Our last day in Unawatuna was on Sunday - Easter, and we spent the day mostly relaxing at the hotel pool. There are a few LDS church branches in Sri Lanka, but none south of Colombo, so we just did Easter at the hotel. I had brought some Peeps candy from the US so the girls were excited about that fun part of the holiday. We also went to the beach one last time in the late afternoon. The waves were really high. I went swimming, but it was a bit too rough for the girls to even wade into. They were happy finding a variety of cool seashells along the shore.
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| Showing their findings at the beach |
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| Watching crazy papa swimming in crazy waves |
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| Crazy papa swimming in crazy waves |
Monday we checked out of our hotel and had a taxi drive us to Colombo. We were awake for the ride and it was in the light, so we got to see the Sri Lankan countryside. We passed rubber plantations, water buffalo, and lots of other fun things. Colombo was crowded when we arrived. School was getting out so there were lots of school children in their white uniforms walking on the streets and riding in tuk-tuks.
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| Tea plantation on our way to Colombo |
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| A view from the car on our way to Colombo |
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| A huge statue of Buddha up on the hill |
We arrived at the hotel and the girls were in heaven. It was a five-star hotel and was very fancy. We were given cold towels and a cold drink while we checked in. Our baggage was brought up to our adjoining rooms on the sixth floor overlooking the pool on one side and the ocean across the street on the other. It was nice.
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| Girls checking out their new room |
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| A view from our room window |
We hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we went next door to the food court at a mall and tried authentic Sri Lankan food from a place called pot-o-clay. The food was very good, but much too spicy (some of it) for the girls (and mostly for Yulia, too). The girls were glad we had eaten at the other restaurant in Unawatuna since they loved that food so much.
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| Sophie and Lexa at the local supermarket happy to get some treats to bring home |
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| Ordering food at pot-o-clay |
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| Spicy! |
In the evening we went swimming in the pool. It was neat because huge bats were flying over the pool (coming in to roost, or going out to hunt, we weren't sure) along with a bunch of birds.
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| In the pool again |
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| It was a really nice pool |
Tuesday morning we got up early and got in an SUV that we had arranged. We drove to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage to see the elephants there. We got there after feeding, but right when they drove the elephants across the street to bathe in the river. It was quite a sight to see more than 40 elephants of all ages out in the river bathing, playing, laying, and acting mischievous. We watched them for over an hour before heading home. The orphanage was about a two hour drive into the mountains, and Sophie - our carsick kid - had a rough time. We had to pull over a couple of times on the way up and once on the way down for her to throw up. She made it into the bag or out of the car each time, so that was good. We gave the driver an extra tip.
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| A big group of school kids going to a tour to the elephant orphanage |
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| Elephants bathing in the river |
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| Watching the elephants from the viewing area |
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| They are really amazing creatures! |
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| Add caption |
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| Helpful sibling. May be a little too helpful! |
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| These two baby elephants were playing with each other the entire time. |
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| That group that is going away were trying to escape three times. |
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| Here is one escapee |
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| And two more |
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| But they were intercepted each time and brought back |
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| Here is one of the mahouts (elephant trainers) washing one of his elephants |
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| Girls watching the elephants |
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Some views of Colombo city on our way back to the hotel
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For the afternoon we just ate pizza and relaxed. We put the kids to be at 8:00 since we had to be on the road by 1:30 to be at the airport by 2:30. The drive to the airport was quiet and pretty quick. We checked in without problem, but after waiting in a lot of lines and going through security three times. We ate a snack at the burger king while we waited for our flight to board - $40.00 for four drinks, two sandwiches and four orders of fries - so that was our most expensive meal to food ratio of the whole trip. We traveled home without any problems and arrived in Astana about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
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| Waiting for the parents to check out at 1:30 in the morning |
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| Ready (or not) to board the first plane. |
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| Vacationing is a hard work! |
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| Flying home to Astana |
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| Can't do without a selfie! |
It was cold (about 1 degree Celsius) and raining when we arrived. A far cry from the sun of Sri Lanka. It was nice to be home, though.
Overall we had a very nice trip to Sri Lanka. We didn't see whales, but we saw sea turtles AND elephants and had a nice time together. We are blessed to be able to do so many fun things together as a family.
