You can travel around freely

Here at ETG we tend to promote a ‘less is more’ approach to a lot of our holidays.  But my research trip was as fast-paced as you can get.  I stayed for 14 nights in 14 different locations travelling from Colombo to the Cultural Triangle, Kandy, a few places in the hills, Yala National Park, Tengalle, Thalpe, Galle, Bentota and Colombo….all without a hitch.

I was travelling with my chauffeur guide in a private vehicle which made things very easy for me.

It was slightly different for locals though as there were some interprovince travel restrictions which were only lifted on the 1st November.  Trains and interstate public bus services have not been operating but are due to do so again.  Foreigners are expected to need to show proof of vaccination to get tickets.

The key tourist sites, beaches and national parks are tranquil and will take a long time to build back up

All sights travellers would usually visit on a trip to Sri Lanka were open – Dambulla Cave Temple, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, the Temple of the tooth and more. I climbed Sigiriya at 0700, and there was just me, Kapila (my chauffeur-guide) and a Sri Lankan couple – it felt incredible, and we spent an hour at the top just taking the tranquillity and uniqueness of the near-deserted hilltop fortress in.
Then we have the beaches which were very, very quiet and very beautiful. Particularly in the deep south around Tengalle, home to arguably the most beautiful beaches in the country, were deserted. It felt incredible to have such a wild, rugged but beautiful landscape to myself. Check out the beach outside Buckingham Place below. Pure bliss!

I was also fortunate to get to Yala National Park and had some fantastic sightings. I saw nine elephants and four leopards… and just 11 other jeeps in just under four hours! We were able to cover a considerable distance in short spaces of time and had sightings to ourselves! My favourite was of two elephants locking trunks and washing each other. We were alone with them for 15 minutes.

It is so important to get tourists back into national parks. By being there, you provide the dollars that employ the passionate naturalists, fund the tracking and conservation of the different animals and help reduce poaching by funding added security. The time in Yala was the highlight of my trip, and the next few months should provide great sightings with fewer tourists.

There were a couple of activities that ETG usually provide that I didn’t do – such as our village tour in the cultural triangle and our curd experience near Tengalle. The village has decided to wait until December before operating – they want to hit the ground running with a steady stream of business. As the curd activity in Tengalle (right in the deep south of the country not far from Yala) involves going into a village non-ETG clients tend not to visit, we decided to wait a while longer before offering this trip. This will give communities in the area a chance to get used to seeing travellers again.

Visiting monuments felt very safe

When entering monuments, hand sanitising is required everywhere, and your temperature is taken. When entering the Temple of the tooth, I was asked for my passport – luckily, I had a photo on my phone. Rather amusingly (for me anyway), staff at entrances to monuments were dressed akin to hazmat suits which made me chuckle, particularly for entry into the botanical gardens in Kandy!
Once ‘inside’ or within the sights, the experience was as normal as possible–except mask-wearing and far fewer tourists.