great - incredibly non-invasive, but available ASAP should you need anything.

I’m torn between nap and beer. I elect to go with the latter.

17:30
I want to head out to find out more deets about tonight’s beach party, and also to try a couple of last minute ideas to see if I can possibly catch the rugby. I start at my favourite French bistro. The owner (who has a little of the Sebastian Chabal about him) admits to being a rugby fan. When I ask him how to watch rugby locally, he points at the TV hanging in the restaurant. Now, I know the restaurant closes around 22:00, and I know England’s game doesn’t start until 22:15, so I forlornly ask if there’s anywhere else that might be showing it. My good friend Seb (I’ll get his real name later) says he’ll stay and watch it with me, as long as I buy the drinks.

SOLD.

Heading a little further down the beach, I end up at Mirissa Surf Bar. There are loads of surf bars, hangouts etc along the beach, but this is the one I’m after. They are the hosts of tonight’s beach party. I settle down with a cider, and wait for my opening, while I watch the surfers out in the ocean.
Moments later, I have a new best friend, Leon who is one of the service team at Surf Bar, and who wants to know if I’m coming to the rave, and again - whether I want any smoke. I tell him I’m busy till around midnight but I’ll swing by after. He reckons the party will go on till 06:00/07:00 or thereabouts. Happily, I have no plans tomorrow… I womble back to my room, conscious I should probably have a disco nap.

23:15
Well this is all going better than expected. It’s half-time in the rugby, and England are only down by 4. My pre-game prediction was that Ireland would win by 20, so for England to still be within 1 score is a good result. Seb, whose name is actually Robin, has invited a few of the service team to stay behind for drinks, and they’re all England fans for the night. It’s a little surreal to be watching the game, while I can hear the beach party gathering momentum just 100m up the beach.

I thought the least I could do was have dinner here before the game. I had an amazing tuna tartare to start, melding the traditional European flavours of tuna, onion, olive oil - but elevated with Asian notes of coriander, finger lime and chilli. It probably shares most DNA with a South American ceviche. I’m not really bothered about provenance, it is DELICIOUS. To follow, I have an Asian beef dish, which seems to straddle parts of Thailand, Japan and Korea. I’ve never really been a fan of the concept of ‘fusion’ food, but I’m pretty sure that’s what this is, and it’s amazing.

Ooh. Game’s about to restart. Back later x xRead more