Entry #1: Sri Lanka Feb 14 - Mar 1, 2019

Hello From Sri Lanka!

It's been about 2 weeks since we embarked on this family adventure of travel and it's hard to believe how far this journey has taken us already. I don't even know how to begin recounting all the details.

Right now I am looking out at palm trees, living in a guesthouse that is steps away from a gorgeous beach in a small town on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, called Talalla. 

We all move at a different pace now.  Days are slower and incredibly relaxed as we jump from beach town to beach town.  We have settled into the habit of soaking up the sun, digging in the sand, and jumping in the waves.   

We have had a bunch of close encounters with the adorable and amazing wildlife - wild peacocks are on our rooftops every morning, we snorkelled with giant sea turtles, casual bird watching includes parrots in the palms, a family of monkeys paraded by us on our balcony, and… on a tour out in the open sea we had about 6 sightings of blue whales surfacing right beside our boat!  Not to mention how much we love finding hermit crabs and making them our pets for the day :)

The food here is delicious!  I mean so delicious that this morning Jamie excitedly chose the typical Sri Lankan breakfast of dhal curry on egg “hoppers” instead of the more familiar oatmeal and yogurt.  We have been spoiled with the balmy heat, the incredible natural beauty, the kindness and hospitality of the people, and the true gift of having day after day of quality family time.  

We’re grateful to finally feel so at peace with being here.  However, our trip started off a bit differently than we had expected.  

The morning we woke up to leave Toronto we discovered that Jamie had a teeny tiny stye.  By the second day in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s bustling (and boiling) capital city, that teeny tiny bump turned into a serious, marble sized infection.  By day 4, Jamie’s eye was an undeniable problem.   Jamie needed surgery to drain the infection before it spread.  Thankfully, we ended up at a private hospital where they took great care of our incredibly brave little boy!  It was a sad, scary, jarring day, but we are happy to say that it is all behind us.  All is well!

Jamie was barely bothered as we toured the city, weaved through the labyrinth of markets, checked out temples, and even went to a very modern virtual reality amusement park.  We thought our biggest problem was jet lag.  This was most evident when the kids fell asleep at the dinner table when we were being hosted by our cousin Ronnie’s wonderful friend Felix, and his 90 year old mother, who had kindly invited us for dinner.  (Apologies again :)

One of the highlights of our time in Colombo was being there during a national holiday, a Buddhist celebration of the full moon.  This particular celebration was marked by a very impressive parade - for which we had amazing seats.  The best part was seeing the elephants padding down the street dressed in fully sequined outfits, gently plodding along amidst dancers and drummers.Check out this review: https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/19/buddhist-parade-brings-in-the-crowds-in-sri-lanka-s-capital  

Since then we have had a fantastic time in Unawatuna, a surfer’s paradise, where we actually met up with Lee’s old friend, Aaron Myers, and his lovely girlfriend, Nell - who also happened to be travelling in Sri Lanka.  The funny thing is, the last time we hung out with Aaron was 11 years ago - when we both happened to be travelling in Colombia! 

We also wandered through the nearby Dutch colonial town of Galle.  And the kids had a blast meeting brand new baby turtles when we visited a turtle hatchery!

Then we spent a couple of days in another beach town called Mirissa.  Here we came to the conclusion that Sri Lanka doesn’t believe in sidewalks.  Every time we have to walk anywhere it’s a crazy, single-file parade along the road where motorbikes, tuk tuks, and trucks whizz by.  And speaking of tuk tuks - get this…  there’s  UBER TUK TUK!  Seriously!  We love cramming our family into tuk tuks that then improvise the path as they squeeze through impossibly small spots between the river of traffic.  

That brings us to our current home in Tallala.  It’s paradise, really.  We love it here.  We love meeting new people at every stop.  We love trying a new variation of the ever satisfying rice and curry combo.  We love giggling with our incredible kiddos, who have been the best little travel companions we could ever have asked for!  They are flexible, open-minded, and the wonderful, fun-loving little monsters we fall more and more in love with every single day.