Camouflage

This creature had one of the best camouflage suits I have seen for some time.
The photo was taken at the beach near Negombo.

Trail

This picture was captured somewhere close to Negombo. A few kilomtres from the main airport of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, an epic Trail, which was started on the 1st of July has now completed two thirds of its journey. It is a walk right across Sri Lanka to collect US$ 2million to build a Paediatric Cancer Ward in Jaffna Hospital.

You can see more information here.

Patanangala

Patanangala is a beach belongs to Yala National Park. This characteristic rock and the excellent beach make this place a memorable one. This is one of the few places where visitors are allowed to get down from their vehicles during their safari through Yala.

To view Patanangala beach from another angle, please click here and see the post by Cerno.

Tag and a Story

I have been tagged by Amaris from the wonderland of Brazil. The rules for this tag are as below.

1. Open your 1st Photo folder.
2. Scroll to the 10th photo.
3. Post the photo and the story behind it.
4. Tag 5 or more people.

Instead of choosing the first folder, I’m doing a little tweak and taking the first folder appears in my Picasa gallery. So this picture happened to be one taken sometime back from Panama Beach (pronounced as paːnəmə) and it shows a part of the curved beach (rather a thin strip of beach), the lagoon and the rocky outcrop. I still do not know what that statue like thing on the rock.

That day, we were swimming in the shallow waters and a few STF (Special Task Force from the Sri Lanka Police) soldiers came via a motor boat from the lagoon side and wanted to cross over to the sea. We helped them to push the boat over the thin strip of sand. We tried our best to convince them to take us to the nearby bird sanctuary, Kumana but they refused on safety reasons.

Remember this was during the height of war in the north of Sri Lanka and there were a few armed gangs from the LTTE, still roaming around the jungles of east. The soldiers were going to the camp in Okanda, between Panama and Kumana, which was restricted to public due to security threats those days. The STF members were doing a yeoman service to the villagers protecting them from the terrorists.

The next day we heard that there had been a bomb explosion in Okanda and two STF personnel were dead. It was such a sad news for us. Later we found out it was not any of the members of that group of soldiers, still we were quite shocked about what happened to their two colleagues. In fact, we understood why they refused to take us with them.

Today I’m relieved that the situation has changed rapidly after the war in the north and this particular area is declared safe for public. Tourism is flourishing and we can hike freely in these areas now.

We, Sri Lankans eternally grateful to the armed forces for their sacrifices to bring peace back to this country!

So that is the ‘story’ on above picture!

Thanks very much, Amaris for tagging me and I have tagged below friends. Next time it may be your chance to relate a story :D

1. George and Betsy from Tennessee, USA
2. Rainfield from Malaysia
3. Nicole right now in Egypt
4. Knatolee from Canada
5. Bhavesh from Pune, India

Wake up to Arugam Bay Sun

This picture was taken last year and it was in my gallery for sometime. Yet, I am posting it here. As my friend, Fred always says, there is no better place to enjoy the splendor of Indian Ocean than Arugam Bay, one of the best surfing spots in the world!

We camped on the beach and were up from 4.30am to see the amazing sight of sunrise. As soon as I woke up, I took the above picture from the tent. By that time, my friends were already busy taking pictures!

Lagoon

Above photo and a few more here were taken towards the lagoon side of Panama Beach (pronounced as paːnəmə). This place is unique as you will see the sea from the East, lagoon from the North, sand dunes from the South and the village from the West.

Colombo Sunset

This photo is not from the wild but taken within city limits. This scenery was captured from Marine Drive, Wellawaththa. I pass this stretch every evening, so thought of bringing some evening delights of Colombo.

Rocky Seashore

I’m taking you back to my favorite rocky beach in the South Eastern coastline. This time, I’m attaching more fabulous photos of this rocky seashore here.

As you can see in the above picture, the view here is incredible.

Coastal Belt from Chilaw to Kalpitiya

The stretch of coastline North of Colombo up to Chilaw has been quite popular for tourism and leisure activities for a long time.

After the situation of the country turns better the tourism industry seem to be thriving in this region and beyond. Recently the region North of Chilaw up to Kalpitiya is also attracted by many large scale hotel companies both local and foreign.

The coastal belt between Chilaw and Kalpitiya up to now remains as a quite remote area explored by a few tourists and locals only. This region is rich with unique natural eco-system that is not found in other parts of the country. One such place is Anawilundawa area, which I mentioned sometime back. In addition the Mundal Lagoon area, the coastal belt up to Kalpitiya and the most of the main land coastline up to Wilpattu National Park and beyond, still remain as unspoiled area.

The above picture was taken at the beach front east of Anawilundawa close to a small fishing village called, Udappuwa.

Kirinda Beach

This is a similar beach to the one I posted a few days back. The difference may be that this one is more popular and you may see lots of visitors here every day.

Kirinda, is situated South of Sri Lanka close to Yala National Park. This is a popular beach venue for thousands of devotees who go on pilgrimage to Katharagama – The place of worship, South of Sri Lanka where all Sri Lankans visit so religiously regardless of their religion or creed.

There is a small temple in this place on top of a medium size rock outcrop facing the sea. As per the historical chronicles, a princess was sacrificed to the sea to prevent a catastrophic sea wave (Tsunami?) that destroyed the land in the Western coast of Sri Lanka more than 2000 years ago. To some extra ordinary reasons the sea wave was immediately suppressed and this princess survived and landed back at a remote beach South of Sri Lanka. People believe Kirinda is that historical place, where this princess landed safely. Subsequently this brave princess became famous as Queen Vihara Maha Devi.

This beach is one of the most attractive beaches in the Southern coastal belt.

Rocky Beach

This lonely rocky beach was captured close to Panama village (pronounced as paːnəmə) in the South East of Sri Lanka close to Ruhunu National Park (Yala). You can view more pictures of this place, in this post as well.

There are many similar beach fronts in that region in Yala National Park (E.g. Patanangala) and South of Sri Lanka close to the reserve (E.g. Kirinda).

I have seen some of the most attractive beaches in this region!

An Evening at the Beach

This beautiful sunset was taken in the Western beach front near Kochchikade. This place lies about 35km North of Colombo and it is a popular place where people come to spend the evening.

Wonder what ‘he’ thinks?...

Sea and Lagoon

This picture was taken from the top of Panama sand dunes.

The southern side of the beach is very broad as shown here. But near the lagoon it becomes a very thin stretch of beach. The lagoon and the sea are divided by this thin sand strip. Just note the different shades of blue – Bright blue sea and murkier lagoon.

The view here is quite striking!

Panama Beach

I am attaching more photos from Panama Beach here. This is the complete set of photos from Panama sand dunes.

The above photo is taken from the top of the rocky outcrop shown here. The beach is definitely one of the largest in the country.

Sea Breeze

This picture was taken near Arugam Bay closer to Ulla Point. The picture here would show you that the wind is not so gentle near the beach!

June to July is the season for water sports here and thousands of foreigners come here to enjoy this excellent beach. It is a great place to enjoy water currents as well as strong winds!

Ulla Point

The last time I went to Arugam Bay, I got a chance to visit this interesting place. Ulla is situated just south of the bay and it is a narrow beach point made of sandy dunes. There are trees and bushes growing in the sand too. The view of the sea and the bay is very beautiful from here. The sand dunes add extra beauty to the view. Never forget to visit this place if you come to Arugam Bay.

Kirigalpoththa Slideshow

Hi All,

I have added more photos to the blog using slideshow 'gadget' (See sidebar)
The slideshow will bring the complete set of photos of Sun Rise at Arugam Bay.

K

PS: This slide show is now removed from the side bar. But you can still check out the photos here.

The Sea Beyond the Rocks

There are some great places where you can take a nice relaxing evening by the sea. This particular place close to the border of the Yala Nature Reserve is such beautiful place. The rocky outcrops closer to the beach add more beauty to the view.

You can find similar places all around the country.

To view more pictures of this place, please click here.

Camping at Edge of the Sea

If you travel to Panama, there is an amazing location close to the coast for camping. This is situated on a rock outcrop by the sea on one side of the sand dunes. When you climb to the top of the rock you will see the sea from the East, A lagoon from the North, vast sand dunes from the South and the Panama village from the West.

The lagoon is connected to the sea with a thin strip of water and the adjoining potion of the sea is formed as a natural pool. The sandy beach is wide as usual and the dunes on the Southern side is even wider. There are small trees and bushes grow on these dunes and they add a distinctive splendour to the entire area. The rocky outcrop slants to the Sea from one side and it is a perfect location for camping. It is quite windy on the top but there are good sites to pitch a tent.

The panorama from the top of the rock is simply stunning!

Sand Dunes of Panama

Panama (pronounced as pa:nəmə) is a fascinating place for a hiker. It is the last village before Yala National Park.

To reach here you have to travel to Monaragala and then take the Potuvil road via Siyambalanduwa. On the way you will pass Lahugala Nature Reserve which is quite popular for wild elephants. From Potuvil , you have to turn towards south and further travel about 20km to reach Panama which is at the edge of Yala.

The villagers here are very friendly and helpful. One of the key attractions of Panama is its sandy beaches with huge sand dunes. In fact these sand dunes saved the villagers from Tsunami Tradegy in 2004. There are two distinct long sand formations all along the coast creating enormous protecting walls.

Panama is a beautiful village by the Eastern Coast with an inimitable beauty!