The Deer of Trinco
Our first day in Trinco, while we were walking up Fort Frederick Road, we spotted a small deer in a park. Of course, deer are skittish, but we were unusually nearby and no “danger alarm” seemed to be going off in his head. Then we noticed another deer, walking alongside dogs, and another approaching a group of people. Then we saw someone petting one. Then I pet one. And after that, we watched a couple guys share their rice and curry with one. And that’s when I figured out there must be LSD in my water.
But I wasn’t drugged, nor had we fallen into a rabbit hole and emerged in a Disney-esque land of wicked queens and singing chipmunks. Trincomalee, for whatever reason, has a large population of spotted deer who are perfectly comfortable and even sociable with humans. They’re especially prevalent inside Fort Frederick, but can be seen all throughout the city, foraging for grass and begging like dogs for food.
Cool. Every time you think you’ve basically figured out Sri Lanka, you get taken completely off guard.
