Sri Lanka Chronicles 3: Turtles and the Tsunami Memorial

On Christmas morning, we set out for the southern town of Galle.  Along the way, we stopped at two very important places.

First, we saw the Victor Hasselblad Turtle Sanctuary where the sea turtles are being brought back from the brink of extinction.  By helping the newly hatched turtles find their way to the sea, the people running the sanctuary are able to allow up to 30% of the turtles to survive.  This is a much higher rate than the natural selection and it counteracts years of these species being hunted.  While not all the hunting has ceased, the turtles are making a major comeback.  They also care for injured turtles and rebuilt the entire sanctuary after the devastating tsunami of 2004.

Since the tsunami of 2004 had happened on December 26th, we were around on this trip for the 6th anniversary.  Even though it had been six years since the west coast of Sri Lanka had been hit, the reminders of the devastation were still quite evident.  The road along the coast was lined with half standing house foundations.  The railroad cars, displaced one kilometer by the water, still sat as artifacts to the power of the sea and reminders of the people swept away.  We stopped at the Tsunami Memorial commemorating all of this and you could feel the power of the artwork.  With the waves rolling on the beach behind the memorial, you could also feel the power of nature.