Oh boy, how to describe today? Pigeon Island is a small coral island about a mile offshore, just north of Trinco. It has been protected since 1963 and now is a National Park. It is a haven for sea life and has great coral. The shelf is pretty shallow, so snorkelling is fine, we did three circuits and saw an amazing amount of fish, coral, jellyfish, a giant clam and three sharks.
The coral is mostly in good condition, apart from some areas where people walk on it. The park "guards" seem happy to sit in their hut and ignore what goes on. The guides seem to do more protection, their livelihood depends on coral and fish to see.
Going for dinner soon wish could write more..... Christopher and Evelyn had waterproof cameras, cannot wait to see what they caught.
Our guide had a gopro and waterproof still camera, apparently the Sri Lanka postal service is launching a stamp with one of his pictures on it today.

We had a quick trip around Trincomalee town, including the main Hindu shrine in the pouring rain, a brilliant little bakery, Kumar's Cream House for short eats (samosa, patties, rolls) and cake with VERY sweet tea (there is no choice, unless you are in the hills of tea estates, tea is very milky and very sweet). A quick but poignant stop at the Commonwealth War Cemetery, 364 souls that perished in WW II in Sri Lanka, including those lost from 15 ships sunk by a Japanese raid early April 1942. The cemetery is amazingly well kept, it is maintained by a guy whose father kept it before him. He brought photos of Princess Anne's visit in 1995. Apparently a steady stream of relatives come and visit. We were the 4th or 5th to sign the visitor book today.
Wilpattu National Park tomorrow, hoping the leopard are feeling photogenic.
The driver bought Toddy, an alcoholic drink from the Palm tree, hoping no headache tomorrow.