Day Eleven: Getting to know Koslanda.....and it's wildlife!

A day of leisure and exploration ...

Jan and I had been advised to wear leech socks if we were to wander around, as some recent rains had energised them apparently. The only pair of these glamourous socks that I saw in my room were too narrow to go up my calves so I did my best and off we went: not a wise decision in retrospect.....

We wandered around some of the property totalling eighty acres, located the infinity pool, climbed over a bridge above a babbling brook and stomped along a path with a lot of leaf litter - not a good choice.

When I returned to my room I stripped off and was horrified to see two fat leeches clinging to my calves.  After some shrieking and yelling Kerryn came to my rescue. She dashed to the office to find help but no one was there. Fortunately Sid appeared, grabbed the salt and headed in my direction. As they approached Kerryn yelled out to me that he was coming so I had a chance to put some clothes on. I couldn't risk him dying of shock at my nakedness before he solved the leech problem!

The leeches were easily removed by the salt and for the next couple of hours blood continued to run down my legs, despite my extensive supply of Bandaids. Not a painful experience but not a pleasurable one.

( And I still have some slight marks on my legs to remind me of my foolishness!!)

Breakfast was served in the open air restaurant: fresh fruit from the garden, eggs of any type and fabulous coffee from Johnson's sister's coffee plantation. 

The rest of the day was spent getting great massages, wallowing in the pool, admiring the mountain views from our verandahs, reading books, writing this blog and generally relaxing.

 Later in the day it was suggested we go for a walk with the naturalist Lockie, who's an environmental science graduate, to see if we could see any birds or wildlife .Apparently there are about 85 species of birds in the area, some of them rare, but we saw few as we were so noisy. Although we did see a couple of purple-faced leaf monkeys with slim long tails, and maybe a giant squirrel and of course, plenty of little jittery squirrels.

He equipped us with binoculars and this time I made sure I had the right-sized leech socks! We did look glamourous!

We were all well-equipped - insect repellent, sunscreen, proper walking shoes, hats etc - when Sid and Uduya turned up in their shorts and runners with no leech socks. I think it's called male risk-taking behaviour...

It was a great opportunity to get a good look at Living Heritage. We wandered past the cows ..which explained the fresh milk and curd, the veggie garden full of leafy greens (as the monkeys don't eat them), and a beautiful simple mud temple with some ancient phalluses out the front. The statue of the god inside had been on the property for many years

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Then we headed off in the direction of the waterfall but for some of us the rockhopping was challenging. Udaya and Sid were forced to help us negotiate some of the trickier rocks: not sure that's in their job descriptions! 

We did reach the top of the waterfall but decided more rock hopping to get down to the bottom  (and back up again!) was not going to happen for us! 

On the way back Sid realised he did have a leech so he just plucked it off his foot and kept going, not quite the same reaction as mine earlier in the day.

After tramping around we needed some cool time in the pool. To reach it we followed Zoe up the hill using a different path than we had previously. This time it gave us a chance to see her treehouse 'room'. 

There are 5 treehouse 'rooms' perched high up in the treetops with lots of light and beautiful furnishings. Zoe loved the space as she said the birdcalls, the breeze moving the trees and the quiet in the night was wonderful.

Every night during our stay at seven pm.we assembled in the albalama - an open air gazebo with a traditional teak roof and architectural design with lots of comfortable benches and cushions perfect for chatting and relaxing.

Some fabulous pre-dinner fruit cocktails were served - a different fruit featured every night. My favourite cocktail was a soursop sour which had salt on the rim of the glass, a slice of charred lemon and a delicious fruit and gin mixture made with soursops.

Accompanied by some artistic and tasty snacks it was the perfect way to relax and reflect on the day.

Any time we were not on a mission to somewhere, we swam in the infinity pool overlooking the mountains or used any of the comfortable couches to read and reflect, or write blog posts in my case. It has a lovely ambience and it's very easy to relax when you're surrounded by nature and its sounds.

The meals were fabulous with lots of choice, and fascinating conversations with Lucy, Sid and others about all aspects of life in Sri Lanka.  

She has focused on employing and training local staff, who were delightful. Of the thirty people employed, a third are women and they work child-friendly hours. And she develops projects that she feels will contribute to life for the villagers. She runs a yearly event for local schools where the focus is on teaching sustainability and recycling. As in most Asian countries recycling and reducing plastic use is developing alongside a focus on organic gardening. A teak plantation has been established to compensate for the use of teak in the buildings and she has established a seed bank for plants endemic to the area. With participation in the PLANT project she has committed to leaving fifty five acres of her land to stay as jungle. A great deal of thought and a real vision for this place has developed over the last twenty years since she and her late husband bought the land in 2004.

Their process of development and the strong connection to both the local community and the environment is admirable. Every building has been sensitively-designed based on traditional architecture and local materials. The use of wood and the open air design are features, with lush gardens or tropical jungle to soften the lines of the buildings. There is no similarity to the appalling buildings  some of the huge Hotel chains erect, where many wonderful locations are spoilt by ill-suited buildings.

 It's clear that this place is very special - almost magical.

After a great day we returned to our rooms to sleep under fans and with all of the shutters and doors wide open to catch the breeze. Just the croak of frogs or clicking of crickets and cool mountain air - perfect for a good night's sleep.

your relaxed and cool correspondent 

Dianne