Day 10: R and R

A beautiful day dawned in Sri Lanka but, as it was a rest day, the boys missed it. The first we saw of them was at 9am for a team meeting. They were all bleary eyed and dishevelled as they had come straight from bed. The first order of the day was then breakfast and a swim. Warm water and good waves made for good body surfing until 10:45.
At 11 we all headed to the Turtle hatchery where we learned about the 5 different types of turtles in Sri Lanka, the programs to help maintain numbers in the wild and the dangers affecting turtle populations around the globe. We all got to handle 3 day old turtles as well as some older ones. It was a great experience for all as we realised the impact of humans on sea life.

From here it was back to the hotel and lunch, consisting of the smallest ham and cheese rolls ever seen. Most boys had to supplement their rolls with fruit and a la carte or buffet lunches. We then had two hours to swim, relax or watch the one dayer between Australia and India before our next outing.
At 3pm we headed out for a cruise on the Madu river. Primitive boats, the constant smell of diesel and life jackets with no flotation panels were the order of the day. We visited cinnamon island where we learned how cinnamon was made. Just about everyone bought cinnamon goodies for mummy, which is just as well, because the rumour goes that you cannot leave cinnamon island without buying something. A floating drinks stall was next on the agenda, where we purchased a coconut or a Coke. There was then more travelling around the river but, unfortunately, no monkeys or crocodiles were seen. In fact the only wildlife experienced was a bee eater and a kingfisher. Finally after one hour we returned to base.

Back to the hotel and time for a quick swim or relax before dinner. Another sumptuous feast followed by pool, the gym, TV or ping pong. It was good to have had some relaxation time in order to charge our batteries for the game tomorrow.