Wildest dreams
Sri Lanka is lively, welcoming and full of natural wonders. By Andy Turner
Look out, there’s a crocodile,’’ shrieked a startled voice from the small motor boat, sitting precariously low enough to the river’s waterline to feel vulnerable and threatened.
It’s not a croc, thankfully, it’s just a water monitor lizard, silently cutting its way through the surface with just its head, beady eyes, and the top of its 3ft long body and tail visible.
It turns out that despite the menacing appearance and deceptively close resemblance to the aforementioned predator, they’re perfectly harmless in Sri Lanka.
But it all adds to the drama of a highly recommended Madu River boat safari where, in fact, there are real crocodiles lurking amid the 64 mini islands available to explore.
The boat driver has a sharp eye for the array of wildlife hidden in the trees of the banks of the attractive Ramsar-designated wetlands, including five varieties of kingfisher – an electric-blue
coloured beauty perched just above our heads – spectacular green bee-eaters, cormorants, purple-faced leaf monkeys and even jellyfish, which he was only too happy to fish out of the water for a closer look.
A quick stop-off at Cinnamon Island provides a demonstration of how cinnamon sticks, widely used in Sri Lankan cuisine, are stripped from the bark of the cinnamon tree.
The ground spice is used for baking and in oil for medicinal purposes.
Another island interlude shows local wood craftsmen carving out and decorating colourful Raksha masks used in festivals and cultural dances to ward off evil spirits.
One of the real delights of our chosen accommodation – the