51 rally participants have just returned from a 6 day excursion around Sri Lanka. Robert and Wendy Prinsen of the Yacht Heidenskip have sent us the photographs shown below. The excursion started with a safari to an area in the South of Sri Lanka known for its wild elephants and then reached the mountainous area around Nuwara Eliya famous for tea plantations.

The rally party actually stayed in the Hill Club which although now a hotel used to be the exclusive club for plantation owners. By day 3 the excursion moved on to Kandy and visited the Temple of the Tooth and experienced a cultural show which included fire eaters. Also on the itinerary was the elephant orphanage at Pinnewala where elephants rescued from the war with the Tamil Tigers to the North now have a daily swim in the nearby river.

Probably the climax of the tour was the hill fortress of Sigirya and the nearby cave temple of Dambulla, one of the photos shows the countryside near Dambulla and the lovely Amaya Lake Hotel where the group stayed. The long trip back to Galle was broken by a stay in the capital city of Colombo and the historic Galle Face Hotel. Following the coast southwards the excursion visited a turtle farm before arriving back in Galle Harbour.

There are now frenetic preparations for the next passage to the Maldives and already some yachts are on their way.