For this year's christmas trip with my dad we picked Sri Lanka. A little bit far away but with sun and warm weather and an alien but pleasant culture.
1
The Flight
It is quite a distance. We fly about 6 hours to Doha in Qatar and then another 5 hours from there to Colombo in Sri Lanka. At least the transfer time in Doha was just 1.5 hours.
A Boeing 777 is a huge aircraft
We cross the Balkan area. The city is somewhere in Romania.
It is extremely foggy in Doha. I cannot even see the terminal building.
Wir have passed India and leave it at the South Eastern coast
Arrival. We are in Sri Lanka and touch down in Colombo.
Upon arrival in the hotel I see my dad on a sunbed at the pool.
We see a marvelous sunset in the evening.
There are the usual little critters ...
... and some curious birds
2
Christmas Eve
There is everything one could wish for for Christmas Eve in the hotel. Decoration is excessive and the buffet quite nice.
Santa Claus comes riding an elephant
3
Whales and Turtles
Our first tour brings us to Mirissa in the very South of the Island. We want to see the extremely rare blue whales. Afterwards we will visit a sea turtle nursery. We have to go 4 hours and get picked up at the hotel at 3.30 am.
First the fishing port of Mirissa. It is super busy when we arrive. The fishermen sell their catch.
Some miles off the coast we are not alone. there are many others interested in whale watching.
We see the 150 Million Dollar Yacht Amevi of the Indian steel tycoon Mittal
We take the Tuk Tuk back to the car
Now sea turtles. There are some nurseries taking care of the animals
Just hatched. They want to get into the sea
They are tiny yet. But they can become quite big and can have more than a ton of weight and a shell longer than 4 feet in length.
4
Elephants in Udawalawa
There are wild elephants in Sri Lanka. We go to a reserve to watch then. Again a 4 hours drive in the very morning.
On our way we watch the traffic. Busses are the fastest here
Motorbikes are the slowest here and get even overtaken by Tuk Tuks. All wear helmets and there is a license plate in the front.
Soon we see the first elephant ...
The next one is much bigger and we keep a distance
There are other animals to watch
A herd with baby elephants
Water Buffalo and Elephant
5
The Hotel
Club Hotel Dolphin is a very conveniant and comfortable Hotel at the Western coast North of Colombo. The rooms are generous, the food is very good and versatile and it has the local touch to it.
A cooled room just for the sweets
Of course I did some flights. This is a view from the beach
The pictures for this panorama were taken in the very morning when no other guests were around
6
New Year's Eve
For New Year's Eve there was a dinner outside at the pool and a band played all the time.
View from above to the party
7
The flight back
This time I fly over the day and can see something. I get picked up at 6 a.m. though the flight is at 10.50 a.m.
We reach India North of Thootukhudi
We leave India at the mouth of river Bhararathappuzha
Muscat and its big airport
The Street of Hormuz is entry to the Persian Gulf