Boat trip through the mangroves
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2010
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Trip End
Aug 24, 2010
Where I stayed
Beruwela, Sri Lanka
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Rejuvenated and well oiled, we haded to the beach. The water was nice and cool and the sun made it perfect weather to be in the ocean. The beach was a little unique, the depth of water stayed about chest high till almost 100 meters inwards. It was loads of fun in the waves, except there was a string sideways current, so you would drift far from the starting point if you just floated.
After a few hours in the sea, we headed to lunch at a shack next to the ocean. Awesome food, just slow service. This was the experience of the real tropical Asian food. Spicy ocean fish with loads of vegetables and some Arak, the local liquor. The flavours were fantastic and the feel was genuinely local. Nicely satiated, we found many motor boats parked, ready for a 2 hour tour of the mangroves at a negotiated price of 2,000 Lankan. The ride took us up a river, through mangrove forests and next to local Sri Lankan villages. We saw children waving at us, villages go around doing their chores and water monitors resting comfortably on tree branches. There were also crocodiles and a wide range of birds to see. We waded through some very low and tick mangroves and crossed under quite a few bridges. Our boat driver kept asking us to stop at one of the spice gardens, but we passed and moved on.
Back in the resort I spent a little time in the pool and then headed to get some rest and read a book in the relaxing sunshine. We headed out to the beach side shack for dinner but a powercut and slow service made us change that plan and we ate in the elegant comfort of the resort dining area. The Indian theme was not the most encouraging, but the food was good and the Sri Lankan dishes, even better.
