We left at 10am , our last road trip in Sri Lanka!
Our first stop was on the outskirts of Puttalam to visit a community known as “Ceylon Africans”. They are the descendants of slaves from Mozambique and Tanzania in Africa, brought to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese, and kept in slavery by the Dutch and British until 1817. They are known collectively as the Kaffirs, they dress in bright colours and are very friendly with huge genuine smiles. Until recent years the Kaffirs have remained a small community of about 500 in this area and have mostly kept marriages etc within the community, but modern times have seen the younger generation begin to form relationships outside the ancestral community. At the end of the 19th century there were about 6000 Kaffirs spread out in Puttalam and the east coast near Trincomalee. We met an extended family, four generations of the most happy people you could ever interact with. They performed three traditional and very entertaining songs and dances. We worked out that Deb and I were about the same age as a few of the, it was a source of great laughs as we compared how grey I was compared to a man 10 years my senior. We had a great time with them, and had hugs with all of them before we left.
We continued on towards Negombo, and stopped to have a look at a bustling local market. I don’t think they get many white skinned people in the market, we were definitely the odd ones out, but we had great smiles and a few laughs with many of the stall holders. The market sold fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fish, clothing and all other things. It was a great final stop. We got to our hotel in Negombo around 2pm, checked in and sorted out our bags for the next leg of our adventure, the Maldives.
#retiredlyf done our way.
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