Hey all,
Welcome to the 5th installment of the mathus-____ series. It's been Africanus, Europus, Kuwaitus, and Japanus. Now, the 5th made-up word, Islandus. I have just moved to Guam, so this blog will be all about the island life and the adventures that follow. For now, let's start with a pre-post.
On my way to Guam, I made a not-so-along the way stop to Sri Lanka, the tear-drop country just south of India. A random opportunity to visit a random country was too good to pass up.
Travel buddy Zoey and I didn't have a lot of time, so we stuck to the southwest coast, which was the closest destination to the capital of Colombo (thanks to computer game "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego" for forever engraining that into my mind). Besides being home to some cool archeological sites, Sri Lanka specializes in what most islands specialize in: the ocean.
And, keeping things simple, because it's surrounded by water, Sri Lankans do a lot of fishing. But the way they fish is something I've never seen before. The locals have built long, permanent stilts stuck into the ocean floor, with a cross stick where the fisherman stands. Finally, there's a net on the top of the stilt where the fishermen place their catch. A low-cost way for a fisherman to have access to deeper ocean. Here's a short video if I haven't explained myself well.
Welcome to the 5th installment of the mathus-____ series. It's been Africanus, Europus, Kuwaitus, and Japanus. Now, the 5th made-up word, Islandus. I have just moved to Guam, so this blog will be all about the island life and the adventures that follow. For now, let's start with a pre-post.
On my way to Guam, I made a not-so-along the way stop to Sri Lanka, the tear-drop country just south of India. A random opportunity to visit a random country was too good to pass up. Travel buddy Zoey and I didn't have a lot of time, so we stuck to the southwest coast, which was the closest destination to the capital of Colombo (thanks to computer game "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego" for forever engraining that into my mind). Besides being home to some cool archeological sites, Sri Lanka specializes in what most islands specialize in: the ocean.
And, keeping things simple, because it's surrounded by water, Sri Lankans do a lot of fishing. But the way they fish is something I've never seen before. The locals have built long, permanent stilts stuck into the ocean floor, with a cross stick where the fisherman stands. Finally, there's a net on the top of the stilt where the fishermen place their catch. A low-cost way for a fisherman to have access to deeper ocean. Here's a short video if I haven't explained myself well.
Finally, no tropical island story is complete without some terrifying fauna. I was often up early, fighting jet lag, so one morning I decided to head out on a little run. The heat of the day hadn't set in, and my headphones provided a nice soundtrack to the townsfolk going about their morning routine. It was all islandy peaceful until I decided to take a short cut trail on my way back and almost ran smack dab into one of these guys right next to the path:
Holy Effing Crapola Batman! Seeing this big guy, called a Monitor Lizard--a cousin of the komodo dragon--mere inches away from my feet rocked me right out of my morning serenity. First I froze, hoping with all of my Jurassic Park knowledge that little Godzilla here is attracted by movement. Then, weighing my options, I decided to back out the way I came rather than move forward (thinking this guy's front is more dangerous than his back). Thankfully, as I slowly backed away, all I got was a lazy and annoyed swat of the tail. However, it begs mentioning that, according to our hotel manager, its tail, which was as long as its body, is so razor-sharp that it can cut a man's leg off. Hmmm. I fought the part of me that wanted to come back with my camera, so I guess we'll never know.
The trip ended with us crashing a birthday party that happened to be going on at our hotel on our last night. Zoey chased the little kids around and we danced with the partygoers to Shakira. Just your standard island night on Sri Lanka.
Fun Sri Lankan fact of the day: The Lipton Tea Company got its start in Sri Lanka, and there are still major tea plantations in the middle of Sri Lanka.
-More to come-
