Travel

Get into action at Club Horizon

Wandering around the palm tree shaded garden of Club Horizon in Koggala I came upon a crowd gathered outdoors around the Hotel Chef. I approached cautiously to see if a rescue operation was needed. No, they weren't having a 'go' at him for the overdone sausages at breakfast. The swim suit clad foreigners were just participating in a cookery demonstration-how to turn out perfect chicken curry and brinjal moju.

At Club Horizon guests receive a totally Sri Lankan experience. Practicing the Club Concept the management emphasises activity and recreation made up a major part of the menu.

The Entertainment Manager, Lalith Priyakantha, working together with six animators, three of who are from the Czech Republic provided a wonderful selection of leisure entertainment, including archery, badminton, mini-golf, basket ball, garden chess, pool and volley ball.

There is also a Mini Club for children with special animation programmes, games etc. Some evenings the guests become entertainers- staging shows for their own entertainment. "We have a costume cupboard, make up etc. and the participants make up the script," General Manager Upali de Silva said. Discos - weekly live bands - cultural shows and other activities also take place in the amphitheatre.

A part of the Confifi Group of Hotels, Club Horizon gears up to face serious competition. De Silva summed it up, "We should have some extraordinary things to attract traffic to this corner, passing all the other resort hotels on the South-West beach."

The Club Concept which is all-inclusive mainly caters to long stay clients. The hotel is equipped with 24 chalets, and 49 rooms in the main building. The management also hopes to make Club Horizon a popular spot for pilgrims to stopover for lunch on their way to Kataragama.

Indunil Karunatilleke, the Chef, has a pivotal role to play at Club Horizon. Having followed Food & Beverages courses in Netherlands and gained work experience in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, he understands that F&B is not just Food and Beverages. "The main secret is that we talk to the guests. That's a big advantage to us because we get to know what the guests think." And hearing him describe a dish in German to a guest, I understood what Indunil meant.

The Chef holds a Sri Lankan food demonstration every weekend. And the buffet has a Sri Lankan corner with dishes like polos, and kola kanda. "I am going for typical Sri Lankan vegetables. In front of the dishes I put the fruit or vegetables to show them the transformation that has taken place. For instance in front of a polos curry, I would place a jak fruit. I am going for local products. Of course on request according to their palates I will do other dishes as well."

There is a buffet and a snack counter as well as the Beach Wadiya. "If they want to stay on in the sun they can," explained the Chef.

There are around 15 theme nights, which include - Sri Lankan Night, Wok, BBQ, Seafood, Italian, International, Indian, Chefs Night (something creative), Mexican, Spanish etc. "Sometimes I cook in front of them, you know - "Action cooking," he added.

Among the attractions located in the proximity of Club Horizon is the Martin Wickremasinghe Museum. The house of the renowned Sinhala writer Martin Wickremasinghe is situated just across the road. It is a place where one can easily spend a whole day getting close to ancient Sri Lanka, seeing such rare items as an elephant cart or in the garden a 'sekkuwa' used in olden days to drain oil with a bull harnessed. The biggest natural lake in the island, Koggala lake, contains 13 islands, including Madolduwa. Boat excursions in the lagoon - to an ancient temple called Poorvaramaya with fascinating frescoes and to another temple where there's the earliest printing press which was used to print the paper "Sinhala Bauddhaya".

Stilt fishing is a common sight in Koggala with its stretch of white sandy beach. "I am careful to keep the beach clean. Because this is our bread and butter," says de Silva. The reef had been bombed during the Second World War, because the allied force army stationed in Koggala wanted to swim here. It is a 20 minute drive into ancient Galle which holds many of Sri Lanka's colonial memories.

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