Hi! Welcome back to Team Tala Travels! 

If you are reading this blog right now, then you will have a virtual trip with us to our very first adventure for 2024! We went to a river safari and a turtle farm!

Ok, so here it goes!

On the very first day of 2024, Team Tala Travels went on a Turtle Hatchery and Madu River Safari Adventure in Sri Lanka! Wait, does this mean that the whole year will be filled with exciting adventures for us? We hope so! 

We booked a guided tour in advance from Get Your Guide. This tour includes hotel pickups and dropoffs, a guided tour at Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation, and a guided tour at Madu River Safari. We paid a total of $150 for the whole trip. Kids aged 5 and below are not charged, so basically, you can compute that the entire adventure is $75 per person. 

Our driver picked us up from the Hibiscus Hotel at 9 in the morning. Our first destination will be at Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation, which is about 40 minutes away from our hotel. Since it was a holiday in Sri Lanka on the first of January, we were lucky that the traffic was not heavy. Otherwise, as explained by our driver, going to Kosgoda will take us about 1 and a half hours on the road. 

Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation

When we got to Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation, we were greeted by their resident guide. He explained to us everything that we needed to know about their turtle hatchery. He told us that every day, they buy turtle eggs from fishermen who see eggs buried in the sand every morning. Then, the people at the turtle hatchery wait for the baby turtles to hatch and take care of them until they are ready to be freed back to the ocean.

Interesting fact: Turtles lay their eggs in the sand at night and they bury these in vase-shaped holes that they dig using their hind flippers. They do not lay eggs during the day because birds might get them and eat them. 

Male turtles have long tails, while female turtles have short tails. 

There are many different kinds of turtles in Sri Lanka. One of the more common ones are the green turtles. They are called green turtles because of their herbivore nature, and the green color of their food gives them their green color. Most of the green turtles in the conservatory range from a week old to 8 months old. 

There are also 3-year-old turtles that are still kept in the conservatory because people hunt them in the ocean and eat them. 

Next, our guide showed us a Hawksbill Sea Turtle. They are named as such because of their narrow, pointed beak. He said that their beak is so sharp that your finger will get cut if it bites you. 

Important Tip:  

• Bring a mosquito repellent. When we went there, we were greeted by so many mosquitoes that were so hungry for blood. Make sure to bring an insect repellent and reapply again and again.

One of the challenges in maintaining the sea turtle hatchery conservation is their lack of finances. Every day, they need to buy eggs from fishermen, and they need funds to maintain the good condition of the hatchery for turtles to be safe and healthy. 

As one of their initiatives to increase their funds, they sell merchandise in one part of the hatchery farm. They sell ref magnets, shirts, bags, and postcards with pictures of turtles. Though these are relatively pricier than those sold in other commercial establishments, we still decided to purchase one ref magnet to support their cause. 

You can also support the hatchery by donating money should you wish to release baby turtles to the ocean. They don’t charge anything for this. But you can donate any amount to support their initiatives. 

Madu River Safari

Next stop: Madu River Safari!

This location is just 30 minutes away from Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation. Just a note though that we went there on a holiday, which means that on a normal day, it might take you an hour or so to get here from Kosgoda. 

When we got there, we were greeted by an instructor who showed us interesting facts and information about the Madu River. 

^{Watch a video of our adventure on our channel!}

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He then asked us if we would want to see the cinnamon farm and get a fish massage in the Madu River. Doing so would extend our boat ride to one and a half hours instead of just 40 minutes. There is also an additional price for each of the activities. We decided to take the simple 40-minute boat ride instead. 

Then, we were directed to a boat that would bring us to our Madu River Safari! I was actually surprised that they did not ask us to wear any life vests because most of the tourists on other boats were wearing one, though when I looked around, I saw that there were life vests for us in the boat. Probably it is purely optional to wear a life vest. After all, there were no waves and the water was calm all throughout.

We traversed the Madu River with our guide. From time to time, he would stop and show us plant species and birds that we see along the way. But there were not a lot, actually. We also saw different communities that live by the riverside, as well as small islands in the middle of the river. 

Next, we saw a lot of mangroves! There was even a part where we went inside a mangrove area. We learned from our guide that mangroves provided a natural barrier to the islands when a tsunami hit the southern coast of Sri Lanka in 2004. 

Farther down the river, we saw sand! We later on learned from our guide that the Madu River is an estuary, meaning that it is connected to the Indian Ocean. 

We also learned that there are 70 species of birds and 10 species of birds that can be found in the area. However, we did not see a lot of species during our safari adventure. We only saw an iguana and some birds that were actually not new to us anymore. Probably the reason that Tala got bored during the ride.  

What I found most thrilling during our boat safari was passing under a steel bridge. It was so low that we needed to dock to go under it. So cool! Reminded me of a James Bond or an Angelina Jolie action movie!

The entire boat ride took us around 30 minutes. This would probably depend on how fast your guide drives his boat. I can say that ours drove the boat a little faster than what I expected. Also, we would probably take more time in the water if there were more birds or butterflies that we saw along the way. 

This marks the end of our 1st Day of 2024 Adventure! 

Read more about our adventures in Sri Lanka here! We visited the historically-rich Galle, climbed Ella Rock and Little Adam’s Peak, and relaxed on the shores of Narigama Beach!