SL8 Hello Old Friend - Day 31

A sleep in was a bit of a luxury today, and we were down at breakfast by 8.30 for more traditional fare including local fruits and the herbal green porridge - surprisingly tasty as well as being good for you. Mentioning this to our driver as we headed out of town he excitedly pulled over to the side of the road and told us all its benefits, and his own recipe for making it. We are getting him to buy us a Sri Lankan cooking pot to take home, and armed with his tradional family recipes for the porridge and hoppers we will hopefully be able to eat these delicacies back in Bunbury. We stopped at Rawana Ela Falls for a quick look at the waterfall, then drove south to Yala. The trip was quicker than expected, and we arrived in Yala just before lunchtime. We knew we were in the wild as we passed a waterhole close to the resort that was full of water buffalo ; and it was reinforced as staff told us when  moving to our chalet at night we were to phone for an escort. Sitting in our room 10 minutes later we watched a wild boar trot past our front door, and I could see why you needed to be careful.

Having lunch in the restaurant we spied Dave and Juss arriving with their driver, and an hour later as we lazed in the pool down they came and we finally had the opportunity to catch up and swap tales of our individual travels so far. It was a very relaxing afternoon spent at the pool with the waterhole at our back, and late in the afternoon we all had a walk around the waterhole with Dave & Juss's driver looking at the birdlife and numerous crocodiles. We then created our own little bar are on their verandah and sat having a few drinks as the sun went down. Dinner in the restaurant followed with some nice curries on the buffet ; then an early night before the early morning safari next day.

Things we learned about Sri Lanka today #8 : for such a beautiful country, it is a shame that there is a lackadaisical approach to looking after the environment. The road verges are full of plastic bags and their rubbish contents, and this stands out even more in the hill country we have just gone through where there are fewer stalls and more space between villages. There were some signs saying "polythene free area" paying lip service to the idea of limiting the rubbish, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference. A lot of development seems to be done without the environmental planning that we are accustomed to in Australia - and although we may grumble at times at home about it, it does provide some safeguards in protecting sensitive areas. Evidently the reason the wild boar strolled in front of our door yesterday is that the resort is built on the traditional boar track, and similarly elephants used to roam through the buildings at times for the same reason.