sri-lanka-13-full-pdf-ebook.pdf

̈ Turtle hatcheries (p 94 ) On the west

coast, these are popular.

̈ Unawatuna (p 115 ) Fringing reefs mean the

beach here is safe and shallow for little ones.

̈ Polonnaruwa (p206) Kids can literally run

themselves silly at the vast and car-free ancient

heritage sites such as this one, with its very cool

ruins.

̈ Three-wheelers (p316) Buzzing, blowing

and completely unlike a ride anyplace else,

these ubiquitous transport options are good for

a thrill.

̈ Hill Country Train Rides (p316) Kids will

love hanging out the doors of chugging trains

(and giving their parents heart attacks!).

Planning & Practicalities

̈ Sri Lankan hotels and guesthouses invariably

have triple and family rooms, plus extra beds

can be supplied on demand. Baby beds and

highchairs (in restaurants), however, are in short

supply.

̈ For very young children, the dilemma is

to bring either a backpack carrier or a pram/

stroller. If you can, bring both. Prams are tough

going on uneven or nonexistent footpaths, but

are worthwhile in Colombo and Kandy.

̈ Check if your hired car (with driver) has a

child’s seat. If not, you can get one in Colombo.

̈ Buy pharmaceutical supplies, imported baby

food and disposable nappies at Cargills Food

City and Keells supermarkets throughout the

countr y.

̈ Breastfeeding in public is accepted, but

parents will struggle with finding dedicated

baby-changing rooms. It’s not a major problem

as it’s acceptable for toddlers to be naked in

public.

̈ Rabies and animal-borne parasites are

present in Sri Lanka, so keep children away

from stray animals, including cats, dogs and

monkeys.

̈ Bring suncream and children’s mosquito

repellent with you; you won’t find it in Sri Lanka.

TRAVELLING WITH A TODDLER

We travelled with our 22-month-old son around the west and south coasts and the

Hill Country. I’d be lying if I said it was all plain sailing and a perfectly relaxing holi-

day! However, it was certainly rewarding; travelling with him was a real ice-breaker

with both local people and other tourists.

A few points to note: few places have baby beds. We knew this and came with our

own, but we met many other couples with young children who ended up sleeping in

the same bed as their toddler for the whole time. It was, in their words, ‘Not as ro-

mantic a holiday as we hoped!’ You should also bring an extra mosquito net as hotels

rarely have spares.

Always order your child’s meal well in advance, otherwise by the time the food

arrives they’ll be too tired to eat. Our son loved the food, but for children who don’t

then pasta is normally available in tourist areas.

Some people travel by public transport but we hired a car and driver for the dura-

tion, which had the added bonus of meaning we had a babysitter on hand!

Without any doubt it was easier to travel along the coast than the hills, where at-

tractions are more for adults. If you really want to make things easy for yourself then

just choose one beach, make a base and take day trips from there.

Nappies (diapers), even if they’re the same brand you use at home, don’t seem to

work as well and they rarely make it through the night. The size scale is also smaller,

so if you buy mediums at home you’ll need large in Sri Lanka.

Stuart Butler

PLAN YOUR TRIP

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