En route to the Dutch Colony of Galle from Colombo, there exists a beautiful river called Madu Ganga in Balapitiya which offers a glimpse of dozens of islets forested with mangroves and the most excitedly, close contact with wildlife.

Our driver brought us here to take a scenic cruise along Madu Ganga River. In the outset Madu Ganga is considered as Sri Lanka’s second largest wetland consisting of 26 islets and two main islands providing shelter to 215 families.

The map of Madu Ganga River

We will be passing by some interesting spots along the river to admire the 200-year-old temple, to watch the demonstration of locals cultivating cinnamon and rope making with coir, to visit fish farm with traditional fishing techniques and to observe over 48 species of birds! Only if we managed to spot all 48 species of them.

The weather was bad this day. The rain was pouring the moment we stepped onto the boat, whereas the rest of the tourists just came back from the boat ride with happy smiles and completely dry shirts! So unfair. I was completely wet on the boat and couldn’t snap any photos at all. A trip would mean nothing to me if it doesn’t coexist with photography. Imagine how lamentable it was to not able to snap a single photo of something interesting and rare or marvelous spectacle that captivate you. I will end up having to compose this post without any photos and I wonder if you can make it to this line.

I prayed so hard in my heart for the entire journey for the rain to stop and finally, after about 20 minutes rain, it stopped! It saves you from having a boring zero-photos blog post.

First stop was a small finishing farm. Our boat driver in Black.

Don was fishing

The fish farm was quite common like any fish farms in Malaysia. You can see a lot of them if you went for islands hopping tour in Langkawi Island. Nonetheless, fishing was not our interest, but playing with little crocodile was!

The little crocodile won’t bite! Its skin texture reminds me of crocodile skin wallet.

Our tour guide suddenly brought me a baby monkey. The monkey was so tiny that I had to carry it with extra care. It was only few weeks old and slept like a baby. I guess we woke her up a bit and she looked so tired that she just opened her eyes for a few seconds and went back to sleep.

It felt so fragile when holding it. I could feel every single detail of its body structure.

First time getting so close up to a monkey

This baby monkey was saved by one of the men in the fish farm. Her mother was killed when she was just few weeks old. I hope she is safe here and well taken care of.

Spotted squirrel in one of the islets. A very active and playful squirrel.

Not easy to snap a photo of it, it jumped and swung too much!

We were playing with the squirrel by throwing it some fruits. It was hanging on the tree with its tail ready to catch the fruit. It didn’t give up until it finally caught the fruit.

Monitor lizard

Spotted some beautiful birds also but my lens didn’t allow me to zoom in from far. When we tried to get closer, the birds flew. So no pictures of birds.

More photos of the river cruise in my next posts. Stay tuned.