Jetwing Yala, Sri Lanka

So, I finally get to post the rest of my holidays from Sri Lanka. My recent lack of posting to the blog is mostly because I have been having all sorts of trouble in downloading photos from my phone (as opposed to my camera). But yesterday I managed a humungous, albeit slow, download. So here are the rest of my shots from my January holiday in Sri Lanka with Luka, starting with the most unlikely of danger signs on the road into Yala - danger beware of peacocks!

SO we got twin beds in the hotel. Honestly this hotel is just so lovely

With a welcome set out in leaves and petals on our beds!

And a huge balcony with the best views in the hotel (the catch being it is the room on the end so the furthest from bar/restaurant)

Very cool reception area too

And first morning by the pool we found the monkeys out and about!

I think Luka liked the pool - warm and not exactly overcrowded!

And he made use of the swim up bar

These are the hotel rooms facing the pool. We were on the top floor further along.

And to Luka's delight, the bar had a pool table. But it has to be said it was not a great one. I mean a good pool table doesn't feature a slope. And the sides were so deep that a ball on the cushion was almost unplayable. But the worst part for the young pool hustler is that he lost heavily to me, night after night, a blow only slightly softened by the copious gin and tonics we downed (or possibly exacerbated!). Anyway, as Luka astutely observed later, the pool table formed the "third man" on our holiday - a social outlet for us every night. Because this hotel is out in the middle of nowhere next to National pars, there is not a lot of nightlife and "not a lot" is a euphemism for none at all.

One of my favourite parts of the rooms is the shower. It is actually open to the sky.

Apart from the pool, and the national park safaris of previous posts, the main other thing to do is wander along the vast empty beach, backed by sand dunes.

I retired to the beach bar and left Luka to take a swim, against the heavy surf - he is a much better swimmer than I am. I stuck to the swimming pool

But he too retired to the pleasures of the cold beer. Beer doesn't stay cold for long in 30C heat - a temperature that was pretty consistent every day for our break.

Oh and another feature of the hotel - cattle grazing on the hotel lawn

Yes this is a turtle breeding area too

One way of keeping cool.

A dead snake

We just had to do one sunset by the beach bar

We also had, as part of our package, one night time dinner on the dunes.

With a smart menu

It was pretty good meal!

There is something nice about walking along a sandy beach which is pristine apart from your own footprints.

With the hotel bathroom being open to the elements we did get the occasional unexpected visitor, like this gecko on the ceiling

And this frog on the wall

And night time elephant in the hotel grounds

The hotel restaurant

Some phone snaps from our bird safari - the better close up photos are in the separate entry

The jeep home had to compete with the cattle

Someone getting used to life by the pool😀

And another unexpected visitor while I was relaxing by the pool - a rather large monitor lizard

And back in the hotel room - a frog in the toilet bowl!

Towards the end of the holiday Luka really went for it in the crashing surf!(Quality of photos not great as my phone's zoom really isn't up to much.)

Going back to the room one afternoon I found an invasion of monkeys

Being a teenager, Luka liked his bed

And on our last night we were summoned out of the bar to the hotel entrance to see another elephant. Here the safari comes to you (although thankfully not the leopards!)