When: October 2014 Weather: Hot 25-30C
The Yala Leopard Lodge where we stayed was a wonderful place, staffed by friendly people and also a great cook who looked after us. It’s owned by a Sri Lankan naturalist Mr Mahibola who told us great stories about his travels and love of nature. He published a magnificent wildlife book detailing a lifetime of wanderlust and recording the miracles of nature in the 4 corners of the globe.
The lodge itself is airconditioned and has a swimming pool and about 20 monitor lizards and lots of birds etc to entertain guests…
Purple sunbird on fence
spotted doves
front of purple rumped sunbird
back of purple rumped sunbird showing why it’s so called
One of the ladies in our group found this wonderful little snake in the garden…
Dendralaphis tristis or the common Bronzeback..a non-venomous species
Leaving Yala, we took the coastal road towards Matara before joining the highway back to Colombo. And it was on this drive to Matara that we discovered one of these serendipitous events where we did something without high expectations and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip! Our host had told us that there was a lighthouse at the southern tip of Sri Lanka at a place called Dondra Head and asked if we’d like to stop and see it…it was about noon, the overhead sun was blazingly hot and it was tempting to skip it and just head on back to Colombo..but something made us stop..so glad we did…
the surf and coconut trees made for a stunning vista
The lighthouse emerged between the coconut fronds
gleaming in the sunlight
amazingly, we were allowed to climb up the lighthouse…
It’s 222 steps and 55m up…
shuttered windows from another era//on the way up
we got a hint of the view halfway up through the open windows
this is what greeted us at the top!
the water in the adjacent lagoon was so clear we could see the fish in the water from up there!
view in the other direction down the coast
coconut grove below
waves sweeping in
rugged coastline
the lighthouse lights
old brass detail on vents
stocks of glass panes for the cockpit at the top in case of breakage
naval officer at the radar screen monitoring ship movements
Thanks for following my blog…this was the end of our Sri Lankan journey with great friends
Dondra Head lighthouse is a gem; I can only imagine what a sunrise or sunset would be like here. If you are in the vicinity for whalewatching or snorkelling, don’t miss it!
absolutely lovely Ron….loved all of them…..super
Hi Ron, the story tells it all, really fantastic! Thanks very much!