Touch down Colombo

We arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, late Tuesday after a rather tiring and delayed overnight flight from UK (I finally dropped off around 4am and was rudely awoken with a shake and a red hot flannel dropped into my hand – much to the amusement of my neighbouring passengers). We were tired and grumpy having to wait on the plane in Male for over an hour; and Rosin threw up just for good measure.

Finally past customs and immigration and were customarily pounced upon by taxi offers. We were meant to be heading to Kitulgala in the hills but given it was nearly 5pm, decided a night drive was not the best option and to seek out accommodation nearby and leave first thing.

In our sleep deprived haze we somehow managed to check into the most shabby (and slightly creepy) hotel in Negombo, a tourist haven close to the airport. The Golden Star is a rather sad hotel with its leathery old couples and sticky looking food and flaky old walls. No matter, as we jump in a tuk tuk to town and eat spicy veg biriani at a muslim cafe close to what I assume is the centre of Negombo; a dusty monument roundabout with scraggy dogs ferreting around the rubbish piles.

Devon, the taxi agent, said it could take up to four hours to get to Kitulgala, especially as we needed to go via the Sony centre in Colombo, much to our driver Prasana's horror. Seriously bad congestion in Colombo. And the evident increased security is slightly unnerving.

So after a slow bumping and winding journey up to the hills, we arrive at Rafter's Retreat in Kitulgala, to be met by Channa. A big Beaker-like man (or Paul Kevill-like for those of you at work) with long hair, a plaited & beaded beard and a hand shake to rumble a bear.

Apparently there has been no rain for many months and now it started raining 2 weeks ago. Many crops such as rubber and tea have been badly affected. Now though, the rains are here and showing just what the subcontinent monsoon can do. Huge deluges create rivers and lakes around the paths and gardens of this amazing old plantation house. We stay in the rather characterful stilted huts with their beautifully crafted stone walled bathrooms and waterfall showers and toilets with a view across the forest and river!

Wildlife central too – on arrival Tevo makes friends immediately with the leeches. “Mummy look at this strange worm I found on my foot”. He holds up his hand to show this tiny black shiny leech about the size of a small caterpillar – not the larger flat variety that we may be familiar with from films. These are small and stand on one end with the other searching about above itself for something to taste – then it moves like a tiny shiny black slinky.

That evening Tevo almost stood on a massive black scorpion, which scared the bejeebers out of Roisin who was in tears by dinner. Apparantly it was rearing and snapping it pincers and waving it's tail about by the time Lee got there. Been feeling a bit jumpy myself actually. We're all so tired. It's hit us big time.

The ants in the bathroom this morning freaked me right out. An army train almost a foot wide in places, densely massed climbing all over each other, like a moving shiny black carpet, entered on one side of the bathroom, carpeting the stone wall to the window where they formed an orderly queue running along the branches around the entire hut and exiting on the 3rd corner into another tree (somewhat of a long way round I thought). Try waking up with jetlag trying to find your bearings in a hut made of twigs sitting on a loo (which you just had to check for scorpions) and an ant carpet for a wall. I wasn't feeling at my best either.

We slept til noon. Crazy deep sleep punctuated with startling waking moments to the sounds of the forest. And a little monkey face peering in in the morning!

Rafting was ace. Enough white water to make it exciting. Tevo's like nature boy. Loving it all. Playing in the river. Roisin's confidence shot up after jumping off the rocks, swimming downstream in white water and rowing like a good un – all good stuff.