June 19, 

We woke early – six AM! We got out and about by 630, because we are going to another island, Delft Island. It takes us back along the same roads and land bridges as yesterday. We park CB in the same parking area, I think close to the same spot even. We stop at the same place and got breakfast, but more. We ate at the ferry departure area. It's 0730 we ate our yogurt, two savory doughnuts, and chicken fried roll. (It was a lot of fried stuff, but sometimes you eat what you can get.) At 0745, we are loaded down into the hull of boat. Now the differences:  it is a naval sponsored ferry to Delft—it's free; and the boat ride is a lot longer and way more rocky and rollie!! We are actually on board for an hour and a half. It is again hot inside. Well, remember fried food… it did not fair well with Jeff. The small boat does technically cross a spance of ocean and it feels like it.

We arrive on Delft Island at 0930. It is nice to get fresh air! As we walk down this jetty pier, we are met by entrepreneurs, all wanting to take us on a day tour of Delft sites. One guy was more tenacious and won Jeff over.  It is a bit pricey, for Sri Lankan fares, but “it is a big island,” Ajan states. He charges 6,000 Rupees ($19.66).He told we needed to check-in/register. Why?? Questions. They even took down Jeff's passport info. Anyway, we load up into Ajan's tuk-tuk and away we go. We did make a quick stop at a restaurant. It was a toilet stop and Jeff bought some crackers to get some food since he lost his breakfast on the boat. 

First stop of the tour is White Beach. It is actually a nice white sand beach, deserted and hot. We took a couple of photos, but did not stay here long due to the heat. There are a few working fishing boats down the beach from us, a few stray dogs, but no people to be seen. I decided they were smart. We loaded back up into the tuk-tuk.

Ajan's family is Sri Lankan, but they left to India by boat during the Sri Lankan Civil War. He was born in India and schooled there, but came back to Sri Lanka five years ago. Anyway, we arrive at our next stop, the King's Palace. It is crumbling ruins, but great to see how they incorporated some big coral pieces of reef in the walls. Our package deal includes all the sites here in Delft, so we move on in the tuk-tuk.

Next, we are taken to an old Dutch hospital then became a British administration center. one building still bears a British emblem with the year 1905.  On the same premises, a stout pigeon house or cote sits abandoned. It used to house messenger pigeons from the Dutch times. It has 80 holes for pigeon homes! The walls here are made with the same big coral pieces and a placard says they are mixed with limestone. It makes for long-lasting, strengthened walls and have their own beauty! We noticed the Sri Lankans repurpose stuff. They use palm tree fronds as fence posts. With the leaf still attached it adds some decorative touch. Anyway, we move on to the next.

Now, we are taken to the Giant Footprint site. It was a “gawker,” but locals believe it to be a footprint of a god. So, well, humm… We walk from this site to the next just a short distance away, to the Horse Stables. It is an 800 meter long stable. Huge. Delft has wild horses, as they are ancestors of the ones from Portuguese, Dutch and British times. One such horse is close by, but Ajan thought it was tied up, so probably not so wild. But, maybe its great-great… great grandpa/grandma was stabled here. Fun to think about. We have seen a few for sure wild horses from a distance. Back to the tuk-tuk and to another site. Somewhere here we passed through some shops. Ajan said his wife owns, “That shop and has lots of cute things.” When we didn't bite he moved on.

We came to a 300 yr old spreading Banyan Tree. It is right beside an quaint little Hindu Temple that seems abandoned. The tree spreads over a very large area and the mother root/trunk is unknown. We walked around under its branches that shoot-down and become roots. It is easy to see why the “mother root” – as Ajan calls it – is not identifiable. The shade it provided was a welcomed respite. I will interject here, Ajan has said many times that this side, the east, does not have fresh water. It is only on the west side. This makes me wonder about this Banyan Tree… Questions?? We hopped back into the tuk-tuk and moved on.

As we were going to the next place, it hit me. I haven't seen any monkeys. I asked Ajan. He replied, “No monkeys!” Huh? Well it is an island. Anyway, the road we are traveling now is by the ocean, and very rough. We saw many birds in this stretch: some lapwings; some small ones with white underbellies; a few medium-sized tan ones with red stripe on the top of its head; some medium-sized brown ones with yellow mask; and then the best, a few bigger (crow size) brilliant blue ones – these glistened and reflected in the sun (Ajan did not know his birds, at least the English names.) Then we arrived at the Queen's tower. It is an ancient precursor of a lighthouse. A fire was lit at the bottom and the wind carried smoke or the flame up a very narrow shoot and could be seen from the water. We loaded up and transverse the rough road back to the main one and on to the next and last site.

Now we arrived at the Baobab tree. It is a relative to species in Ethiopia and believed to have been brought by the Arabs in the 16th century. The middle of the tree is hollow with a big opening at the base. Jeff and I went inside. You can see up a number of feet above your head, a pretty cavernous opening. It is a grand, old tree. There were some sketchy but free and available toilets here that we took advantage of. Now we load back into Ajan's tuk-tuk and he takes us to the restaurant where were at this morning, Kathir Restaurant. Jeff paid him and our tour ends. Ajan said he had been the manager at this restaurant. We ordered lunch which was seven pieces of roti, a dish of Dahl with potato wedges, and a 7Up each – it was 400 Rupees ($1.31)! 

We finished and hung out awhile as we have two hours until the ferry is scheduled to leave at 1500. We finally left around 1400. We decided to walk the beach close by here. We found a working beach, lots of fishing boats. But we also found lots of shells! I'm in my wheelhouse here. We found some really great ones in only 10 minutes of walking!! Jeff held them in his hand and I took a picture or two, well four. Anyway, this was all we could manage as the sun is just so intense.

We meandered back to ferry and did a reversal of this morning back to CB (except the water was more agreeable and smoother). Unloaded from the boat, when the wind picked up a couple of notches!! Thankfully we were on land! We got to our car, paid the attendant the same as yesterday… Back at our place, we unloaded. Jeff went and got our supper, more chicken (right amount this time and the man refunded Jeff from yesterday.)

After we ate, I had to get caught up on blogging.  But what a blessed day!!