Wild Asian elephants at Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka

Earlier this year when I was asked what my top bucket-list travel experience is, I immediately replied that seeing elephants in the wild would be an absolute dream come true!

The universe must have heard me because the next day I received a message to say that I had won an Instagram competition to join Rhiane, founder of Black Girls Hike, and Intrepid on a trip to Sri Lanka sponsored by Mountain Warehouse…..what!?

I was one of those kids that was weirdly obsessed with animals, who everyone presumed would want to be a vet even though I was clearly not smart enough, or actually wanted to be.

Nature documentaries were my first choice of TV show (well, joint first with Tracy Beaker) and I frequently used my lunchbox as a little woodlouse hospital. I also performed countless presentations about all the types of animals we should get from pygmy goats to macaws after strenuous research phases (ADHD much?).

So, clearly, my very first thought was - I’m going to see ELEPHANTS!

My second thought was - what camera should I take!??

I chose my trusty Fujifilm X100S because it’s lightweight, compact and reliable. It also encourages me to slow down and take less photos than my phone or Canon R6. I bought it from eBay a few years ago and it’s come with me literally everywhere since.

Mountain Warehouse very kindly sent me an awesome selection of bags and clothes to make my trip as smooth as possible. The tops kept me cool in the heat and warm in the cooler mountain areas and these lightweight trousers were perfect to keep bugs away whilst staying comfy. This rucksack was a brilliant lightweight daypack that I carried literally everywhere and I very much loved their Voyager holdall which I can’t find on the website anymore - but it was the perfect ‘tardis’ bag as I’m not very good at packing light…

After my longest ever flight - 11 hours 🫠 - we were met at the airport by our legendary tour guide Lochana, one of Sri Lanka’s handful of female guides.

We felt so safe and informed with her throughout the trip and we were invited to ask lots of questions about the culture, political climate, food and traditions. - so you bet I did!

The 11 day trip itinerary was created by Intrepid, though I decided to stay for an additional week by myself to explore the south coast.

Me just after arriving at Colombo airport

Negombo

We’ve arrived!

Our first hotel was in Negombo, not too far from Colombo. I’ll definately we exploring this cultural capital on my next trip there though as it looks so vibrant!

We got settled in, had much needed nap after a sleepless night on the plane, and Lochana took us for dinner at a nearby restaurant where we experienced our first taste of Sri Lankan rice & curry which was, obviously, unbelievable!!

Anuradhapura

Cycling around the Temple Kingdom, Traditional Cooking Lesson and Bugs

The next morning we enjoyed a beautiful buffet breakfast and drove to Anuradhapura, stopping at a very busy wholesale vegetable market along the way, where one guy cheekily offered me a bird-seye chilli to snack on! I told him to eat one first and that made all his friends laugh - you can’t trick me that easily sir!

After a vegetable biryiani for lunch, we jumped on some squeaky bikes and cycled 9km around the temple kingdom - a truly magical experience. We were joined by cows, dogs, monkeys, kingfishers, woodpeckers, land monitor lizards and sometimes kids as we explored the jungle roads between the Buddhist places of worship.

Lo told us the stories of how these temples were built and we had time to explore the areas. In one location we were offered fruit that had been blessed in a Hindu shrine just outside of a Buddhist temple, so the offerers could share the good karma and blessings.

We spent the evening with a local family who taught us how to cook traditional Sri Lankan cuisine like potato curry, fish curry, coconut roti, string hoppers and pitthu. I can’t tell you how utterly delicious this meal was!!

My roommate and I had some bug drama back in our hotel, and even the manager was shocked by the situation so they kindly moved us to a bug-free room. I’ll never forget the sights though….

Trincomalee

Toddy, Homemade Food, Dolphins and Beach Monsoons

On the drive to Trincomalee we saw a serpent eagle, more monkeys and amazing birds. Our brilliant driver Jaia lent me his bird book for the trip so I was named the David Attenborough of the trip, naming the birds we saw along the way - yay go me!

We stopped in town for lunch and I had a delicious meal of sweet, spicy seafood, garlic bread and my new favourite ginger beer. Not sure how traditional it was but it was super tasty…

As we arrived at Nivali Beach Hotel - we were greeted with iced tea, frozen towels and flowers for our hair and I felt like I was in White Lotus for a second. Our room was really stunning and you could see and hear the sea from our porch. I headed straight to the beach where I saw the monsoon clouds roll in and the beach dogs sheltering near the boats.

I met Senna and arranged a dolphin watching boat tour for the next morning.

One of the puppies took a particular liking to me during our two nights at the hotel and I had to nickname him Rabies to avoid taking him home!

The next day we woke up at 5.30am to join Senna for our boat ride at 6am - which was an incredible experience. The sea was rough and the seats were hard so we had a real core workout to stop ourselves from being smashed around which made me laugh the entire time!

When we reached the dolphin spot, we slowed down to observe their squeaks, jumps and twists. They put on a real show and yes, of course I cried - it was just so beautiful.

After breakfast we met with a local family who showed us how to collect Toddy, which we drank fresh from the fruit. It tasted kind of like alcoholic tinned lychees, and I’m not sure that I loved it? It’s fermented into alcohol and made into other products too. Together we ate fish stew which was definitely ‘Sri Lanka spicy’ and picked apples in the garden.

We had a chilled afternoon on the beach, joined once again by little Rabies, who woke me up from my nap with a nudge of his tiny adorable paw and ate and drank into the night.

Stunning.

Dambulla

No Elephants For Me :(

I took one photo on this day of my roommate Patricia lying down in the minivan because we had some awful gastro virus and were really ill! It might actually be one of my favourite images from the trip because it is just so real and reminds me that I can get through anything now.

We both missed the temple cave visit and the first safari which, as you can imagine from the opening paragraph, was deeply upsetting. My roommate and I had a frankly terrible day.

Having no choice but to be in a moving vehicle when you’re violently dehydrated and nauseous is a really unpleasant experience and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Luckily everyone was incredibly kind, and Lo even took me to the doctors to get medicine - I couldn’t have been more grateful for all the help that day.

Thankfully it was a 12 hour sickness, it was just unfortunate that my 12 hours included the exciting activities of the day and we missed out on fully experiencing the most incredible hotel.

Kandy

Spice Garden and Cultural Dance Show

On our way to Kandy we stopped at a Spice Garden to learn about some of the key ingredients grown and used in Sri Lanka. Our guide Aisha showed us around and taught us that many of the plants that aren’t actually indigenous to Sri Lanka, including tea, which was brought over my British colonisers in the 1860s.

Aisha was a very funny and passionate guide who used his full voice to share his knowledge with us and gave us many a fist-bump - I bloody loved it, so had to make a portrait with him at the end of our morning together.

Something I realised whilst on this trip was that I find it really hard to make portraits with strangers.

I thought I would have made many more, but it just didn’t feel right to be photographing people who I didn’t know well enough and who were unlikely to ever receive the portrait themselves. I realised I had to spend more time with someone to understand their personality and ensure they knew I wasn’t just a tourist with a camera who wants to take something from them to show my friends.

Sometimes I struggle with seeing travel portraits because it feels like an unfair or unequal trade. I knew that the way I wanted to work differed from this but I don’t think I nailed it because I was overthinking the situation

I wish I had photographed Senna from the beach, and our guide more frequently, but something stopped me. I’m reflecting on this further and will consider how I can approach this better before my next trip so I don’t leave with regret from not making (or even making) a portrait.

Photographers hold a lot of power and responsibility when it comes to representing someone from our viewpoint, I need to ensure I do it with respect, with kindness and with the right intention.

After lunch, we carried on our journey to Kandy where we enjoyed a traditional Dance Performance - he whole audience was purely tourists and I bought a hand painted fridge magnet from a seller there.

The dance was so cool to see. Usually these performances are only seen at weddings and celebrations, so although it was clearly a show put on for us, it was a privilege to see a something I may not have otherwise had the chance to.

The grand finale involved fire walking and breathing which we tipped heavily for!

Ella

Odyssey Train and Pool Club

This was a very exciting day!

After another incredible breakfast at our hotel (I really miss these!!) we got the famous Odyssey train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella. The original plan was to hop on at Kandy train station and enjoy the full 7 hour trip, but we decided to drive part way to explore some more of the Hill Country and experience some of the famous waterfalls close up.

This also meant we could explore the town of Nuwara Eliya - something we hadn’t done much of during the trip so far.

I’m very much a moocher. I want to slowly walk around on foot, chatting to locals, eating food in cafes we stumble across and pottering around the shops. This wasn’t really the holiday for that as we spent a lot of time travelling in the car and doing our awesome activities - just something to note if you’re considering a group trip like this.

The train ride was incredible and we had First Class tickets which meant we had super comfy seats, air con and lots of space.

I wouldn’t have minded a Second Class ticket as you can open the windows, and actually that breeze would’ve been more enjoyable than the aircon.

I wandered through those carraiges a few times to feel the jungle air and gosh, it was gorgeous. You feel so connected to the world around you during this journey and even though it was a long one, you could never get bored.

We bought veggie samosas and spicy nuts and enjoyed the views immensely - even with the thick fog the higher we got.

That evening we enjoyed cocktails in a hot tub overlooking the mountains in Ella - I felt like a rockstar and my phone and camera were firmly tucked away so I could fully immerse myself in the experience. I really needed that time to relax in the water as I was sad to have missed out on some of the amazing hotel pools due to the fast paced nature of the trip.

Bandarawela

Nayabedda Tea Plantation and Lunch with a Tamil Family in Haputale

We stayed at an old Dutch Colonial Hotel in Bandarawela which used to be home to the Officers and rail workers. The architecture there felt completely different to the other hotels we stayed in, and my room had a really old school TV in which had static and a VHS player - very nostalgic indeed. It felt strange to to be in the exact place of colonisers though.

At 4am the next morning we were woken up to call to prayer at 4am - turns out it was opposite a mosque which we didn’t see when we arrived in the dark the night before. The drums and voices were very beautiful and reminded me of my time in Morocco. My roommate was also leaving at this very time - few days early for commitments back home in Colorado - and it really felt Sri Lanka was wishing her a heartfelt goodbye.

Whilst eating breakfast at 7.30am I saw a bride and groom having their wedding portraits made in the room next door! I peeked my head around to get a closer look - they looked absolutely beautiful in their golden and highly detailed attire.

I asked Lo why they were having their photos so early and she said it was because that was when they’d look their very best (Lo got up at 2am to get ready for hers!) and the two-day celebrations are so busy that there often isn’t time for these professionally set up portraits at another time of the day.

They had lights and assistants to make them super special and I enjoyed watching them from afar. Again, it didn’t feel right to take a photo of this - it was their day and their moment to savour, not mine.

We drove a short way to Nayabedda Estate to meet Dusha who guided us through a 10km hike through the most stunning mountains I have ever seen. The views were nothing short of miraculous, and even in the 30c heat, with a slightly dodgy tummy, and a sweaty tomato-red face, I had an absolutely brilliant time. It was one of my best memories of my time in Sri Lanka because I felt so connected to the environment and as we passed through villages, we got many smiles and waves back from the locals.

Learning more about one of Sri Lanka’s biggest exports was also really interesting. Dusha told us how the workers must collect 18km of tea leaves each day, or they don’t get paid - not cool right? The government is supposed to have strict regulations on these privately owned estates to ensure the workers rights are respected but they are frequently ignored it seems. I’ll never drink a cup of tea the same way again!

The rural bank you see below is like a pawn shop for the local workers - not a money bank as I originally thought. You can see the kids waiting outside for their parents.

We saw so many new bird species - all meticulously recorded in my Merlin ID app - and I enjoyed chatting to Dusha about out shared love of bird watching. We also saw a mongoose on the track ahead and it was fun to spot footprints of other animals like deer and lizards.

As we hiked down the other side of the 1870m mountain (the third tallest in Sri Lanka - and we could see the tallest in the near distance) I spotted a leech on the floor! The way it moved was REALLY gross and two of the four of us (not me thank the lord) got bitten by them - a very bloody situation that I’m glad I managed to avoid!

After our hike, we gratefully climbed in a tuk-tuk and headed down to Haputale village to meet with a lovely local family who cooked us a delicious lunch - I particularly enjoyed the dhal snacks which were similar to falafel but with a chunkier crispy texture and spicier taste, paired with Masala Chai Tea.

The afternoon was a nice chilled time recovering in the hotel and town - a very much needed rest after a fast few days.

I’m embarrassed to admit it but I had a pizza in my room for dinner whilst watching a Sri Lankan version of ‘The Voice’ and loved every second. It was my first night in a room on my own and I just needed to fully chill!

Udawalawe

Wild Elephants and Meditation at a River Lodge

I SAW ELEPHANTS!!!

The safari ride was hilariously bumpy and our driver stopped to show us animals we never would’ve seen on our own! Lizards, Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters, White Bellied Sea Eagles and a European Hoopoe joined us on our journey as we tracked down these big families of gentle giants.

Honestly, this was such a triumphant day for me after missing the first safari - I couldn’t believe my eyes and took about 5 photos the whole time because I just didn’t want to miss a second of these beautiful animals.

They show such care and attentiveness with one another and despite their size, they were so quiet - not a footstep to be heard.

I stopped going to zoos a while ago after feeling more and more sad at seeing animals in cages, especially lonely elephants, so witnessing them just living their best lives in a beautiful setting was so special. Yes, I obviously cried!

We drove onto our next hotel - Athgira River Lodge - which was at the end of an isolated jungle road. It was beautifully quiet and serenely peaceful, especially right next to the river. I woke up at 6.30am the next day so I could spend some calm time there on my own before my solo adventure began.

I also made some quick portraits with Lochana before driving down to Mirissa to be dropped off at my hostel for the next 5 nights.

I was pretty nervous but so excited to get to know this vibrant country even better. It turned out to be better than I could’ve hoped for, with another Safari, surf lessons, new pals and self-discovery on stunning beaches.

Look out for the next blog post about my first ever solo travelling experience as I explored the South Coast of Sri Lanka after this amazing Intrepid Tour!

I’ll also share some more personal insights about this amazing country from my journal.