Michael Kipp, Saarbrücker Zeitung, 27th June 2012
For decades, Sri Lanka has been suffering under a civil war. For now three years it has been over officially. Thus, more and more tourists are coming to the beautiful island in the Indian Ocean – and without remorse.
On the western- and southern coast, they are coming out of the surf of the Indian Ocean at night. They carry themselves through the fine sand-clock-sand, dig holes to the dream beaches with their swimming paddles and lay their eggs into it. Five of seven kinds of see turtles are coming to the beaches of Sri Lanka regularly, at which during the day tourists are relaxing. The turtles hole that egg thieves will neither eat their eggs nor sell them to the tourists as medication. For decades, this was only a weak hope with the up to 100 years old reptiles. "But today I am there," says Ranschid and laughs.
The 25 years old is working to a turtle farm. His job is to buy the illegal goods from eggs thieves. "I just pay the best price", he says and points to some 30 freshly born turtles of the size of one hand. They are swimming in a water basin. Three of four days are birth, Ranschid puts the little ones into the 28 degrees warm ocean. Tourists may help. If this helps? Surely enemies are waiting in the ocean, birds, ships, plastic waste and fisher nets. Thus, only three of 1000 turtles make it back to the beach after 15 years. However, Ranschid says: "We are successful in out work. We can report growing numbers."
This sentence is valid for much in Sri Lanka. Things are moving. Economy has been growing by eight percent per year since the end of the civil war in 2009. The export of tea and gemstone booms, and the sales of spices and rubber are also good. The damages of the Tsunami 2004 are almost invisible. The first superhighway has been opened in the end of November, a new international airport and a big harbour are just constructed in the South and will be finished soon. "We somehow manage," Ranschid says.
Somehow, 20 million people are said to live on the island as big as Bavaria. The capital district of Colombo lies at the western coast. At the international airport of the impossible city of two to eight million inhabitants – clear numbers are not known – more and more tourists have been arriving during the last years. Until 2016, 2.5 million per year shall travel to the country, in 2011 500 000. Most of them travel after a 13-hours-flight some kilometres northwards to Negombo, a nice bay, in an all-inclusive hotel at the coconut tree beach. If you do not want this, you can go to the southwest- or south coast or to the east coast with its small infrastructure. It does not really pay off to stay in Colombo. Smog and traffic chaos show the image of a giant city.
100 kilometres to the south the paradise begins. Between Hikkaduwa and Tangalle, the tourist finds luxury resorts, but most of all small guesthouses with lonely dream beaches. Mostly there are local families or foreigners speaking German renting rooms, organizing round trips and available in the internet. Beach houses can also be cheaply rented on the coast and are a recommendable alternative for the ones looking for a vacation far away from everything.
After three or four days of getting used to it, the guest houses of the south-western coast are a good starting point for tours. For instance to Ranschid and his turtles in Kogalla. A boat trip through the lagoon at the same place, or a trip to the city of Gall with its old harbour for are no long trip from Sri Gemunu.
The holiday maker may only lie at the beach with tourism advertisement character, but he should also travel to the interior of the country. The distances on the island are short, and only small distances by car are lying between the destinations. And an impressive nature. Self.constructed sales stalls, packed with bananas, pineapples, mangoes, coconuts and avocados are lining the streets, and only in the beginning show how nature explodes on the small island. The whole year 30 degrees Celsius and a half-year monsoon each at the western and eastern coast create great soil embedded in landscapes looking like the image of paradise in the brains of western Europeans.
At the southern foot of the island, there are up to 2500 metres high mountains, which the British colonial masters used for planting tea. The English have been gone since 1040, but the plantations of the famous Ceylon-Tea are still through their green carpets over the ridges. Especially beautiful around Nuwara Eliya. After the arrival there, a visit of a tea factory makes sense before travelling on to Ella and its waterfalls. After a night in Ella, an archaic train voyage to Kandy is a good idea, the third-biggest city of Sri Lanka. It is the religions centre of the Buddhist. The Tooth Temple is like the Vatican of the Buddhist. In it, the believers revere the former symbol of power of the Singhalese kings, a tooth of Buddha.
On the trip back to the coast, another facet of the „Pearl of the Indian Ocean" is waiting. In the biggest national park of the island named "Yala", crocodiles, buffaloes, monkeys, bears, elephants and leopards are living. A safari there is a must, like some relaxed days on the beach after the return. One wants to go there anyway, like Ranschids turtles.
On one view
An especially nice guesthouse stands at the south-western coast near Unawatuna. It is called Sri Gemunu and has 20 double rooms. For 25 years, the Pussewala family has been operating the guesthouse, offering rooms with AC for 32 Euro per night and person with half board.