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Post #14 October 13

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Breakfast is always included in our hotel stays and each place either has a buffet or sets out a menu.  This hotel offers us a menu because making a buffet for such a limited number of guests doesn’t make any sense.  There is lots of equipment on tables at the back of this restaurant, so they do provide a buffet in busier times.  With so many staff we have several people waiting on our table.  Communication is a bit of a challenge so it’s really hit or miss if you want any substitution of omission on the breakfast offerings.  This morning Judith ordered the scrambled eggs which normally comes with bacon, sausages and grilled tomatoes.  She asked for no meat and when her scrambled eggs comes, it’s only the scrambled eggs on a small teacup saucer sized plate.  We had a laugh over that. Because there are fewer English speaking tourists in the north part of Sri Lanka, the locals and hotel staff aren’t nearly as fluent as we have found in the southern part ...
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Post #13 October 12

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 Today we are up very early 4:30 to catch a train to Jaffna to the north end of Sri Lanka.  Most tourists that come to Sri Lanka don’t travel this far north.  It takes over a day to get there and there are fewer attractions for tourists.  But sine we’ve extended our Sri Lanka stay, we can spend the time to explore this area.   We are met at the hotel by Prya, our driver who will take us to the train station.  Since we will miss the breakfast buffet this morning, Sura arranged for some takeaway breakfast packages to bring with us on the train.  The hotel staff bring out a large shopping bag filled with two large cake sized pastry boxes for us to take.  It’s heavy and I know there’s enough food in there at least 6 people.  As we walk towards the entrance of the station we see many people sleeping on the hard concrete.  Judith asks Prya if he thought it would be OK if she gave away one of the breakfast boxes.  Prya indicated that with ...
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Post 12 October 11

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We had a lovely breakfast on the covered terrace which worked well because it was raining.  It’s not a drizzle when it rains here.  The rain is either on — a full deluge — or off — an atmospheric river with a switch.  There doesn’t seem to be any in between when it comes to rain.  It’s the start of monsoon season here so we have to deal with a bit of rain which usually falls in the early afternoon.  But because we’re in tropical climates, the rain is warm and a the sound is soothing.  I’m still very comfortable wearing shorts and a t-shirt.    The real benefit to this season is that there are very few tourists travelling around.  Judith generally books smaller, private hotels so we’re close to being the only hotel guests in some of these places.  In some cases such as the first night in Mohoora Camp, we were the only guests.  On the breakfast menu was shakshuka,  a Middle Eastern/North African dish of simmering tomatoes and sea...
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Post #11, October 10th

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Today before breakfast we’ll be off on a morning safari.  It’s a ready by 6:00 morning.  The animals are most active in the morning so this safari is expected to have lots of activity.  This safari is provided by the camp we’re staying at.  We’re using an older vehicle (circa 1990?) which is kind of fun because it has a much stiffer ride than the jeep we had yesterday.  They aren’t really Jeeps, but that’s what everyone calls them.  Our start point is the camp so we ride in the jeep on the road to the national park.  It’s a slowish vehicle; we get passed by many other faster moving vehicles.  We arrive at Udawalawa National Park and sign in and pay our entrance fee.    Dawn at Mahoora camp. There seems to be is a high concentration of wildlife at this park because there’s no shortage of of sightings.  The guide books say that you’re guaranteed to see elephants at this park.  The birds are a different matter picture wise, becaus...
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