Hello to my dear friend @dove11. After a long time, I was able to enter a contest hosted by the Steemit platform. I was very busy last month, but I have the usual amount of time to work on Steemit. As a result, I decided to enter first, the Traveling Steem contest you organized.
It was January 25th, our family took a three-day trip to Sri Lanka’s Southern area. By entering this contest, I would like to share with you our first-day traveling experience on the ‘Madu River Boat Ride’ which is very famous for both local and foreign tours.
Our family consists of my husband, my elder son and his wife, my younger son, our pet Beenu, and myself. We began our journey around 4.30 a.m. and drove along Colombo Galle Highway. We ate breakfast at the highway service station and restarted our journey because we needed to be at the Madu River by 8 a.m.
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Our main purpose for the first day was the Madu River boat riding, which is a very popular attraction for everyone. It was a wonderful place with a stunning and diverse landscape of mangrove forests, lush greenery, and small islands.
The Madu River is a wetland island located in Balapitiya, in the Gall District of the Southern Province. This is the point where the Estuary of the Madu River. The river flows through a landscape with many islands, and the ecosystem creates a beautiful wetland. If you want, you can find inexpensive boat rides from nearby hotels. There are plenty of places to stay, eat, and drink.
We reserved our boat online, and we were instructed to arrive there by 8 a.m. because riding in the heat is extremely difficult. For the boat safari, we cost Rs. 6500.00. It can carry twelve people, but our group consisted of five people. Therefore, we had plenty of room to sit wherever we wanted.
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Before we began our journey, they gave us a safety jacket and some general riding advice. As nature lovers, we had an interesting journey. We could see vibrant greenery of mangrove trees, which helped us get away from the hustle and bustle of our lives. As a nature-loving family, we thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
For the first time, our pet, Beenu also joined us on our tour. The boat ride was especially appealing when it went through narrow water channels and followed the river's winding paths. There are approximately 64 small islands scattered across the river, such as Ma Doowa, where we began our boat safari, Satha Paha Doowa, and Kothduwa, where the Kothduwa temple is located. The cinnamon and fishing industries provide the majority of the people's income on these islands.
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Fish therapy was another unforgettable experience we gained while boating in the Madu River. As we dipped our feet into the river's clear, shallow waters, the small fish surrounded us, providing a natural and therapeutic foot massage. We paid Rs. 300.00 per person for fish therapy and it was a fantastic experience we got during our safari.
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Before going to the fish spa, we came across a small boutique in the river that sold Kiral Fruit juice. We stopped there to drink, which was made from the Kiral fruit, which is native to Sri Lanka, and it was both sweet and refreshing. The Kiral fruit juice glass was Rs. 250.00. My younger son drank two glasses because it was very tasty and made us feel refreshed while riding on the boat in the sun.
Another fascinating experience we had during the Madu River boat safari was visiting the cinnamon product process. Where we saw traditional cinnamon processing methods.
Overall, boating on the Madu River is a fun adventure that combines natural beauty. We spent more than three hours on the tour and thoroughly enjoyed our boat safari experience.
Our next destination was to visit Kosgoda Sea Turtle Hatchery. Therefore, we left the Madu River, with the intention of visiting our next destination. We said goodbye to the boat rider, thankful for giving us a fascinating tour with detailed descriptions.
Because my tour is quite lengthy, I decided to say goodbye to the contest, with the intention of describing our next adventure on another day.
10% beneficiary to @wox-helpfund