So after a couple of days lazing by the pool and the beach we decided it was time to see a bit of Sri Lanka. We ended up doing a lot more than we intended, but it was an amazing day. We started at the Habawadera Turtle Hatchery. They are a conservation project that has been going for nearly 30 years. They have a few older turtles, most of whom are missing limbs and wouldn’t survive in the wild, but their focus is on the eggs that they protect until hatched. At a day old they are escorted to the water hopefully to return in 30 years to lay their own eggs. We then hired a Tuk-tuk to take us to the Handunugoda tea plantation. A tour of the estate was followed by a tasting including their proprietary ‘White tip’ tea originally picked in China using golden scissors and bowls. The Tuk-tuk driver then took us to Koggala Lake where we hired a motor boat to visit Cinnamon Island – guess what we saw them make there! Also bird island where we spied the crocodile basking on the beach in the shade of the mangroves. We did get bitten shortly after but by fish- the type that for a while seemed to be in every shopping centre, having it done by the lake at least seemed more authentic! So much to experience in one day but there was a down side which left me disfigured. At the lake there is a herbal medicine garden and we were given a short tour. As the guide went around showing us the various plants and explaining their medicinal or cosmetic properties we came to one which is used to create a cream for hair removal. To prove it’s effectiveness he decided to use my leg as an example, the result being I now have a large bald area on the front of my left shin! Still could have been worse at least it wasn’t the crocodile that got me!