The Purple-Faced Leaf Monkey

This rather noisy, cross-looking and quarrelsome creature is very common in the gardens of Galle; I have been told that the locals do unfriendly things to it like set their dogs on them (though quite how the dogs swing through the trees in pursuit is beyond me). Anyway it turns out that this monkey is an endangered species. Not sure the locals are that bothered though.

Adopting a kitten

My housemate Julia, has been hankering after a pet for a while. A friend has offered her one whose siblings have been eaten by a monitor lizard - a new twist, I suppose, on selecting your pet from Bristol Cats and Dogs Home. Should I be slightly nervous about its state of mind after this experience, (never mind the fleas)?

Coming to Sri Lanka

....from Sri Lanka, a first tentative wave to all my blogreaders from Sri Lanka!

I'd like this as far as possible to be a little piece of entertainment, a reflection on some trifles and quirky things I come across. Always happy to hear back from you!

On the plane between Doha and Colombo I found myself sitting next to a rather elegant elderly Scandinavian gentlemen who told me that in the past he had run a restaurant in Funchal, Madeira, and in addition had been the Swedish consul there. He said the main problem was that people would insist on coming to Madeira and then inconveniently expiring there, and to add insult to injury, the family were often reluctant to come and collect the body, leaving him to make all the necessary arrangements. I surmised he must have found those catering fridges useful at times.