Dambulla, Sri Lanka

We slept in today and are taking the day off. We met with Spencer to go over our DNA results. It was not really a very beneficial or informative meeting, We had to pop into the little hotel boutique to buy a few things. After the group buffet lunch we headed to the pool for a dip. The pool water was so refreshing. Jim headed to the spa after that for a deep tissue massage. We had lectures during cocktail hour this evening: Asha de Vos-The Unorthodox Whales of Sri Lanka She is only one of two marine biologists in Sri Lanka. Her passion is the Blue Whale. She is an excellent speaker. She has dedicated her career to tracking and charting the blue whales. She has been fighting to have the shipping lanes moved farther from the shores of Sri Lanka to decrease the number of whale deaths by the boats. Spencer Wells-we skipped his lecture. He ran late and we had dinner reservations. And we’ve kind of written him off. He’s added nothing to this trip except annoyance. The majority of the group is still irritated that he didn’t start the trip with us when he was supposed to. And when he finally arrived, he brought along his girlfriend and is not really engaging with the group. We went to the formal restaurant, Kaludiya, at the hotel tonight for a private 5 course dinner. We had a grilled vegetable appetizer, cream of shiitake mushroom soup and the seafood platter. I, of course, had the chocolate dessert and Jim was able to beg for some ice cream. It was a delicious meal. We’ve been very impressed with the food at Kandalama. After dinner, Jim joined Lou and Hatim for cigars and Bourbon by the pool. Heritance Kandalama