He approached me rather suddenly, which seemed difficult in a fairly open area. His skin was dark, much darker than most Sri Lankans, and I thought he may have been Nigerian. His bloodshot eyes were his most noticeable trait. As I carry some expensive camera equipment that would be a nice prize for a thief, fear quickly struck. But I soon learned, as I often do when traveling in a foreign land, that looks can be deceiving.
Man in Negombo
It was a surprisingly brisk morning when I started the bike ride from my guesthouse around 5am. By the time I made it to the ocean after stopping for breakfast the sun was up. The heat was coming!
I was feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety as I rode my dusty, rusty bike into the Negombo Lagoon. The traffic was frantic as it always is in Sri Lanka. Tuk tuks, motorbikes, cars, buses and pedestrians all flooded the streets around the water.
I managed to navigate a narrow footpath that led down into the bowels of the overcrowded fisherman’s area. It reminded me of a homeless camp like you would see underneath an expressway, only much larger.
Stopping and placing the bike on the ground I began composing shots in my mind, snapping a few to check the light. It was about 7:30am and the haze had gotten thick. I started cleaning my lens, my first thought being it was dirty. But it wasn’t dirt. It was the fog from the heat, or smoke from the multitude of tiny fires littering the area – either burning trash, fish carcasses, or both.
Seaside Villa
Next to me a group of egrets slip in and out of the flames, nipping at food waste and fish bits. Off to my right a child sits amongst his father’s catch of shiny sardine-sized fish and eats his breakfast off of a discarded piece of styrofoam. Women and men are helping sort through the morning’s catch. They place the fish on large tarps then roll the tarp over the top.
Child’s Play
Everywhere I go it reeks of decay. The smells of burning trash, rotting fish, boat gasoline and oil all float through the air, assaulting my senses. It’s also noisy, but a muffled noisy like after a snowfall in a big Midwestern city. Crows are squawking all around and the dogs seemingly only bark at me. I got a laugh out of it when some locals noticed one particular dog jump up from its slumber when it saw me and begin barking. I was the only white person around so I guess it was not used to a ghost walking.
Sorted
After exchanging pleasantries with a few local fishermen I began meandering through the rows upon rows of fish. I noticed a man watching me in the distance but lost track of him while photographing the scene. Before I knew it he was right next to me. His red eyes staring through me. At first glance he looked to be a derelict, wearing tattered clothing and asking for a smoke. A little startled I said hello and kindly obliged his request. His stare quickly turned to a smile and we began chatting. Him in his broken English and me with my three Sinhalese phrases I knew at the time.
The guy told me his name, but it was one that repeating a million times wouldn’t help me pronounce. Let’s call him Ricki. Ricki said he was from Kandy, which is inland in the mountains, and he was not a fisherman. “We drink! We drink twenty-four hours,” he says. Having been a liquor salesman for ten years, I tell him I can relate.
Negombo Harbor
Leaving the harbor I have a thought that I’ve had many times while traveling. You cannot judge someone on looks alone. I always try not to, but sometimes my ego gets the best of me. This was the case here in Negombo. I find if I approach a situation with an open heart and mind, positive things will happen. Of course the opposite is also true. A negative mind will create negative outcomes. So stay positive if you want positive, happy people in your life. Oh and a smile always helps!
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