The urge to twitch.....
It begins as a mild interest. A cursory flick through the 'Birds of Sri Lanka' book kindly given to us by a family member when we opened Tekanda. And then before you know it, you are leaping around the Lodge, 'bins' swinging from your neck, madly waving your Merlin Birdsong App about like a demented Bill Oddy. Yes. We have become unashamed, passionate 'twitchers'. Admittedly, it would take a cold heart to ignore the scores of impossibly beautiful tropical birds diving, cruising, circling and jagging about as you sit on the Tekanda main deck in the soft morning light with a coffee. I am sorry, but in 52 years I have never seen a colour as vibrant as the golden feathered cloak of the Black Hooded Oriole. And neither the azure waters of an Indian Ocean Atoll nor the finest Sri Lankan Sapphire can match the burst of turquoise as the Indian Kingfisher sweeps from pool to palm to paddy. Until very recently, I thought the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in real-life was an Ian Bell cover drive but with all due respect to 'Belly', it looks positively ordinary when compared to a flock of brilliant white Greater Egrets lifting off from the Water Buffalo strewn Paddy Fields and silently rising into a golden tropical sunset. Once upon a time Charlie and I might be heard gently bickering about who was better at poaching eggs. Now nothing gets the competitive juices flowing like identifying a new avian visitor. 'Boom! I knew it! I knew it! It is the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater!

Photos above taken at Tekanda over the past few months showing Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, the Black-hooded Oriole, Painted Storks and Intermediate (Medium) Egrets.

July to October offers at Tekanda Lodge
As you will all remember from last month's ground-breaking weather chart, the Southern Province of Sri Lanka can enjoy some of its sunniest weather between mid-July and early September. Yes, the surfing is more limited with the prevailing winds flattening many of the breaks but otherwise almost every other element of a week at Tekanda is unchanged: stunning views, sensational food, wildlife, birdlife, yoga, beach cafes, restaurants, fishing, shopping in Galle, cricket is all there. We offer significant discounts on a number of the weeks between mid-July and November, so if you are just starting to think about the summer/autumn and want to lock in a week or two where you know it will be 28°C plus every day then do get in touch. We can help plan a trip that can cover not just a stay at Tekanda but also the best of the rest of the island. We are also booking up quickly for the peak weeks in December, January and February. So please do tell us now if you are considering a visit over this time - even if it is to pencil something in.

Sinhalese and Tamil New Year Celebrations
It's hard to overstate the Sri Lankan love of a celebration. But perhaps nothing quite matches the riotous exuberance of the Sinhalese and Tamil new year. Amidst a cacophony of fireworks, firecrackers and anything else that can be detonated with ear-drum bursting effect, this mid-April event is an absolute joy. The celebrations centre around traditional family orientated fun and Charlie and I recently spent an entire day at the Tekanda Foundation's Village Heartbeat Centre to join the festivities with over 300 of our students and their families. Think traditional English Village Fete without high-viz jackets or 16-year-old St John's Ambulance volunteers and, with not a beer tent in sight, no loafer-wearing teenagers stumbling about.

First up was the palm weaving competition. Ten of the older ladies sat cross-legged and were handed their huge palms. After a loud whistle blast and a blur of fingers and thumbs these extraordinary beautiful creations emerged. When our very own Tekanda Estate septuagenarian Pemawati was declared the winner I could barely contain my excitement. Next up was 'mark the eye on the elephant'. Identical in every sense to our tail on the donkey version except in Sri Lanka contestants are blindfolded like an SAS hostage and spun at an alarming speed before being set adrift with a marker pen. Nowhere is out of bounds and as the latest entry stumbles between thorn bushes and palm trees wildly prodding their pen into the air, there are howls of laughter from the wet-eyed audience. Game after game followed - a coconut grinding race, a 1km barefoot sprint around the village in 32c heat where several contestants finished with a dramatic collapse into their arms of cheering friends. There was a lime and spoon race, musical hats, guess the number of seeds in the papaya, on and on it went until, as the sun finally started to set in the golden hour before dark, families gathered their loved ones of every age and headed home, chuckling as they went over the highlights of a wonderful day.