Getting off the hamster wheel

Whilst we we're driving out of Yala, I knew how much Donna was hoping to see elephants and leopards. Then as if by magic this lone male just appeared, he came out of the bush on our left and crossed the road. Whilst he was enjoying his breakfast of long grass, small branches, twigs and leaves, he hung out with us for half an hour.  To see a wild elephant is a very special time and it was the most rewarding moment for me, when I saw my lady's face and tears. Words cannot convey, so here's a couple of pix! I know I've said it so many times but Sri Lanka is truly beautiful and we would both be content to spend months exploring the island and it's secrets. However from the little bit that we did see, without any hesitation, Yala is the stand out  place. It wasn't just the animals....... the place is incredibly beautiful with diverse landscapes and amazing vistas. Being a pristine, uninhabited national park with

Don't concern yourselves with our welfare, we are currently holed up in a very comfortable, well built hotel in Negombo, an hour north of Columbo and just twenty minutes from the airport. Though we haven't heard any planes landing so far today. As you will have gathered from our previous blog, we are going a bit stir crazy. However can I reiterate, we are absolutely fine and very comfortable. Were not even sure if you will get wind of this on UK news, but we wrote it just in case and just to assure you, that everything is OK with us. Actually the rain has stopped and the trees are still but it's overcast. Around here everything appears to be going on as usual. Anyway after a horrendous night of heavy rain and high winds, we checked on local TV to see whats happening. So our understanding is that t here is an extreme weather warning in place. So far there have been several deaths on land. There are houses that have lost their roofs, trees down, land slides and flooding is

How do we pass the time on the road?  What do you do when rain hasn't stopped for day's and Donna is fed up of playing Kandy Krunch (that's the Sri Lankan version).  When you don't have a TV, a pack of cards or a scooby doo what to do next.  When two people spend every moment of everyday together. When you just laugh together and you've kicked off the constraints of social conformity and    are left to your own devices for too long. With a hundred years of experience, we are blessed with wisdom and naughtiness in equal measures. Life should begin and end with elasticated waist bands, the bit in the middle is for love, laughter and belly fart's. We may be in our fifty's but really were just kids with arthritis. So to celebrate our new status we did this!!! OMG.......... We really are happy just being daft,  hope we made you laugh too : )

Ella is in the hills of central Sri Lanka and where we stayed for a couple of nights after Yala. On reflection we should have stayed longer as it's a lovely little village with just a couple of streets set on a plateau between some peaks. It's at about 1100 meters, so thats around the summit of Snowden in old money. Right look up, no don't look right or the quick way down!  On the road up, we were constantly climbing for about ninety minutes.  On our way, these are the Ramana falls  The view from our hotel room looking at another peak  You can see the tea terraces, looking down from our room.  On the climb up, please note number 1 assistant and sherpa is carrying the camera bag and our kit, whilst I'm happily snapping away : ) The ubiquitous Buddha atop "Little Adams Peak.   The view east from Little Adams Peak at around 1400 mts (guestimated) somewhere near the top of  Ben Nevis.  The exertion had us back in teeshirts