01.02. Haputhale - Tangalle

Our night was very cold again but the breakfast with a panoramic view was a good apology for the inconveniences.

The public bus station was right in front of our accommodation so we just had to pack our bags and wait for the bus…and he was on time. Taking public busses is the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to travel in Sri Lanka, when you feel comfortable with suicidal bus drivers. Due to time pressure, they do not really stop when somebody wants to get on or off the bus. Furthermore they do not know any speed limits as well as any bans on passing other vehicles. Nevertheless, we love public busses. We had to change the bus in Wellawaya to get to the south coast. Our bus passed many different landscapes, which was very interesting for us. The road down to the coast is between two of the most popular national parks in Sri Lanka. We were looking out the windows, hoping to see some wild animals like elephants, crocodiles or monkeys. As it was lunchtime, the hottest part of the day, the animals seemed to have a rest in the shadow of the deep forest.
At 2 PM we arrived in Ranna, a village 14 km far from Tangalle, and got picked up by Sunjit, the driver of our accommodation. Through a small dirt road, surrounded by forest and used by many iguanas (Leguane) as a sunbath platform, we got to our “Golden Coconut Cabanas”, run by a German women.
It was a really lovely and peaceful place at the beach. We had our own pool and the beach was empty. There were only 4 other “hotels” (small bungalows) in the area around us. As there were only three small bungalows, we had to share this oasis with only three other couples and therefore had a really relaxing and familial atmosphere. Karin, the owner, cooked in the evening delicious currys and fish meals.
On our first day we went for a walk along the beach and finally reached a calm lagoon which cut our way on the beach. Luckily we decided to turn around and walk back, Karin told us later that the lagoon is the home of big and sometimes hungry fresh water crocodiles! She told us the story of a friend, an old Swiss lady which used to have a bath in this lagoon with her dog. Three weeks ago, first her dog had to serve as a small appetizer, then she got attacked but could manage to get herself out of the water. Some fishermen saw this and called an ambulance. After three weeks in the main hospital in Colombo, the old lady is able to walk again! And we were very happy that we had skipped this experience!
The Golden Coconut Cabanas were our home for two days and we got to know a little bit the living in the nature. We saw turtle nests, crabs, peacocks, iguanas, we heard many birds, a wild cat and stories about snakes, resting in the shadow of the beach chairs.
Happy and relaxed we left this little paradise to move on to Mirissa, a popular village at the coast.