January 2024
Dear Friends and Family,
A very happy new year to you all! Apologies for skipping last month's missive. We have discovered that it is so busy in December and January that anything outside of running the hotel and hosting our delightful guests seems to go out of the window.
I think I promised in the last newsletter that I would do an overview of Sri Lankan weather patterns. Well, having started I soon realised that it essentially requires a Masters in Tropical Metereology, and therefore remains work in progress. So here is a quick precis relevant for the next few months:
Despite December and January being peak season, all things considered, February, March and April are, in our humble opinion, the three absolute gems. The weather settles, the beaches clear and you rarely have to book at the restaurants. We are booked until the 4th February but we do have some good availability after that - visit our website https://www.tekandalodge.com for the availability calendar or email us direct if you are interested in coming to Tekanda Lodge.
A gentle debate......
For a married couple, a little past the first flush of our youth, Charlie and I tend to see eye to eye on most things. But there is one regular bone of contention guaranteed to get us snapping like a pair of Sri Lankan street dogs. When asked by guests, as we are on a daily basis, 'what is your favourite bar/restaurant'?, without hesitation I will always reply 'Ocean Palm!'* This will be challenged almost instantly by Charlie with a stream of incredulity, interspersed, I am sorry to report, with a fair few cuss words.
It is true, the proprietor of said establishment is, in contrast to the vast majority of his compatriots, somewhat of a trickster. If Chaminda* can over-charge, short-change, short-cut, free-load or under-deliver, he will. Save knocking me out with a King Coconut and taking my wallet - there is no other way I haven't been robbed by Chaminda. We always greet each other like old friends. There are hugs and twinkly-eyed smiles; aged Amma and Tata (mother and father) are dragged out to pay their respects to 'Mr Richard'; his children are cuffed around the ear until they spill out their stumbling English; but we both know the encounter will end in the same way it always does. Chaminda will be richer, I will be poorer, and Charlie will be slowly shaking her head in resignation at my child-like naivety.
'Ocean Palm' is built from driftwood on our stunning local beach. No part of it is safe. I have lost two guests down the makeshift staircase and one nearly electrocuted himself trying to switch on a fan. You can wait anything between 1 and 2 hours for food - rarely what you ordered and always quadruple the quantity asked to ensure the bill can be equally oversized. There is no wine, no cocktails, limited soft drinks and I am told the 'loo' is like the engine room of a sinking ship, in which you stand ankle deep in dirty black water sloshing from side to side.
But!.. But!... when you are sat at his makeshift tables, drenched in the warm rays of the setting sun and looking out an Indian Ocean turning crimson; and your cold Lion is gently bubbling in its ice crusted glass; and you are surrounded by smiling friends and family recounting the adventures of the day whilst watching the surfers carve the final waves - there is simply nowhere else in the world I would rather be.
*names changed to avoid testing Sri Lankan libel law!
Death by doughnut....
You may recall the legendary episode of the Vicar of Dibley when Dawn French attends three consecutive Christmas lunches on the same day. Well, Charlie and I have just done a Sri Lankan equivalent. Despite the formal Buddhist new year being in April, the Sinhalese celebrate the calendar new year with a custom in which a pot of milk is boiled on an open fire until it curdles and then flows over the edge signifying purity and good fortune for the year to come. So when we were kindly invited to three separate ceremonies on New Year's Day - we discussed the logistics and reckoned we could cover all three. We would begin early with our Estate ladies down at the tea shed, head to the village for the Tuk Tuk drivers mid morning, and finish off with a final milk boil before lunch at Gamatha Athak with the staff and some of the local attendees of the empowerment centre (https://www.tekandalodge.com/foundation).
We had been well briefed on the milk part, but what no one had mentioned was that this is followed by the unveiling of a vast selection of local fare and invited special guests are expected to avail themselves whilst everyone else watches! To make matters worse this isn't done buffet style. Rather, the designated host fills up a large plate from the mountains of heavy carb dishes whilst the individual person responsible for preparing each dish watches hawk-eyed until their offering is eaten.
It might have taken us nearly a week to digest the tonnage of kiri bath (milk rice), cinnamon cakes, fish rolls, sugar pancakes and a host of other dough-like creations, but we'll remember the joy and privilege of being part of these wonderful occasions for much longer.
We wish you all the best for 2024 and hope that we will have the chance to catch up with many of you in the not too distant future.
Richard and Charlie