Sri Lanka: Dambulla, Trincomalee, Habarana

Often known as ‘The teardrop of India’ because of its shape and location, Sri Lanka is a jewel in the Indian Ocean offering a wealth of unique experiences for visitors. We’ve absolutely loved our holidays there. It’s safe, beautiful, bursting with culture and wildlife and a perfect choice for travellers with young children.

Just a four hour flight from where we live, we first visited this stunning country in the summer of 2012. We decided to travel across the north, to Trincomalee, because it was monsoon season in the south and we feared our holiday would be a washout if we visited the more popular beach destinations down there. It turned out, though, that we needn’t have worried, because when we did visit the South in the summer of 2013, the occasional rain shower did nothing to dampen our enjoyment.

We were picked up at the airport in Colombo by a driver that I’d booked before our arrival. I’m very pleased we did this rather than choosing a hire car option, because the roads in Sri Lanka are crazy and it takes a lot of local knowledge and experience to navigate them. Our driver, Wally, was very friendly and reliable. He drove slowly and safely, which was extremely important to us considering we had six kids in the van, including our one year old twins in their car seats.

We stayed at Jetwing Lagoon for one night when we arrived in Colombo. Easily accessible from the airport, clean and modern with exceptionally friendly staff, it was the perfect choice for us (you can read my review here). We then travelled onwards to Dambulla, where our most treasured memories were made.

We stayed at the Heritance Kandalama, which was a wonderful, unique experience (my review can be found here). The hotel is built into a mountain and some of the walls are bare granite, so you really feel part of the beautiful landscape. We reached our suite via walkways at tree top level and gasped in awe at the abundance of monkeys and birds along the way. Guests are told to keep their balcony doors closed because of the risk of monkeys coming into their room. This turned out to be absolutely imperative, because there were monkeys on our verandah all the time, delighting us with their playful antics!

The views of the rain forest were breathtaking and it was totally exhilarating to take a bath while gazing out through the glass wall and marveling at the vast expanse of wild life outside.

We used the hotel as a base to visit the Golden Temple. A World Heritage Site, it's the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka and towers over the surrounding plains. The caves contain mesmerising paintings and statues relating to Gautama Buddha and his life. It was a fantastic cultural experience and very family friendly.

The following day, we went on safari at the Minnerya elephant park, which was the absolute highlight of our trip to Sri Lanka. In August, the elephants gather at the lake in the late afternoon, and so we were lucky enough to see vast numbers of them up close...it was one of those breathtaking experiences that will forever be etched into my memory. Watching such majestic animals in their natural habitat is so much better than visiting them in confined, man-made spaces. They entertained us for hours and it was so beautiful to see them silhouetted against the evening sky as the sun went down. I treasure my photographs of that day; the best ones are framed and take pride of place in my home.

The children found our safari jeep ride absolutely thrilling and it was such a joy to see them standing up on the way back, enjoying the wind in their hair as they looked out at the stunning landscape.

After a few days, we travelled onwards to Trincomalee, on the North-East coast. We stayed at Trinco Blu for two weeks, which was a perfect choice (you can read my review here). The beach was sublime...waking up to such a perfect view every morning was tonic for the soul. Unlike most wavy beaches in the south, the turquoise sea here is calm and much more suitable for young children.

The staff were lovely and friendly, especially in the restaurant, where our children were frequently cuddled and the food and beverage manager often asked if we were satisfied and if he could do anything to please us. The children were really excited to see yet more monkeys everyday playing around the hotel! We hired jet skis a few times and took a boat trip upshore, which was pleasant enough but marred by my husband snorkelling with his mobile phone in his pocket and totally killing it! However, when we spotted a whale on the way back we were completely thrilled, especially because it wasn't even whale season! So in the end, the day was made memorable for all the right reasons!

There's nothing much to do and see in Trincomalee itself, but if you're looking for a gorgeous place to relax on a stunning beach with friendly faces doing all they can to ensure your holiday is a happy one, then this place is for you!

On the way back, we stayed at Habarana Village by Cinnamon, in Habarana (my review can be found here). This hotel is set in a beautiful location. We had 'lake-side' interconnecting rooms, but, through my lack of research, I didn't realise that the lake would be empty at the time of year we went. Still, it was absolutely lovely looking out at the trees and seeing groups of monkeys playing right on our doorstep! My children hired bikes to cycle around the lake, but it's wonderful to walk around too. We spotted all sorts of wildlife, like eagles and monitor lizards. There were even tree houses/look out points for the kids to climb and explore. We also wandered up to an organic farm, where they were happy to show us around, so it was a fascinating learning experience.

From there, we visited Kaudulla elephant park, which was another marvellous safari. Our guide and driver were lovely, and we did see elephants and water buffalo, but not as many as at Minneriya.

On the way back to Columbo, we made a detour to visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. I have to say, I had mixed feelings about this place. It’s good to know that there are people who dedicate themselves to elephants in need, but it was heart-rending to see some of them in chains after witnessing the freedom enjoyed by the ones we encountered in the wild. Nevertheless, they do seem well treated. Sadly, we missed seeing them being bathed in the river, but we did enjoy bottle feeding the babies and the children loved being able to get so close. It was also amazing to see the nearby shops selling paper made out of elephant poo! Recycling at it’s best!

Finally, it was back to Jetwing Lagoon for a night, ready for our flight home the next day. Before heading to the airport, however, we visited some old friends from our Fiji days who were now living in Colombo. It was delightful to see them again and we enjoyed a fantastic catch up over a delicious lunch. Their beautiful colonial house overlooked the pool and the children had lots of fun splashing about together.

When we said our goodbyes we thought we’d given ourselves plenty of time to catch our plane, but unfortunately this turned out to be wishful thinking….

Our driver did his best to navigate the intense traffic in Colombo, but for much of the journey it was at a standstill, and our anxiety levels were slowly rising! By the time we rushed to the check-in counter, we found that it had closed. We were ushered upstairs to the airline office where we were told, in no uncertain terms, that there was no availability on any flights to Doha for another two weeks!

We checked into an airport hotel to make a plan and eventually we managed to book ourselves on a flight to the Maldives the following day and fly back from there. It was an added expense we could have done without, but it was also a valuable lesson and gave us chance to see those jaw-droppingly beautiful islands from above, sparkling like jewels in the Indian Ocean. I made a promise to myself that we would go on holiday there sometime soon…and we did, in 2014, but that’s for a whole other blog post!

All in all, we enjoyed a glorious holiday in Sri Lanka and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, especially families with young children who are looking for a friendly destination that’s jam packed full of unique, fascinating things to do and see.