March 2010

We’re getting very excited at how things are moving on with Jungle Tide. We’ve now had our first guests – three lots, in fact – with another booking in the summer and a couple of other possibilities. Our very first guests turned out to be “passing trade” looking for a nearby guest house. They stopped off to check out Jungle Tide having seen the roadside signs (naturally, we’re not in any guidebooks as yet) and liked it so much they decided to stay two nights. Since they turned out to be a couple of Austrian travel journalists this was a good start.

In addition, Red Dot (a Sri Lanka tour specialist) have taken Jungle Tide onto their books so we expect things to get busier from this year onwards – for those of you who know us though – book direct through us as they will be adding 15% to the prices we charge for booking direct.

Having had some bad luck with previous employees we now have, since last August, a couple jointly looking after the place. Martin and Rani are doing a brilliant job according to the feedback we’ve had from our project manager Nissanka and our guests. We can’t wait to meet them for the first time when we go out next week.

Instead of a desert or mudbath (depending on the season) the house is now surrounded by a lawn to two sides and a gravelled area in front of the main entrance. The leaking dam has been fixed and we’re going to have fun on our visit in April filling and planting containers and making flower beds. Inside, the bedrooms are all about to be completed with hand-made dressing tables and the kitchen will get a microwave and one or two other gadgets. We’ll also buy some more verandah furniture which will make bird watching and sunset admiring all the more enjoyable.

All our guests have given excellent feedback on their stays and on Rani’s cooking. Although we expect most people to want to self-cater she will, for a
small extra charge, cook excellent local curry and rice. The Kandy Perahera – the world’s biggest street parade involving about 100 amazingly draped elephants many of them lit up with fairy lights, hundreds of drummers, dancers, fire jugglers and whip crackers – takes place every night for a week in August. If anyone is interested – it’s difficult to find places to stay in Kandy and prices treble, but not out at Jungle Tide, which is only 45 minutes away from the city centre and an oasis of tranquility after the hustle, bustle and chaos of the city. So if that grabs you, or if you want to avoid a repeat of the hellish British winter we’ve just had and get out to the sun next winter, or you fancy seeing amazing birds and other wildlife or learning about other cultures and histories – get in touch!

Sally & Jerry