Today we visited a very foggy viewpoint and our first South African beach. The Knysna lagoon opens into the Indian Ocean at a passage flanked by two towering sandstone cliffs called The Heads. The East Head View Point is said to be one of the most iconic views on the Garden Route. I’m sure it…
Welcome to Knysna, South Africa
After three extremely long days of travel, we have finally arrived in Knysna, South Africa! Knysna (pronounced nize – nuh) sits along the Garden Route of the Western Cape of South Africa and is known as the “Jewel of the Garden Route”. The town is nestled around a lagoon that opens to the Indian Ocean,…
If You Delay One Flight: A Domino Effect Story
So far this year, we have been extremely fortunate with pretty seamless travel days. They may be long days, but they have gone smoothly. Well, our travel luck ran out as we got ready to leave Sri Lanka. What was supposed to be one long day of travel, turned into three. Have you ever read…
Sri Lanka Recap
Sri Lanka was a country we knew very little about before arriving and decided to visit mostly out of convenience. It was an easy stop over on our way to South Africa, and provided a culture we had yet to encounter. Although our experience here was difficult at times, I’m happy we came and I’m…
The Alexis Angle – Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is the ninth stop on our gap year, and the shortest. The beginning of living here was hard for many reasons: such as that the food here feels like it is always spicy, we have to wear bug spray any time we go out so that we don’t get Dengue fever, and our…
Schools Around the World – Sri Lanka
The Ministry of Education oversees the Sri Lankan public school system. We drove past several schools during our tuk-tuk tour, and they have the same open air concept we’ve seen in warm climates. We also saw a bus of what looked like early high school age students. They waved at us enthusiastically from the windows…
From Colombo to Galle: A Day Trip Exploring the Western Coast of Sri Lanka
Yesterday we took a road trip south to explore the western coast of Sri Lanka. Dave and I went back and forth for days about whether we wanted to do this tour. It would be a lot of time spent in a van, which didn’t sound great before the very long travel day we have…
Colombo by Tuk-Tuk: How Our Disaster Turned Into a Great Tour
For Field Trip Friday yesterday we decided to explore more of the city of Colombo. I had researched guided tours on Get Your Guide, but we decided to just piece together our own tour, focusing on the main things we wanted to see. I mapped out a route for us and our plan was to…
The Unglamorous Side of Adventure
I said in my last post that I was glad we are experiencing Sri Lanka. I think that statement still rings true, but my goodness this place feels hard. Our plan for Sri Lanka was originally walking on the beach and swimming with giant sea turtles. Our reality is a very hot condo, a high…
Slowly Settling Into Sri Lanka
Our initial shock upon our arrival in Sri Lanka has faded a bit. We’ve all caught up on some much needed sleep, the ant population in our condo has decreased, and we are appreciating the raw beauty that is around us. This is our last stop before we head back toward Western cultures, so I…