Serendib - March 2012

I dette nummeret

Mount Sri Pada stands upright like a sentinel of the sacred watching over Sri Lanka. Visible from as far as the capital city Colombo on a clear day, this mesmerising conical mountain sends out an irresistible call, beckoning the nation to its bosom to restore spirit.

Outside the Royal Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya, life bustles along the roadway leading into Kandy City. Vendors call out to throngs of hurrying pedestrians and vehicles plying the road honk noisily. To walk through the gates of the Gardens however, is to leave behind the jarring din and be enveloped by beautifully manicured grounds, bird sounds and soft breezes.

Of all the structures, the most prominent is the Matara Fort, considered as the second most important fort for the Southern Maritime Provinces during the Dutch rule of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is infused with the heady scent of spices that grow abundantly on her shores, none of which are stronger and sweeter than the pale brown parchment quills of the inner bark of cinnamon, one of the island’s oldest and historically important exports.

They are giant quadrupeds with four short splayed legs, long, powerful tails, a scaly hide with rows of ossified scutes running down their back and tail, and their powerful jaws are the greatest adaptation of an apex predator – Crocodiles – the Island’s largest reptile.