Making a trunk call to Sri Lanka

Prompted by her son’s love of elephants, and missing the adventure of her own backpacking days, Pippa Crerar took her family to Sri Lanka
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14 March 2012

It was the elephants that finally did it. Our toddler had been banging on about seeing them for months and a trip to London Zoo was not going to satisfy him.

My husband and I, once keen backpackers, had been hankering after a bit of adventure. The joys of family holidays to Wales were wearing thin, and we had extra baggage in the form of Archie, almost three, and Jack, five months.

Thailand was crossed off the list for not being challenging enough. India seemed too demanding.

We needed somewhere seductive but safe, where there was plenty for us all to see and do but minimal risk of getting sick or putting them in danger. So my son’s obsession with elephants steered us towards Sri Lanka.

Our days of turning up in an exciting foreign city armed with just a Lonely Planet were long gone. So we came up with a plan: keep travel to a minimum; don’t pack too much into one day; splash out as much as we could afford on accommodation.

We found an excellent tour operator — Travel Gallery in Kensington — with knowledge of the country and chose a direct night flight. A sound idea in principle but our grumpy toddler couldn’t get comfortable and spent most of the night slumped across my husband.

We also failed to factor in a recovery day to get used to the climate and catch up on sleep.

Fortunately life quickly improved. Our wonderful driver/guide, Hiran, was happy to accommodate roadside loo stops, supermarket sweeps and Archie’s incessant questions.

Small kids don’t travel light so public transport was never really an option, though we could have left our car seats at home as it turned out the tour company, Jetwing Tours, provided them.

Our first stop was the cultural triangle. Our family-friendly hotel, the Sigiriya Village, was a cluster of bungalows in lush gardens with monkeys in the trees and a swimming pool.

Sigiriya rock, a spectacular citadel that rises 200 metres out of the surrounding plain, is a 45-minute climb up a steep staircase but worth the effort for the views from the top. We carried the boys in slings and started early to avoid the crowds and searing heat.

The great ruined capital of Polonnaruwa, with its giant Buddha statues and remarkable religious buildings, had puddle splashing and monkey-watching for the kids too.

The triangle was completed by the Dambulla temples — five magical caves packed with Sinhalese Buddhist art. The boys munched on freshly cut mango under the huge golden Buddha.

We spent a lot of time in the car but long journeys passed with Jack dozing and Archie fascinated by animals — cows, monkeys and water “gruffalos”.

The Rosyth Estate bungalow at Kegalle, in the hills between Colombo and Kandy, has a magical setting surrounded by palms and bougainvillea, overlooking tea plantations.

For the first time we switched off — in part because we could pack the children off to bed and concentrate on the delicious Sri Lankan suppers: fish curry, rice hoppers and sweet puddings.

Also, the staff made us feel quite at home, playing with the children and even persuading Archie to try curry for breakfast. It was also where the boys finally got up close to elephants. Less than an hour’s drive away is the Pinnawalla Elephant orphanage.

Hiran took us to a hotel overlooking the river where we sat in the shade while 30 elephants splashed around. Then it was back to the orphanage to feed a baby elephant from a milk bottle.

Sri Lanka’s second city, Kandy, was also nearby. It is home to the Temple of the Tooth (probably more interesting for adults than children), with lush botanical gardens and a lively bazaar.

Another long journey up rather precipitous, overcrowded roads took us to Haputale in hill country, which provided welcome relief from the heat.

Here the imposing colonial-era Thotalagala bungalow (built for Scottish tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton) was full of character, if a bit damp.

We spent two happy days in and around Horton Plains nature reserve, wandering through the tea plantations. The area is known as Little England, which in November is true of the rain.

Ready for warmth, we headed for the five-star Fortress Hotel near Galle on the south coast for a bit of luxury. A couple of days was probably enough as top-end hotels are not such serene experiences with kids in tow, although the huge pool, turtle hatchery and sweeping beach were huge hits.

Other options are the gorgeous colonial-era Amangalla in Galle itself, where I had some much-needed “me time” at the spa with an ayurvedic massage while my husband took the boys for tuk tuk rides round the historic fort.

Some of our best meals out were in Galle — including curries at Amangalla — although for the most part we found the food cooked in catered bungalows more inspiring than restaurants trying to recreate Western dishes.

Flying back you can stay in bustling Colombo or, as we did, in nearby Negombo. After a night in the comfortable Jetwing Sea we headed home well rested rather than stressed out.

Our break was very different from backpacking trips of old and I missed tucking into street food, hours spent chatting about local politics or getting lost in backstreet bazaars.

But it also showed that children don’t have to mean an end to adventurous holidays. You just have to plan — and pick your destination carefully. Sri Lanka is cleaner and more efficient than some Asian neighbours, English is widely spoken and children are welcome.

Having them with us also made us look at Sri Lanka through their fascinated eyes. The land of the elephants charmed us all, and Archie still takes an uncuddly wooden elephant to bed every night.

DETAILS: SRI LANKA

Travel Gallery tailor-makes trips to Sri Lanka: 11 nights from £1,770 pp, with direct flights on Sri Lankan Airlines from Heathrow to Colombo, car and driver/guide, three nights B&B at Sigiriya Village, three nights at Rosyth Estate full-board, two nights at Thotalagala room only, one night B&B at the Fortress, one night room only at Amangalla and one at Jetwing Sea, B&B, imagesofsrilanka.co.uk. British travellers now require a visa, £38, eta.gov.lk

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