Sri Lanka: Colombo

 Friday, May 5, 2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka

We didn’t arrive in Colombo until 2:00 p.m. and it took awhile for the local officials to clear us to get off the ship. We had decided against a tour our first day in Colombo. Instead, we were planning to take the free shuttle from the ship to a shopping mall downtown and wander from there. I stopped at the visitor booth to pick up a map, and surmised the man staffing the booth didn’t have much to offer regarding information. Charlie was chatting with one of the officials on the dock. Vendor shops at the pier looked interesting, but we were anxious to see the town in the daylight. Oceania officials said the shuttle bus would run from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Charlie chatting up a port official

There were taxi drivers hanging out on the pier. We’d heard the local taxi union was strong. One of the drivers said the shuttle bus wouldn’t start until 5 p.m. I assured them it was 3 p.m., not 5 p.m. There were shuttle buses parked on the pier. I spotted a couple of men holding Oceania bus signs! Unfortunately, they had no intention of getting to the buses. Score one for the taxi union.

Highly irritated, I ignored instructions not to walk off the pier and started walking. I saw others ahead of me who were doing the same. In the meantime, Charlie was negotiating with a taxi driver to take us to the mall in town. They caught up with me about half way off the dock. It was a long way into town. On the way, the taxi driver explained that today is a big holiday in Sri Lanka, and very few places were open.

The delayed shuttle bus was just the beginning. Instead of dropping us where we asked, our taxi driver took us to “the gem center.” I was beginning to think Colombo operated on graft. As long as we were there, we went upstairs and looked at the gems. Sri Lanka is noted for quality sapphires, among other gems, and Charlie found a sapphire ring for him and a moonstone (my birthstone) ring for me. We had a pretty good time with the salesman, and a better time with the big boss. We told the big boss we were looking for postcards. He told us there was one next door and dispatched an underling to walk us there. 

As we were leaving, some shipmates on a ship tour were being dropped off at the gem store and they were wondering how they ended up there.

Next door at the gift shop, we found postcards and Ceylon tea. We chatted with the young woman who managed the shop (she spoke excellent English), and told her were planning to walk to the seaside, which looked to be a couple of blocks away, and maybe get a latte. She insisted on sending us to The Central Perk, a restaurant she was associated with, no charge. We accepted, and an older gentleman drove us in a tuk-tuk through some narrow streets to her restaurant. Our first tuk-tuk ride! It’s kind of a 3-wheeled motorcycle with some extra seats under a covered back. 

We had smoothies instead of lattes, and had a good view of the water from the restaurant. The people at this restaurant also insisted on sending us back to the gem shop in a tuk-tuk, where we were heading next to pick up my ring, which was being made. I was beginning to wonder if it might not be safe to be out walking on our own.

Back at the gem shop, we collected our rings and decided to walk to the mall, which we were told was not too far away, to catch the shuttle back to the ship. The doorman looked dubious, and advised if anyone hassled us, tell them we were with the US Embassy. Not planning to be hassled, we decided to get a ride to the mall instead. We were hooked up with another tuk-tuk driver and advised it should be about $12. Once in the tuk-tuk, the driver, who spoke very little English, began arguing loudly about the price. This continued for several minutes. When he stopped for a red light (still yelling), I suggested to Charlie we just hop out. We did and Charlie gave him a couple dollars for the partial ride.

We began to walk, coincidentally past the US Embassy, which was closed due to the holiday. We noticed a lot of armed police as well as a soldiers. A tuk-tuk driver stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. We told him where we were headed and negotiated a price. We arrived at the One Galle mall, which was across the street from a popular beach. Local people were beginning to gather at the beach. A military bus was parked nearby. We managed to get across the street to the mall. 

Gathering at the beach

Army bus

Chandelier at the mall

Let’s just say there was a lot of odd stuff going on. It was even a little odd getting into the mall. Only one of the main doors was propped open—the others were cordoned off. We made it, however, and picked up a few snacks. No one knew for sure where the shuttle drop off/pick up was located. By now it was dark, and we started walking around the perimeter of the building looking for the shuttle bus. We ran into tuk-tuk drivers in the back, negotiated a price for returning us to the port. I asked the driver if he could drive onto the port and he thought he could. When we got to the port entrance it turn out he could not, so with careful directions from the gate officials we walked from the port gate to the ship in gloomy darkness.

Saturday, May 6, 2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka

We signed up for a ship tour to see Elephants at the elephant preserve in Pinnawala, a small town inland from Colombo. There are 5500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, down from 50-60,000.

It’s a 2-hour drive to Pinnawala. An hour into the trip, the bus stopped at a resort in Ambepussa for a break along the way. It was nice to stretch our legs. There were musicians playing “Country Road.” Traffic was light due to the holiday and being a Saturday. 

Our entertainment

We arrived in Pinnawala in time to be in position to see many elephants walk down the street toward the river. It was wonderful to see the stately procession of the elephants along the street and down the hill and into the river. Only a couple had restraints attached. There were twin babies, a rarity—we were told it had been 80 years since Sri Lanka knew of twin elephants.

Once in the river, the elephants really enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of affection shown between them, and all the elephants looked after the twins.

Charlie disappeared at one point for quite sometime. I thought he was probably shopping at one of the many shops lining the street that leads to the river. He finally showed up with ticket in hand that enabled him to help wash an elephant in the river. 

It was a highlight, and when he was done the elephant gratefully reached it’s trunk up to touch his hand when he left

We had a wonderful lunch on a plaza overlooking the river. 

After lunch, we wandered up the street and encountered a man with a boa constrictor. Charlie was urging me to drape it around my neck, something I have never had the slightest interest in doing. I finally relented to having it draped around both our necks (he got the head end). Another fear conquered! It was surprisingly heavy and very soft and gentle.

The man also had a couple of cobras in baskets and released them one at a time to demonstrate his handling ability. They appear quite mean. One headed toward Charlie as he was videotaping before the handler grabbed it. They were happy to slither back into their baskets when he opened the tops.

Another batch of elephants came down the road for a dip in the river. We all crowded close to the open air shops along the street to let them pass. One elephant stopped, turned toward the man standing next to me, and opened its huge mouth, trunk waving overhead. Their mouths are very pink. A shop owner asked if he had any food in his pockets. Yes, a banana. He then fed the banana to the elephant. The elephant then turned her attention to me. I was holding my purple-cased phone  but too terrified to take any photos. The shop owner suggested I put my phone away as they can be attracted to certain colors. That did the trick.

After this, we visited the reserve and got to see the young twins up close. They get to go to the river twice a day to bath, and are well fed and receive medical attention when needed. Elephant births in captivity are extremely rare, we were told. These elephants have a pretty good life. The elephants in this reserve can’t be released into the wild because they have been raised in captivity. However there is another facility nearby with more area that is geared to giving them the ability to be released - a difficult endeavor but possible.

This was one of our very favorite tours of the trip so far.