April 29-30, 2024
$1 US= 290 Sri Lankan rupees
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is known for its biodiversity, and is the main supplier of the world’s cinnamon. To European colonial powers, that made the island very, very valuable. Luckily, Sri Lankans value their native flora and fauna, dedicating 35% of the island’s landmass to parklands.
Prices vary for the safaris to the national parks – we got one through Viatour for $70pp, a bus picked us up from the Hambantota port, drove about 1 1/2 hours to an elevated jeep that carried 6 passengers, pay another $35pp to enter the park – and for the next 4 hours, we scanned the brush and fields for animals.
We were a little tight on time getting back to the ship – and the other passengers in our jeep were also on the Serenade. I reassured them that the next port was also in Sri Lanka – about a 2-3 hour drive away. The comment I received was “I’m glad you’re so calm about it”. We made it back with a line behind us.
The next day in Colombo, we had a guru walk. Liam, Alan, John and I squeezed into a very compact car to ride to Independence Square where the tour started. Built on former parade grounds, the open air upper portion with museum below celebrates Ceylon’s Independence from Great Britain in 1948. The park is popular with physical fitness enthusiasts. The morning was a “cool” 84F (our guide said – “oh, you’re lucky we have such a cool morning today”).
He led us around several parks, pointing out fruit and nut trees, including cashew, a kigelia (also known as a sausage tree – the fruits are huge and gourd-like), and the Jambu – an apple-like fruit filled with vitamin C
We continued on to Gangaramaya Temple – built around a tree established from a cutting from Buddha’s original fig tree (a type of ficus) (also known as a bodhi tree).
After the temple, we jumped onto a public bus to the market.
The market is “organized chaos” – each side street has its own specialty – electronics, textiles, cardstock and invitations, and on and on. In the midst of all this is the Red Mosque.
After lunch our guide took us to a local restaurant – where our bill for 5 people with sodas was just over 3,600 rupees – about $12.
As the crow flies – the port was not far from where we ended – but with road construction (and now over 90 degree temps) there was no easy way to walk. So we took a tuk-tuk for about $4 (it should have been 1000 rupees, but the driver complained about “too much traffic” and Alan agreed on an additional dollar.)
History lesson:
Sri Lanka has been inhabited for over 100,000 years, beginning with with mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Evidence shows that by 15000 BC, agriculture was well established. Cinnamon (an indigenous tree) was found in ancient Egypt, showing they were part of an established trade route.
The Portuguese landed in 1505, and established the port city of Colombo in 1517. The Portuguese quickly spread along the coast, forcing the local populace to retreat inland. When the Dutch arrived in 1602, the King appealed to them for help – and they did, taking the Portuguese land for themselves and breaking the agreement by keeping the coastal lands instead of returning the area to the kingdom. The British showed up in 1796 fearing the French, now in control of The Netherlands, would disrupt their Indian trade routes. They took over the coastal lands in 1802, then proceeded to invade the inland kingdom. They were repulsed the first time, but the British rallied and by 1815 the entire island was a British possession. By 1840, control of all lands had been stripped from local nobles and peasantry, to be redistributed to the preferred elite.
The British gradually introduced democracy. Initially elite from The Sinhalese, Burghers and Tamils had some governmental control. The island ratified its own Constitution in 1909, and by 1931, universal suffrage was introduced. After WWII, on February 4, 1948, they were granted Dominion status, and full independence a year later. Like many young nations, the politics continued to be complicated by coup attempts, and a civil war with the Tamils that raged for 25 years (ending in 2009).
In an attempt to bring themselves into a more modern age, the government borrowed heavily from the Chinese. When they defaulted, the Chinese took control of ports as part of the agreement to compensate for the loan.
Sri Lanka is a lovely place to enjoy nature on a budget. It is tropical, and hot all year round, and well worth a visit.