In Columbo I met up with our good friend Mohan Samarasinhe of the Child Development Foundation who had so kindly accompanied Bella and me on our journey along the south coast, rang family, Bella in England, and my girlfriend, etc., to reassure them that I was OK. (There had been a Tsunami alert during the night - due, I later learnt to an earthquake in Indonesia.) I could not do this before as there was no signal on my phone.

I then spent the day shopping, holding phone meetings and debriefings with various local and international N.G.O.'s, and sitting in a large park with huge trees, from which hung thousands and thousands of large bats.

Shortly before I was due to head for the airport, I was contacted by the country office of I.O.M. They asked if I could meet with them in the next couple of days to speak about the idea of me returning to Sri Lanka for the Childrens Festival they will be running in May. Because of my flight leaving later this evening, we were unable to meet and I asked them to contact Bella via e-mail as Children's World International is interested in the idea as long as IOM can cover at least some of the costs. I feel very pleased that their head office contacted me - it shows just how successful the contact-making side of this Mini-Tour has been.

Eventually my time was up, and I had to head to the airport and my flight home. I flew with Quatar airlines, one of the best I've ever used, and spent the flight in quiet contemplation of the last few weeks.

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