Yala National Park

We are heading to Yala National Park here. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there. Terry woke up with a sour stomach, but he ended up taking some magic potion that our driver stopped to get along the side of the road and he felt better an hour or two later. Little sketchy but all worked out ok. We have learned that it is always an adventure in Sri Lanka…you never know what will happen!

First stop…elephant ride! I know…little crazy because we rode the elephant bareback but how could we NOT ride an elephant. We did have to pay Miles to get up there…he was a bit unsure. There was no way Ayla was getting up there and Terry had some stomach issues so he declined as well. Sue thought about it and Vern was a no.

There is our guy!

Wow…it was a big animal.

Little tough to hold on to with only a rope…crazy!

off for a little walk

We even got to feed the elephant bananas on our walk. 

Little lunch before our Yala Safari…

Grandma and Ayla

Miles loved spending time with Grandpa!

Our bill was 8283 rupees…converting money is always fun!

Our Safari Jeep driver met us at this restaurant and then we traveled about 30 minutes to get into Yala. It had stadium type seats…the kids thought it was soooo cool! It was pretty fun…weather was literally perfect.

Miles pumped for our adventure!

Sri Lankans having an afternoon bathing session. Not sure I would bath in there but they sure loved it. You can also see the kid high in the tree…he jumped right off! Pretty eye opening experience.

You can see that they put a ton of people in these cars. The back of that truck had about 10-15 people in there. They pack 'em in! 

This is our driver…I really am not even going to try and type his name. Super great guy and did a great job driving us around all week. He spoke a little bit of english, but we managed to communicate fine. He even got to go on the safari with us. He rode inside the car with the safari driver. 

Here we go!

Oh wait…here we go!

Wait…another quick shot…clearly we can't get enough! ha! We did see a monkey waiting right here…but that was the only monkey we saw in the park. The rest we saw from our villa.

Yala National Park

We saw a few elephants, but this little guy we saw the closest. So cool to see an elephant in the wild!

The rock in the middle of the picture is called Elephant Rock…hard to see but it really did look like an elephant. So beautiful!

our safari kids

enjoying the ride

beautiful sunset

It is hard to see the animals in these pictures but we did see quite a few…warthog, elephant, alligators, peacocks, lizards big and small, lots of birds and various types of deer. Pretty cool day!

Sri Lanka…beach, sunsets and Christmas

One day we headed to Marissa Bay Beach. It has a great beach and is very chill. Restaurants and bars along the beach. A good amount of people…so many different languages being spoken. People from around the world.

Miles and Ayla were't too sure about the bigger waves this time around. The next time we came they couldn't get enough! 

Beers on the beach…perfect!!

Grandpa and Miles playing on the beach.

Amazing sunset from our villa...

Christmas Day and Santa found us! Kids were a bit worried about it but it all worked out well. Santa even brought that green tree…he is awesome, huh? It actually rained on Christmas Day which was fine and relaxing. We also had a ham dinner delivered from a local restaurant. It was delicious…especially since we can't have pork in Saudi. Also wine with dinner…another thing we can't do in Saudi!

Ayla swimming in the rain.

Rosie with a little sun burn. Daddy did sunscreen on this day and the last day Daddy does sunscreen!

Kumara…our villa for the week

Well with a bit of confusion we found Kumara. I think Sue was about to lose it with Terry…she was a little worried it was going to be ghetto. It ended up being the farthest thing away from ghette…thank goodness. We were treated like kings and queens all week. It truly was an amazing place…one of my favorite places I have ever visited. Even had a little Christmas tree for us.

Pictures of Kumara…this was our hang out area. It had two bathrooms in this area, two outside showers and a little kitchen area. Along with an amazing infinity pool, wrap around porch and an amazing view of monkeys playing in the trees some mornings. We all loved this place! The kids said they loved this place soooo many times. Clearly they had a good time…as pictures will show you!

Infinity pool

Sun soaking lounge chairs

There was an enormous bed in that room. We could all fit on there…so comfortable. 

bar area

We had some incredible meals at this table. 

some cool statues

1 of 2 outside showers

our pool

part of the 5 acres and our walk to the bedrooms

entry to our room

sitting area of our room

our room

outside bed

our bedroom and we had a twin bed for the kids in each room

Our outside shower…the kids LOVED this! They thought it was so cool…so did we!

Sue and Vern's room

Sue and Vern's patio area and their outside shower.

Sue and Vern's bedroom

art

bathroom

indoor shower

cool statue in garden area

Our villa included a chef and 2 housekeepers. Kelum and his crew were amazing. They made everything perfect everyday. We chose what we wanted off the menu and they prepared it. It was a rough week I tell you! ha!

our first breakfast

Coconut cut to look like a fish…fresh coconut water every morning. The fruit was so good as well. We had a fresh fruit smoothy every morning. It was a great way to start the day.

Miles enjoying life!

Daddy and Miles

Rosie our little fish

Our little family feeling very lucky! What a view!