Sri Lanka stole our hearts. This scenic island located off the bottom tip of India, brims with a melting pot of people, animals, religions and cultures. With a population of 22 million and 70% of the population practicing Buddhism, images of the Buddha line the roads, interspersed with imagery of Jesus and Hindu gods. To say religion is at the forefront on this island would be an understatement. In addition to beautiful sacred deities, are the animals. And when I say animals, I mean ANIMALS. Elephants, monkeys, monitor lizards and peacocks are just the animals that we had to share the 2 lane road with. Deeper in the jungles you will find leopards, sloths and vipers. Animal lovers - Sri Lanka is your country.
Sri Lanka is unique in that this 65km2 has 4 distinct climates. Within these climates you will find a range of different animals, weather patterns, historical locations and landscapes. To see Sri Lanka properly, you need about 2-3 weeks. We only had 5 days so we were specific in the area we wanted to focus on. We chose to go inland and slightly north from Colombo to look specifically for LIONS and DRAGONS.
Colombo (the capital) is possibly the least appealing part of Sri Lanka. It's crowded, polluted, the traffic is nauseating, and there just isn't much cultural to see. You can discover the highlights of Colombo in an afternoon. So land, grab your bags and hit the road.
HIGHLIGHTS
Immediately, outside Colombo is where the country begins to show off it's natural beauty. We had a 3 hour car trip to the area around Sigiriya and felt thrown into the reality of Sri Lanka. The country is poor - many families bring home around 100USD/month. While most homes have limited electricity, this is the extent of the luxury. The Sri Lanka rupee has been absolutely decimated in recent years (covid, lack of tourism, etc.) and it's incredibly apparent that people are struggling. However, shop owners (who likely hadn't had a customer all month) were more than happy to let us use their bathroom facilities on our car rides - for which we obviously purchased sodas and waters in thanks. The Sri Lanka people are known as the kindest, most hospitable people with those types of smiles which seem to light up their whole face - we felt the warmth and kindness.
We focused on the area around Sri Lanka for a few reasons. The first is that we are weirdly obsessed with rocks and ancient civilizations and Sigiriya, also known as Lion's Rock, is the site of an incredible ancient city. It's rumored to have been built around 477 AD as a palace for the then reigning king. Was it built for his protection? Was it his pleasure palace? Was it actually built centuries before? Regardless, Lion's Rock is shrouded in mystery but is an excellent example of one the first true sites of deeply sophisticated urban planning. While no lions exist in Sri Lanka now, they used to ... someone was bummed not to see any on "Lion's Rock".
Lion's Rock itself cost $30/person for foreigners and about .25cents for locals to climb the rock. The climb is more perilous than we realized and while we did take our 4 year old (and he hiked the whole thing!) I wouldn't recommend for a child you didn't totally trust. The pathway up the mountain is actually a metal stairway welded into the rock face. There's only one way up and one way down and the stair is so narrow it doesn't allow for passing. Which means, if you have someone ahead of you that is not physically fit, or exhausted from the heat, etc. you find yourself in a bit of trouble. BUT, the view from the top is worth every harrowing step. You're entirely free to explore the ruins and it's actually slightly uncomfortable. It feels like you shouldn't be able to roam so freely in an effort to protect the remains but ... you may explore where you please. I can't image that this type of freedom will continue in the future. Nor will the access - it's just not sustainable.
The second reason we traveled to this region was for the elephants. While it's common to see wild elephants grazing on the side of the road during your trip, there are also multiple national parks where the elephants roam freely. They even leave some parks to migrate to others depending on the season. You'll want to check which park they are in before booking anything. The safari was magical ... and hot. We traveled in February and I truly cannot imagine any hotter. The safari vehicles are booked privately and the guides own their own vehicles. We found our guide through our driver - bit of trust there - but he was fantastic. His vehicle was certainly more rugged than some other jeeps we saw and he had no fear in navigated through the brush to get us as close as was safe. We saw over 30 wild elephants including bulls and mamas with babies. It truly was unique - though our 4 year old was far more fascinated by all the wild peacocks running through the jungle. The elephant safari was the highlight of our trip. The safari was a nearly 4 hour journey which we paid $100USD for all of us.
HOTEL
Our hotel in this region has no comparison. We stayed at the Heritance Kandalama and are quite confident it is in our top 3 most beautiful hotels in the world. Built and designed by a renowned Sri Lanka architect, the building seems to blend seamlessly into the jungle. The animals certainly treat it as such as the monkeys swing through the open hallways, watch sunsets with the tourists on the vista and the elephants roam through the jungles below. From every viewpoint is only jungle, no other buildings, developments, or lights - talk about the stars. Delicious food, excellent service and accommodations - for a rate of only $125/night, you can't tell me there is a better hotel in Sri Lanka. Watch out for the "naughty monkeys" though ;)
TRANSPORT
Do not rent a car in Sri Lanka - zero reason because it's both dangerous and expensive. The driving isn't quite as crazy as Cairo, but second worst in my experience. We booked our car and driver through Deyo Tours. Not only was our driver, Delon, incredible - ask for him! But the company was prompt, responsive and so helpful. They recommended the Heritance hotel and were on call for any questions. Delon was with us the entirety of the trip, which was helpful from a communications and coordination standpoint. From the moment we landed at the airport to our departure, Delon was available for any and all help. I can't imagine our trip would have been half as successful without him.
SAFETY
Yes, we felt safe in Sri Lanka - I would not bring my family to a country where we, statistically speaking, might face harm. No country in this world is safe, but Sri Lanka felt safer than most. Yes, there was a terrorist attack in the capital in 2019 and 250 people died. However, there are terror attacks across the globe. What we were comforted by is the government's reaction. At our hotels in Colombo our car was searched or bombs and weapons. Did this make me feel unsafe? No! It made me feel safER. To know that every car entering is being actively searched and security is making a concerted effort to eliminate criminal activities ... excellent. Guns are also illegal for citizens in Sri Lanka - guns are not a human right. So naturally, I do feel safer in countries where guns are illegal.
I'll let ya'll know when we feel unsafe, ok?
Comments