Galle

As we headed west along the south coast of Sri Lanka, the dry thorny forest of Yala gradually changed to lush and wet tropical with palm fringed coves and bright green rice paddies.

Galle, occupied by the Portuguese in 1619, expanded by the Dutch from 1640 and further developed by the British from 1796, is home to the World Heritage Fort “Santa Cruz”.

We enjoyed our day’s cooking class with Karuna, starting at the Galle market to buy the ingredients and spices. She is a lively humorous woman and a great teacher.

Southern coast of Sri Lanka

A Temple on an island

Traditional south coast fishing boat

Stilt fishermen near Galle

5 of the world’s 7 species of turtle nest in the sands of southern Sri Lanka

Launching a fishing boat

Fresh fish straight off the boat

Sunday afternoon at the beach – Galle

Galle Fort walls

Entrance to the Fort – Dutch 1668

The Fort is very quiet inside

One meat and three veg with rice is the standard lunch curry meal

Dutch Reformed Church, 1755

The old Dutch Market

Karuna explaining the banana flower curry recipe to Jeff

The chicken curry will be delicious

Cooking class end result