This trip was planned
on the pretext of spending new years with friends, Sri Lanka was a location
that was easy for everyone to get in and the VISA was on arrival. We wanted to have
a quiet new years away from the crowds and confusion, so we rented a private villa not to far from Bentota beach. We booked Nick's Villa though Airbnb and lucky enough the house was well maintained and we had a wonderful stay in Bentota.
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| Beautiful mangroves on the edge of the beach |
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| Bentota Beach |
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| Bentota Beach is very scenic with calm waters; we went into the sea quiet a bit and still could feel land beneath our feet |
The morning started
off with yummy hoppers (idiyappam) with chicken curry and a Sri Lankan staple chutney, Sambol
(made from grated coconut, red onion, dried chilies, lime juice and
dried Maldive fish). Since it was New Years our chef got fresh crabs from the local market and made pepper crab for lunch; it was delish 😋
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| Specialties of our in house chef ; hoppers and crab curry |
We had some interesting
visitors that day! Early morning it was a mongoose and late afternoon it was a monitor
lizard. It was incredible seeing these creatures up close.
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| Ruddy Mongoose commonly found in Sri Lanka and India |
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| Monitor lizard posing for us |
In the afternoon we
went to the Bentota Turtle Hatchery Project, up to 5 endangered species of
turtle frequent these islands. The hatchery is a protected place where the
turtles can lay their eggs; the volunteers collect eggs from the beach and some
even buy the eggs off fishermen. The collected eggs are hatched away from
predators and the little baby turtles are release back into the sea. It seemed
like the hatchery was made more for tourist than actual conservation work but I
would still recommend visiting one; holding a tiny baby turtle in your hand is
a pretty special feeling.
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| We saw Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and green turtles at the hatchery |
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| This one is called Tiny; baby green turtle |
For New Year’s Eve we
had reserved tables at a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host; it was his friend’s place called Trax Garden and it was by the railway tracks. The
place was nothing fancy, what it lacked in décor it made up in the food and
service. Menu for the nigh was grilled jumbo prawns, butter poached spiny
lobster and grilled snapper. We got beer and mixers from the restaurant
and gin and whisky we carried our own (very few places let you take your own
booz). Later that night we went to the beach and we were there till about 12:30. There were New Year parties in each of the resorts by the beach so there was music and fireworks thought the night.
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