Sri Lanka's 'Cultural Triangle': Part 3 - A massage and a herd of elephants

On our final full day in Habarana, we treated ourselves to an Ayurvedic massage in our home stay, before a trip to Minneriya National Park to see the elephants.

Our Ayurvedic experience involved a full body massage, followed by 10 minutes or so of hot oil dripping on our foreheads. Apparently it drips onto our third eye... And then we went into the herbal sauna. The massage was good, but the oil dripping was a little bit weird. I'm still not quite clear what it was supposed to achieve. 

Tanzania: On the search for the 'BIG FIVE'

A safari in Africa usually includes an attempt to spot the "Big Five". This includes seeing an African lion, an African elephant, a rhinoceros, a leopard and ... a Cape buffalo. 

'Wait!' I hear you cry. 'A buffalo? Not a cheetah or a hippo? Or even a giraffe?'

Nope. The fifth animal that you must see on safari in Africa is definitely the Cape buffalo. I did not make this up. 

Trip report: Tanzanian Safari

Our safari in Tanzania was with Kudu Safaris. We had four days with them (although the fourth day was really only driving back from the Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha) and visited Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Bangalore Palace: In pictures

Owned by the Mysore royal family, the Wadiyars, Bangalore Palace was particularly used the Maharaja in the late 1800s and early 1900 as a getaway from the bigger and fancier Mysore palace. 

The audio guide includes stories from family members who have fond memories of intimate summers at the palace.