Tissamaharama (“Tissa” for short) was our base while we were visiting Yala, Bundala and Udawalawe National Parks. We stayed at the SunSinda Hotel, which was QUITE lovely! http://www.sunshinelk.com/Sunsinda.html Tissa is a lovely little town in its own right, with several historic dagobas (Buddhist shrines), a beautiful 2,000 year-old man-made lake, and very friendly inhabitants. There is also an excellent restaurant there called Refresh, where we had some fabulous grilled fish, fresh from the boat.
We ended up in Tissa after a night by the beach in Mirissa. We had intended to stay in Mirissa longer, but were driven away by the all-night disco music on the beach. It was a shame, as our cabana was lovely, but when you can hear booming music through earplugs at 3 am, it ain't exactly a restful vacation (unless perhaps you're young and drunk and dancing in a sarong!)
So we fled the beach and headed inland on a very bumpy three-hour bus ride. I comforted myself with vadais, deep-fried lentil treats that were savoury and good, sold by vendors who jump on and off the buses at the various stops. And hey, the bus ride was CHEAP. It was something like $1.50 for three hours of bone-shaking, but some good fun and interaction with the locals. It's smart to sit at the back of the bus. The rougher ride on your butt is compensated for by the fact that you can't see how close to death you are every time the bus driver passes someone. We're fairly used to the style of driving seen in Sri Lanka and other Asian and Southeast Asian countries, but if you're new to it, you may need to be changing your underpants enroute.
So, on to SunSinda. We had breakfast and supper included in our room price, and the food was good. The national tourist breakfast of Sri Lanka is standard: eggs (any style, but I can only tolerate scrambled. Gordon had fried); precisely eight pieces of cold, under-done, very square, white-bread toast; jam and margarine; tea and coffee; and varying degrees of fruit (my favourite part.) We usually had any or all of bananas, papayas and pineapples each morning. Heaven! However, by day eleven we could not face one more egg, so we tried the typical Sri Lankan breakfast: curry (in our case, potato curry), string hoppers (noodle nests) and coconut sambol (coconut, chilies, onions... use as a condiment). Our tastebuds danced in gratitude as we released them from the tyranny of bland toast and eggs. The Sri Lankan breakfast was waaaaay better than the anemic tourist breakfast.
But the best thing about Tissamaharama was our fantastic safari guide, Jayantha (mobile # is 0777-073813, or you can also call his Mom's house at 04722 - 37603). We can't say enough about Jayantha, as a wildlife guide and as a person. He has over twenty years experience as a guide, and his eyesight would put an eagle to shame. Jayantha is fairly quiet and unassuming, but he knows his wildlife like the back of his hand. We had only intended to spend one day with him, but instead we spent three (and later met up with him in Ella to attend a wedding reception!) If you are going to any of the national parks near Tissa, call this man. You won't be disappointed. He is very respectful of the creatures in the park. Just don't be like idiot Italian tourists he recently took on safari, who leapt out of Jayantha's jeep when they saw elephants! That was evidently one of the few times Jayantha has had to yell at his clients. Elephants are wonderful, but they are wild, and besides, you are supposed to keep your butt IN THE JEEP at all times in the parks.
On our visits to the parks, we saw over 60 bird species, elephants, mugger crocodiles galore, monitor lizards, mongoose, jackals, fruit bats, wild boar, wild buffalo, a wild cat, Star tortoises, grey langur monkeys, tocque macaques, an elk, rabbits and three leopards. THREE! Which is incredible, as usually Jayantha sees one or two a week. On the day we were looking, he found three for us. What a guide!
Enough yammering ! Time for some photos.
