Mirissa, Sri Lanka

Arrived at Marissa,

A beach town in the jungle on the south coast

Of Sri Lanka.

We booked a car to bring us 

The three hours from Colombo

Hoping to do this easily.

As always,  we were shuffled 

To places that gave the driver a cut. 

After the first turtle hatchery,

We said no to the many tsunami museums,

Fish for lunch,

And all of the other stops

Except for the Fort the Galle

Which Jim wanted to see.

Yesterday, we had no power

Or air conditioning,

Which also meant no food shops open.

We did have a glorious short swim.

The rose sand suspended in the white froth

In a cerulean sea crashed around us.

Then Jim was upended.

After I made sure he was alive but battered

I followed suit.

It scared us both and we proceeded out of the water

To drink beer and watch the bare buttocks

 That are everywhere.

Today we were up at 5:15 to catch a tuk tuk

In the dark,

To the wharf.

Along with a couple of thousand other tourists

We caught one of the twenty tour boats

Out to see a Blue Whale.

The trip was very rough

Eventually, I realized that

Perhaps sitting on a jarring, rolling, heaving and pitching

Upper boat deck 

Is for hardier or younger folk than me.

With my muscular dystrophy,

Just getting up off the deck was a challenge.

With assistance, I made it down to a chair on the main deck.

After barfing over the side,

I felt well enough to eat breakfast

And I continued to enjoy all of the sightings of Blue whales.

So far, with the exception of the monkeys and the magnolias

We haven’t found the real Sri Lanka

But we are on the search for it.