The Hitt Family: Sri Lanka

Day Seven

Whale watching was on the schedule for the day and I was super nervous about going. Rocking in boats gives me anxiety and I was fairly certain I would get sick, but I didn't want to miss seeing the whales! I told myself that I was going to suck it up because I would regret missing it, but the day before we were supposed to go I started talking myself out of it. I was still undecided when we went to bed. Jameson spiked a fever in the middle of the night so I took that as a sign that I should stay behind with him. I was a little bummed that I would miss the trip, but after six adventurous days I welcomed the down time at the beach house.

Beth and Izzy also stayed behind.

Beth had a little shopping to do so someone on staff at the house arranged for a tuk tuk and off we went!

After his last tuk tuk ride he was hanging on for dear life!

Riding in these little three wheel contraptions is quite the experience!

Every day the fishermen come in on their boats here.

Then they sell their catch here. We saw it in action when we left that morning, but they were done by the time we went back to the house.

When we got back Mr. Lucky offered to cut a coconut down from the tree for us to try the juice. Of course we took him up on it!

I know that coconut juice is really good for you, but I just don't really like it. I've tried all kinds of brands that people have recommended. I thought it might be different coming straight out of the coconut. Nope! Still don't like it. Jameson agreed with me so we saved the rest for Harry.

We asked Mr. Lucky about what it was like when the tsunami hit. He wasn't in its path when it happened, but his mom and sister were killed. He told us about having to go to he hospital to identify his mother's body among all the dead. They never found his sister. He also told us that the family was given 3,000 rupees per death. That's a total of about 42 USD for the two of them! He said that there was a lot of corruption and most of the money donated from all over the world never actually made it to the people.

***Harry and Connor go Whale Watching***

After a "quick" bus ride (1 hour) from our villa to the port we disembarked the bus, piled into tuk tuks, and made our way down to the boat.

Co was pretty happy about pretending to drive.

We crammed into what was probably the most thugged out tuk tuk in Sri Lanka.

I'm sure that the majority of our group was really worried about the vessel that we would be taking to see the whales. This being amplified by how very easily some members of our group are prone to motion sickness. Luckily for us the beauty at the end of the dock was ours!

Connor got to see the engine compartments and how the crewman checked the oil before departure.

Connor and the Capitan.

We're on a boat!

Most of the crew, excitedly waiting to depart.

So many beautiful scenes on our way out.

Local fisherman - the guys on the upper platform actually took turns jumping into the water to scare the fish into the nets.

It was a pretty early morning for us so napping on the deck was really awesome. Truthfully I was fighting the seasickness pretty hard at this point, but I willed it away and enjoyed the majority of the trip. Surprisingly Connor had no trouble at all.

There he blows! That small dark hump just below the horizon is a whale.

Someone would see a plume from the whale then all the boats would throttle down hard to jockey for position to that area, hoping to see the whale again. We had a good captain who put us right on the whales a few times. There were a couple of times that their tails came out of the water but we never saw the grand full body breech that we were all hoping for. It may have been a little underwhelming but definitely worth the 6 hour round trip boat ride.

On the way in the captain let out the sail and we started making great time. At first I was really leery about letting Co sit up front on this chair but he was a trooper the whole trip and I couldn't resist his charm.

The ant assassins - we drove into a swarm of flying ants so the boys spent the next hour or so smashing them on every inch of the boat.

Dolphin Pod

Leatherback Sea Turtle

We got right up to him.

My second mission after not allowing myself to get sick was to ensure that Connor was returned to Jolie' without a sunburn. So after several hours on deck and multiple applications of sunscreen Connor did me a favor and found a shady spot under the main mast to relax on the rest of the trip in.

Man, it was a beautiful day!

Back at the house, the kids enjoyed some time in the pool.

This one wanted a towel sarong.

Our group of 9 kiddos made some awesome memories together!

They even caught a crab...

and read books to each other!

Sleepy baby :)

The whale watchers traveled almost 40 miles round trip!

Day Eight

We were ready for a beach day!

We went to Hikkaduwa for some sun, sand, and snorkeling. They also had a glass bottom boat so a group of us went out while the rest went snorkeling.

It was fun but it didn't take long for Jameson to get annoyed with the life jacket.

Harry and Connor were snorkeling while we were in the boat!

We saw some pretty fish from the boat and a bunch of dead coral. The water is very shallow and it's a high traffic area without any guidelines so the coral gets trampled on and it's not very pretty at all. The great thing about this area though is that there is a sea turtle that hangs around!

***Harry and Connor Go Snorkeling***

Connor and I were really excited to go snorkeling - a chance to see a turtle while doing it just amplified the excitement. What we got was way beyond just seeing one!

My buddy is becoming a pro at snorkeling.

The coral reef at our location had been trampled to death but the fish were really cool.

Co was having a blast.

And then this happened! We thought that we would maybe see a turtle off in the distance, but to actually interact with them was really special.

As slow and docile as they look, they are relatively quick and extremely graceful.

It was a little difficult to hold Connor's hand and the camera but we managed to stay really close to the turtle for 15 to 20 minutes.

Izzy got in on the action and fed it.

We have done a lot of really awesome things on our adventures and this one is certainly at the top of my list.

***The End***

Beach fun!

After the beach we went to the Galle Dutch Fort. It was built by the Portuguese in 1588 and then taken over by the Dutch in 1649.

Beth came through with the ice cream since we found elephants on the safari!

Gorgeous drive back to the house!

Buddies at the beach house :)

Jameson loved hanging out with Izzy!

The early mornings and long days were getting to them!

Thankfully we stayed closed to the house that day. Only 40 miles travelled on the bus!

Day Nine

We enjoyed our last few hours at the beach before packing up and heading back towards the airport.

On the way we stopped at a sea turtle farm and hatchery. It was really neat, especially since they hatch five different species of sea turtles there.

It was a nice way to spend some time on our last full day in Sri Lanka.

We wouldn't let him stick his hand in the tank with turtles that may bite.

We had lunch and took in some last minute sights.

These guys were rowing their little piece of wood down the river.

We should have known we'd hate this hotel when we were greeted with Fresh Christmas. I don't think any of us were impressed with the Golden Star Beach Hotel in Negombo...especially when they set off fireworks in the middle of the night. Not just any fireworks, it was like a strip of black cats that someone would roll down the street. I thought we were under attack or something!