The Emerald City

"Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride" - Steppenwolf

Check out this video of the little city that has been our home the last 3 years.

Sri Lanka

"Welcome to the jungle, We've got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want. Honey, we know the names" - Guns and Roses

I meant to share this sooner, but.... well things have been hectic.  Anyway, without further ado, here is an overload of the highlights, photos and video of our recent trip to Sri Lanka: (you have been warned, there are A LOT of photos)

Sri Lanka is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. It reminded us of Hawaii but without the sheer cliff mountains and with a whole a lot more poverty and people. We spent two days in Kandy (The high country) and two days in Bentota/Beruwala near the ocean. There was a lot of driving involved but the scenery was gorgeous and fascinating.

Driving
Yvonne had this to say about the driving: "I thought driving in Dubai could get crazy. I didn't know crazy until we went to Sri Lanka. Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road but there is an invisible third lane that everyone in both directions uses all the time. The roads are small and curvy and in the high country have steep drop-offs. We had a hired driver the entire time so we could just sit back and relax. The kids loved that there were no seatbelts in the van."

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

We rode elephants, fed elephants, watched them bath in the river, took pictures with them and got totally grossed out by their poop-eating antics.

Tea Party
Even though we are not tea drinkers, we visited a tea plantation and took a tour of a tea factory. It was fascinating. Advise: Watch out for the tea leaf pickers. This photo cost a fortune and they were still begging for more as we walked away. Everyone begs and/or demands money everywhere you go. It's sad but we finally had to start saying no. We started offering food instead but no-one wanted food.

Wildlife
We saw lots of waterfalls, lots of wild monkeys, a python, lizards, a land monitor (They are huge lizard things), baby alligators, so many many wild dogs, cows, tons of water buffalo, crabs, birds, turtles etc.

Turtles
We went to a turtle hatchery and got to hold little baby sea turtles that are waiting to be released back into the ocean. It was surprising how much they let us handle and play with them. Rigdon was not gentle.

 

Mangroves
We took a river cruise down the Bentota River (It's huge) and saw baby alligators, went through mangroves, saw more monkeys and birds and roasted in the sun.

Buddha, Beach, and more...

Sri Lanka Sneak Peek

"Oh my my, Oh hey hey
Here it comes, the big parade" - The Lumineers

One of the benefits of living in the Middle East is that you are literally in the middle of quite a few travel destinations. Places that we would never have considered traveling are now relatively inexpensive and close. Of course, a 4 hour international flight to somewhere unknown is still a little daunting when you contemplate doing it with 4 kids age 5 and under. Sometimes it seems like a challenge just to take all four kids to walk down the aisles of a store for 30 minutes. Is travel with that challenge worth it? Will the kids even remember anything 10 years from now?

Well, we decided to throw caution to the wind. This year for spring break (and Yvonne's milestone birthday), we loaded up the offspring and headed to Sri Lanka. I'm in the middle of sorting the photos and writing a few details for a blog post... but I figured I might has well give the blog readers a little sneak peek of the experience.

Stay tuned for more....

Roar

"Near the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight." - The Tokens

Yesterday Yvonne took the kids on a play-date to a classmate's house not far from where we live. It just so happens that not only did they get to play with friends and their toys, but they also got to play with... A BABY LION!

Who has a baby lion just roaming around their house?

As it turns out, the mother of our girls' classmate is friends with the Sheikh of Dubai's veterinarian. Apparently, one of the Sheikh's lions had a cub and the mother lioness wasn't taking good care of it, so the veterinarian asked her friend to lion-sit for a while. You know, cuz that happens all the time.

Yvonne was able to snap a few pics of the fun.