{"id":25082,"date":"2024-12-23T11:46:26","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T11:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/?p=25082"},"modified":"2025-01-02T11:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T11:06:24","slug":"sri-lanka-tsunami-twenty-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-tsunami-twenty-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: 20 Years On \u2013 A Remarkable Story of Resilience, Recovery & Renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1734953626495{padding-top: 60% !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/etg-tp-piduranagala-1-scaled.jpg?id=25061) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cThe sea has come in, wake up!\u201d My boxing day slumber was broken by my friend Panni yelling to wake everyone up.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t have the language for it yet, but it was a word with which we\u2019d become very familiar with quickly: a tsunami.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, my co-founder Tom and I were in Sri Lanka, laying the foundations for what would later become Experience Travel Group. We were hoofing it around the island on the back of a 125 cc Bajaj motorbike trying to find a way to bring an island we\u2019d come to love to a new generation of travellers. That carefree time was shattered by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004.<\/p>\n

When it struck, we were road-testing our very first ETG adventure with two trial travellers staying on the south coast. Unimaginable devastation unfolded along the coastline of much of Sri Lanka with over 35,000 people losing their lives. No-one on this small island, with its deeply inter-related population, was left unscathed. Two decades on, Sri Lanka has made a colossal comeback, despite myriad setbacks along the way. This is a truly remarkable and resilient country.<\/p>\n

There are so many stories from that time. Here\u2019s ours:[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”chino”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The Morning Everything Changed<\/h2>\n

On 26th December 2004, the world shifted. One minute, life was rolling along in Sri Lanka as usual, calmly, on \u2018island time\u2019. The next, the unimaginable. My soon-to-be wife, Tracy, Tom and I were staying in our new house\/office in Wennapuwa, just north of Colombo with friends. We had relocated there from the south coast just weeks before.<\/p>\n

Reeling in shock once we grasped what had happened, our priority was to locate our very first two trial travellers, as well as their guide and make sure they were ok. Somehow, mobile signal was still working, and we established they were alive and safe in their hotel. Tom set off on our motorbike, navigating the chaos and torn roadways to reach them. By their return, it was clear the scale of the disaster was overwhelming. Entire communities, villages, homes, families \u2013 lost in an instant \u2013 it was heartbreaking.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”25065″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Recovery: Filling the Gaps<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the immediate aftermath, NGO relief efforts moved painfully slowly. But Sri Lankans across the island swung into action with the diverse communities calling Sri Lanka home coming together. It was incredible to see. Just like everyone else on the island, we did what we could.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our first thought was to head to our former home-office on the south coast and find our friends down there. We didn\u2019t want to go empty-handed, so we drummed up support through donations from our family and friends back home. My old university friend Dan Tilley built our relief website in just 24 hours (aidsrilanka.org<\/a><\/span>), and my sister Esme did an amazing job fundraising. S<\/span>o many people contributed so generously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within 24 hours, we\u2019d filled a relief lorry with essential supplies: rice, baby food, soap, mosquito coils, cooking pots and sleeping mats. We drove through villages down south, handing them out to people who\u2019d lost everything. As the donations flowed in and the need was apparent, we kept going, adding more lorries to the convoy and working with the Sri Lankan community and a big group of friends (Sri Lankans and ad hoc foreigners like us). After a few weeks, our trips moved to the east, following the urgent need. In fact, the Muslim traders in Pettah market first told us, \u201cYou must go east; our brothers and sisters out there aren\u2019t getting relief yet\u201d.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”25066″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]As the impressive international relief effort swung into gear, they took over the delivery of essentials from the ragtag army of DIYers who had moved into action in the immediate aftermath.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was still plenty to do. It was all hands on deck: from clearing and cleaning refugee camps, which had been hurriedly set up in schools, to supporting women who\u2019d lost their livelihoods so they could pick up their crafts again. A small team of doctors from the UK and France had also volunteered to run primary care clinics along the south coast.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were so many people doing extraordinary things. Two women, in particular, left a lasting impression. The first was Mrs Kumari Kulathunga, Head of the Matara Women\u2019s Chamber of Commerce at the time \u2013 a redoubtable person who got things done. She identified that focusing on restoring the incomes of village women with our donors\u2019 money was a sustainable, long-term solution, which not only restored dignity to the community but also, critically, brought money back into families quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there was Christina Fonfe, a British woman who watched the aftermath on television and was struck that most Sri Lankan girls in coastal communities couldn\u2019t swim. They just hadn’t had a chance to learn for complicated cultural and economic reasons. As a qualified instructor in the Total Immersion swimming teaching technique, she believed she could help. She flew out to set up a project to do just that. We could play a small part in helping her start building what was to become the Sri Lanka Women\u2019s Swimming Project (<\/span>read the incredible story here<\/span><\/a>). For the women and children who took part, swimming was more than just a survival skill \u2013 it became a way to rebuild emotionally and start to recover from the trauma of the tsunami, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”25068″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_separator color=”chino”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

20 Years Later: Sri Lanka\u2019s Colossal Comeback<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe this was all only two decades ago. Coming through a war and resulting challenges caused by corruption and incompetence at the highest level, Sri Lanka has still bounced back in a way that\u2019s genuinely gobsmacking. Not only has the island survived \u2013 it\u2019s <\/span>thrived<\/span><\/i> \u2013 blossoming into one of the most popular tourist destinations (not only in Asia, but in the world).<\/span><\/p>\n

These days, the tourism industry has taken off. It\u2019s possible to explore its lovely landscapes in ever more wonderful ways: from train journeys \u2013 now synonymous with Sri Lankan travel \u2013 to walking the new Pekoe Trail (led by trail-blazing guides like Thushni, one of our closest and most inspiring Sri Lankan friends \u2013 pictured below).<\/span><\/p>\n

And, of course, many glorious hotels have been rebuilt, repaired and newly created along its once-tsunami-ravaged coastline. <\/span>From beautiful boutique hotel collections like Teardrop and Resplendent Ceylon to eco-lodges like Tom\u2019s magnificent Mudhouse and humble homestays like Eagle\u2019s Crest, designed to get international visitors under the skin of the country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there are the island\u2019s cultural events: from the internationally acclaimed\u00a0<\/span>Galle Literary Festival<\/a>\u00a0to the recently developed\u00a0<\/span>Gourmet Galle Festival<\/a>, which celebrates its cultural heritage and showcases the nation\u2019s diverse and delicious delicacies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”25072″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”chino”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Experience the Remarkable Spirit of Sri Lanka<\/h2>\n

We can arrange for you to explore the island, its highlights and its hidden corners, while taking the time to connect with the remarkable and resilient people who call it home. Trust me, you\u2019ll leave feeling like you\u2019ve made friends for life.<\/p>\n

Explore ETG adventures:<\/p>\n