We arrived in Galle Sri Lanka on March 4th 2000. Galle is a city on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. It’s known for Galle Fort, the fortified old city founded by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century. Beautiful stone sea walls surround ancient walking streets with architecture reflecting Portuguese, Dutch and British rule. The “marina” is a different story. Its simply a small concrete pen within the Navy base and the surge has a reputation for destroying fenders and morning lines.

Our friends aboard SV Purnama and SV Waterhorse were there to catch our lines and show us around and we enjoyed several days of beach surfing, touring and trying the local food. We even caught up with an old high school friend, Jeremy, who lives in the area which was a treat!

We left the boat overnight and drive up to the jungle area to experience our first ‘safari’. Sri Lankan tourism is still in its infancy which makes it an authentic experience but the downside is that tit can also be a bit rustic and underdeveloped and you never know quite what you are going to get. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time.

We didn’t spend much more time in Sri Lanka. Countries were starting to close their borders due to Covid and we wanted to make sure we made it to the Maldives. (In hindsight this was a good decision as friends of ours who arrived in Sri Lanka a few days later ended up getting stuck there for a year)