 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Swanee Hotel is situated along a 180-mile long beach curve stretching from Colombo to Yala, a paradise blessed with soft white sand and wide, open vistas of the Indian Ocean. It’s a place where you can do as much or as little as you like. The first peculiar site that will catch your attention are the toddy-tappers who traipse on tightropes between palm-leaf toupees of coconut trees to obtain the sweet, milky sap of the palm flowers, which is the essential ingredient used for the production of the popular alcoholic beverage ‘arrack’. Next, you can go on a Bentota riverboat excursion and visit a traditional Sri Lankan village, feast your palate on a rice-and-curry lunch and hope to be lucky enough to chance upon a local wedding ceremony. Crocodiles are rare along the riverbanks, but you can set your eyes on water monitors and river birds. Move on to the turtle hatcheries of Kosgoda and Induruwa for a personal encounter with endangered hawksbill and green sea turtles that nest on the sandy beaches nearby. For more wonders of nature, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the most popular jumbo attraction of its kind in the country, where you come face-to-face with almost 70 elephants roaming safely in the sanctuary without fearing for their mahouts. If you prefer to watch elephants grazing freely in the wild, try the Ruhuna National Park, which is a protected 126,786-hectare large nature reserve more commonly known by the moniker “Yala”. It is home to a small population of leopards, sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boars, crocodiles, wild buffaloes, monkeys, sloth bears, jackals, mongoose, pangolins and porcupines, which make occasional guest appearances on safaris through this national park. For a bit of sun and sea, Hikkaduwa town is the place to go surfing, diving and deep-sea fishing. You can embark on an underwater safari or a glass-bottom-boat cruise in search of colorful coral reefs and crystal-clear waters. The highest visibility is from December to April. Alternatively, move in the opposite direction and climb some 7,600 feet up to the summit of Adam’s Peak for a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside and a glimpse of a renowned footprint that devotees of different religions claim as their own. Nobody can quite agree if the massive footprint belongs to Gautama Buddha, the Hindu Lord Shiva or the Roman Catholic apostle St.Thomas, a preacher from South India. |
 |
 |