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