It is quite a distance. We fly about 6 hours to Doha in Qatar and then another 5 hours from there to Colombo in Sri Lanka. At least the transfer time in Doha was just 1.5 hours.

A Boeing 777 is a huge aircraft

We cross the Balkan area. The city is somewhere in Romania.

It is extremely foggy in Doha. I cannot even see the terminal building.

Wir have passed India and leave it at the South Eastern coast

Arrival. We are in Sri Lanka and touch down in Colombo.

Upon arrival in the hotel I see my dad on a sunbed at the pool.

We see a marvelous sunset in the evening.

There are the usual little critters ...

... and some curious birds

There is everything one could wish for for Christmas Eve in the hotel. Decoration is excessive and the buffet quite nice.

Christmas decoration

Christmas Tree

Santa Claus comes riding an elephant

The sweets department

Our first tour brings us to Mirissa in the very South of the Island. We want to see the extremely rare blue whales. Afterwards we will visit a sea turtle nursery. We have to go 4 hours and get picked up at the hotel at 3.30 am.

First the fishing port of Mirissa. It is super busy when we arrive. The fishermen sell their catch.

Small Tunas

Many Tunas

Our Boat is ready

We leave the busy port

Some miles off the coast we are not alone. there are many others interested in whale watching.

And the whales show up.

Tired on the way back

We see the 150 Million Dollar Yacht Amevi of the Indian steel tycoon Mittal

We take the Tuk Tuk back to the car

Now sea turtles. There are some nurseries taking care of the animals

Nice animals

We are allowed to touch

Just hatched. They want to get into the sea

They are tiny yet. But they can become quite big and can have more than a ton of weight and a shell longer than 4 feet in length.

There are wild elephants in Sri Lanka. We go to a reserve to watch then. Again a 4 hours drive in the very morning.

On our way we watch the traffic. Busses are the fastest here

Motorbikes are the slowest here and get even overtaken by Tuk Tuks. All wear helmets and there is a license plate in the front.

Arrival

We can start our safari

Soon we see the first elephant ...

... and get quite close

The next one is much bigger and we keep a distance

There are other animals to watch

Water buffalo

Stork

A little bird

More Elephants

A herd with baby elephants

A Chameleon

Scenic View

Water Buffalo and Elephant

Turtle

An eagle

Club Hotel Dolphin is a very conveniant and comfortable Hotel at the Western coast North of Colombo. The rooms are generous, the food is very good and versatile and it has the local touch to it.

A cooled room just for the sweets

Show cooking

Five choices of Curry

Of course I did some flights. This is a view from the beach

Aerial views

The pictures for this panorama were taken in the very morning when no other guests were around

Boats on the water

The beach

For New Year's Eve there was a dinner outside at the pool and a band played all the time.

Preparations

View from above to the party

This time I fly over the day and can see something. I get picked up at 6 a.m. though the flight is at 10.50 a.m.

We turn into the runway

Leaving Sri Lanka

We reach India North of Thootukhudi

Idamalayar reservoir

We leave India at the mouth of river Bhararathappuzha

We reach Oman

Wadi Bani Khalid

Muscat and its big airport

The Street of Hormuz is entry to the Persian Gulf

Doha within fog again

Bahrain