There were only about two dozen people staying at the Lagoon Paradise Beach Resort. From the sound of it, mostly Russian tourists with a couple of always present Australians for good mix. Not since leaving Beijing have I heard an American accent other than my own. As I ate my breakfast of eggs and fresh fruit I thought of ways to get more Americans to vacation here, maybe I could convince my brother Scott to honeymoon at the Lagoon Paradise?

Driving from Tangalle to Hikkaduwa I was reminded of the hurricane in 2004 that killed over 35,000 the day after Christmas. There was a train washed away outside of Tangalle taking with it 1,200 souls. In remembrance the Japanese built one of the largest Buddha statutes near the accident site. The Lagoon Paradise Beach Resort was originally a discothèque; they lost nearly 11 million dollars' worth of sound equipment.

Monkeys were now becoming common enough that we no longer stopped to take pictures. They crowded every rest stop, memorial and trash heap. The real quest was to spot a wild elephant. In route to Tangalle, signs warn drivers of elephants crossing. On some sections of road there were large electric fences on either side to keep the elephants out. Manog told us the fences do little to stop the daily migration of elephants. The elephants were creatures of habit and when their pathways to water were decimated so decimated was the herd. In some ways they were like cats, always returning home. Unlike cats, when an eight ton animal crosses the road you notice. We kept our eyes open but to no avail.

What we did see in the Hambantota District was construction. The elephant habitat was losing ground to Hambantota. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, was born in Hambantota and here, he presented a buffet of public works projects. None of it made sense other than to display what was feasible. The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport was 130 miles from the International Airport in Colombo and the roads leading into it moved from one lane, to four and the back down to two lanes without reason. There were huge swaths of asphalt, without painted lanes and then sections of road with just gravel. Dotting the horizon there were half a dozen ill placed wind turbines. I was told that Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother managed these public works projects at a 10% commission. Incompressible road widening, wind turbines and airports take precedent over education and reform. By law the citizens of Sri Lanka do not have right to complain to the Head of Nation, unless there was an election and Mahinda Rajapaksa recently changed the constitution to allow him an unprecedented third, six-year term.