Bye Sri Lanka

My penultimate morning in Sri Lanka was a fairly chilled one. There was no rush just a general calm throughout the group. I think we all know this trip is coming to an end and a quiet sadness and exhaustion from a busy couple of weeks had descended on the group. This melancholic tranquillity isn’t helped by our first stop today – the Tsunami Photo Museum at Telwatta, north of Hikkaduwa. Back in 2004 shortly after being named Lonely Planet’s number one holiday destination, Sri Lanka was struck with tragedy. A massive tsunami. On the 26th December there was an earthquake in the Indian Ocean that led to massive tidal waves that came crashing down on many countries: Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Maldives, Myanmar and more. It was a tragedy.

Sri Lanka is considered to be the country that suffered the worst after Indonesia, the closest country to the quake. Sri Lanka lost thousands of lives in the fallout. Official reports are between 35,000 to 40,000 but Sumudu and the museum attendant say that many Sri Lankan’s believe this number to be closer to 50,000 as there are still thousands that are considered missing all these years later. The museum is covered with photos and hand written stories from survivers. There are a few details that stick out to me. The first tells a story that we are told was a common reaction for the local people. With most of the country celebrating the Christmas holiday, many families found themselves on the beach and witnessed what they originally believed to be a miracle. The tide was going in reverse. Sea water was actually being pulled back into the ocean leaving sea beds and reefs that are usually underwater open to the air. In fascination and wonder, many people raced out into the newly uncovered land until they saw the first wave, and that is when they started to panic. People scrambled up trees and buildings in the hope of escaping the unrelenting force of the waves that measured up to 10 meters (33 feet) high. Unfortunately many were unable to get secure and found themselves caught up in waves, and those who weren’t, were left with little time to understand what had happened before the second wave hit.

The 10 metre Buddha (the same height as the biggest wave of the tsunami) at the Tsunami Memorial to those killed in 2004, given as a gift to Sri Lanka by Japan

A poignant, last full day together

Welcoming sign to the Conservation Centre

There are two other stories that stuck with me. The first was written by an elderly woman who had herself got caught up in the wave. While being tossed around and dragged by the wave she had been left unconscious and in the hurried clean up after the destruction, was mistaken for dead. At the time the country was worried about disease spreading from bodies left out, so mass graves were created in which hundreds and thousands of bodies were left in unmarked graves with no autopsies. This woman only avoided being buried alive because a local boy from her neighbourhood had seen her and decided to do his best to straighten her up so she could be buried with dignity. It was then he noticed her hand move. Luckily she was rushed to help and lived to tell the tale but ended her story with the scary question: how many others were there that weren’t as lucky as her and were mistaken for dead, and buried without proper procedure?

The second story, that left a bitter taste, was from an observer of the UK and German searches who arrived at later dates. Apparently they were sent to help identify potential Europeans that had been caught in the waves. During their time on the island they are said to have dug up thousands of bodies to only find two Europeans. The bodies they found that weren’t European were thrown back into their graves with no attempts made to identify them, leaving many locals without answers to this day.

After what was a rather stark start to the day, we get back on the bus before reaching our next stop – a turtle conservation centre/sanctuary at Unawatuna. The mood is instantly lifted. After forming a line to wash our hands, to make sure we don’t bring in any potential germs, we are welcomed into the first area. It comprises a caged sand pit with a few piles of sand evenly spaced out in even lines forming a square. These are where the eggs are kept – 1,600 according to the worker showing us around. They have a variety of turtles here Green Turtles, Hawksbill Turtles, Leather Back and more. We are guided around the centre that has numbered tanks taking us through the journey and life of the turtles; from a tank of turtles that are roughly a week old up to a tank with turtles that are over 150 years old. It is their policy that they release the vast majority of turtles into the wild as soon as they are born, but there are some exceptions.

One of many baby turtles bred and looked after here

Life at the Conservation Centre
(click on the top right hand icon)

If a turtle is born female the research centre holds onto her until after she has had her first breeding year before then releasing her. This is for various reasons, one being that female turtles are extremely rare compared to males and with a 1% survival rate if released young in the wild the centre want to give the females a better chance of survival. Secondly as number of turtles in the wild are still very low, they like to breed the females who lay hundreds of eggs at a go, at least once before release to help keep increasing the numbers. The centre also doesn’t release turtles that are considered to have no chance of survival if they were released. This comes in a couple of forms during our tour. There are a couple of rare albino turtles that are mercilessly hunted in the wild for the pet trade which props up black markets that deal in illegal animal trading. Others that aren’t released are turtles that have been brought to the sanctuary due to injury and suffer in a way that means they are unable survive in the wild, for example a missing limb. There is also a turtle that has eaten so much plastic in the wild, mistaking it for jellyfish, a turtles favourite meal that air has become trapped inside its shell and it now floats and is unable to dive underwater, meaning release would incur certain death. The group enjoy seeing the turtles up close and get lots of photos.

Caring for an endangered species – the Hawksbill turtle

The day ends with the group’s final meal at a lovely restaurant in the hotel called The Fishery. After eating the group slowly start to leave; some off to bed for early morning flights, others who are leaving for the airport already. I stay up with Erin, Anna and Ali for a final game of Ace to King before we all head off for the airport or a final night’s sleep in Sri Lanka. My final morning in Sri Lanka consists of breakfast with those who remain in country, final goodbyes and rushing for an Uber that turned up 20 minutes earlier than I had booked it for. I run into Amy and Jemma at the airport and sit with them until they then rush off to a final call for their flight, having missed the first few. It is a little intense as Amy had left to get some food and a quick vape. Learning from this I sit next to my terminal and am happy to find out once on the plane that I am again lucky with an aisle seat and no one sitting next to me. With the bonus of being by the emergency exit, so plenty of leg room.

India here I come!

PS. I do feel compelled, for the record, to mention that Erin and I did have a third game of crib during this trip and she won by 10 points. But it doesn’t undo the satisfaction of me winning by 1 point in our first two games. So I am still crib champion – so far!