When we decided to visit Sri Lanka, it was with the primary purpose of visiting Upali Jayasekara, whom Cintra knew even before she started at University of Saskatchewan.We did not anticipate the richness of the island in so many ways, including conservation of the significant elephant population.
We also did not know that Sri Lanka is the world's largest exporter of cinnamon and that Upali has one of the major cinnamon plantations on the island. What we have known for years is that cinnamon is Cintra's favorite spice. She loves it so much she once considered naming her first daughter "cinnamon."
That should give an idea how important this visit to the plantation was to us.
The drive was about three hours, so we left home right after breakfast. As usual it was steamy hot, and worse because the car has to AC, among other things.
After a while we stopped for tea at a favorite spot for Upali. There we were introduced to the "happiest man alive," a parking security man with the most cheerful disposition and the loudest natural whistle.
The drive felt normal for the first half, and then we got close to the shore of southern Sri Lanka where the tsunami devastated 10 years ago. It was sad to see concrete pillars standing with no house on them, properties in shambles, empty lots where there used to be houses.
It is painful to imagine what it must have been like to have this massive and sudden tidal wave virtually erase the homes of these villagers. The solid construction generally survived, but the less sturdy homes of the poorer folk could not withstand the catastrophic force of the tsunami. You learn to put a flooded basement in Regina in perspective.
Sadly, many lives were lost and the lives of the survivors and the entire population were forever changed. This was their 9/11 and Katrina.
Our drive continued as we turned into a country road toward the plantation. We stopped at the home of the plantation foreman, parked and hopped into his three-wheeler, otherwise called an auto-rickshaw.
Cintra had ridden in a three-wheeler taxi in Chennai, but this was my first time.
We couldn't use Upali's car because of the narrow, muddy, unstable road into the plantation. The drive seemed even more adventurous when I found we were driving close to a river that is known to have the occasional crocodile. We did see two water monitors.
We drove through a field of cinnamon trees and finally made it to the plantation house. We found workers stripping cinnamon bark from the branches. It was an amazing experience to learn about the cutting of the trees, scraping the skin off the branch, rubbing the bark before cutting and removing the bark, drying and bundling the bark.
Before we left, one of the workers climbed a coconut tree using a rope, hand picked some coconuts, and another cut them for us to drink the water and then split them for us to enjoy the jelly.
We left and made a brief stop at another building where cinnamon leaves are used to make cinnamon oil. There is also a process in other plantations to use bark to make oil.
We both felt we couldn't be more fortunate to visit this plantation and even more privileged to know it is owned by a good friend who gave us a personal tour.
Knowing we had long drive back to Colombo, we took a few minutes to have an abbreviated visit to a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Galle, a few kilometres away.
This enormous fort was first built by the Portuguese in the 15th century, and further developed by the dutch in the 16th century and developed further by the British later. The result is a spectacular community, surrounded by giant stone fortress, offering diverse cultures, scenic environments near the ocean, and European architecture and roadways. The town is steeped in history and archeology and attracts thousands of visitors.
Our limited time did not allow us to explore Galle; however it was an experience of a lifetime just to have an overview. If you have a chance, please check it on the internet.
Now that pretty well wraps up our tour of Sri Lanka, the cinnamon capital of the world, among other distinctions. Next we return to India to spend a week with Ajit Murecken on his eco-tourist site of Econest in Vagamon, Kerala.
Thanks for coming along and Ayubowan from Sri Lanka.
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