Saffron & Blue

There are few things in this world as gratifying and heart warming as the hospitality of a stranger. To be welcomed into someone's home with open arms, and have them treat you like long lost family affirms all the noblest sentiments we harbor about the generous character of the human species. It's easy to look around at the world and see countless reasons to doubt the innate goodness of man, but when someone you barely know takes you in, nurtures you, feeds your body and soul, and asks for nothing in return, you find yourself marveling at the munificence of your fellow man, and their kindness reverberates within you until gratitude spills forth in waves. It's one thing to visit a country and traipse through hotels, but you can't begin to understand the soul of a place until you set foot in someone's home, and taste their food, and sleep under their shelter. It's really an astonishing turn of good fortune that brought me to Saffron & Blue, Ranil de Silva's beach home on Sri Lanka's southwestern coast, but I give thanks for the many blessings bestowed upon us that we had an opportunity to visit this magical place.

It's not quite right to call Ranil a stranger. I've met him several times over the last few years, at a number of work conferences, and we've had a few good conversations as we've gotten to know one another. But our interactions have always been over cocktails or buffet meals organized by the agency, or over e-mail, and while I gladly count Ranil among my friends, our friendship has been framed entirely by work. I don't know much about him beyond what he does, yet he still opened his home to Becky and I, and went out of his way in a number of ways to help make our visit to Sri Lanka magical and memorable.  
Ranil is a man with impeccable taste and a huge heart, who genuinely cares for people and gives of himself authentically. His home is a great reflection of who he is: it's open, airy, filled with treasures gathered from across the world, and everything about it is tasteful and refined.  Of all the many things I take away from our week in Sri Lanka, I think I value our time at Saffron & Blue the highest, because it gives me something to strive towards. Someday I want a home like this, where I can invite friends to visit, and where I can feed them sublime meals, and give them a view of a paradise they didn't even know existed. The few idyllic days we spent in Kosgoda were the perfect end to a marvelous vacation, and we treasured every moment.
I hope someday I can reciprocate Ranil's generosity, but it'll take some time to build a home of this class and caliber. Constructed by noted Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswatte (a protege of Geoffrey Bawa), this house was designed and constructed after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami completely destroyed the previous home on the property. It's open plan is a marvel to behold, and I highly recommend spending some time on the Saffron & Blue website to really get a sense of this place. The staff was solicitous and considerate, they fed us phenomenal meals (the coconut roti in the morning was particularly tasty), and helped us navigate our way to Galle and back for a day.  Becky and I both hope to return to Kosgoda, as Sri Lanka definitely captured our imagination, and we only scraped the surface of the country in a few short days. Maybe next time we'll ask Ranil if we can't spend a few more days in his lovely home. Due to our timing, we only saw a single sunset from his property, but thankfully, we recorded it for posterity. Have a look below. This was our last night in Sri Lanka, and I can't think of a better place to spend it... Thank you Ranil for everything.