Day  1

•We hicked up to Martin’s lodge for a break and had our lunch moreover before leaving the lodge we were all divided into groups, i was in group 7 with Chiran, Vicky, Liam, and Hadiya and then the groups collected the equipment for the trail sampling [the materials include a tape measure, for wooden sticks and a rope]
• Our group went up to the secondary rainforest of Sinharaja which was about a 30-40min journey from Martin’s lodge
• After reaching the area the the task was to make a 2m×2m square in the area assigned to each group, then to figure out the total number of plants within that area, find out the species, measure the circumference of the plant, and count the number of leaves
• Our findings included 2 species of plants, a total of 43 plants in the square
• After doing the trial run we went back to Martins Lodge, then departed for the hotel that we would stay in as soon as we reached the hotel we got our rooms. Yethmin and I were roommates. As soon we entered the room I went with Akhil, Darius, Avi, and Luka to a bit of wresting in the mud for some time then came back took a shower hung out at the dinner area
• I watched some anime with Akhil and Darius. For dinner, I ate rice and curry after that everyone got together and had a lot of arm wrestling battles my fav was Peter vs Mr. Leblanc and ofc Mr. Leblanc won whereas I had to wrestle Yethmin but unfortunately I lost because my arm was paining for some reason and after that, we talked for a while. At night we went to Akhils to have some fun then finally went to sleep

(Glimpse of the 1st day)

Day 2

• In the morning we left the Blue Magpie Lodge to meet up with the people of ESS at the Martins Lodge
• From there we went to the main site for our sampling, the way to the area was long but flat and a bit sloppy all the way
• On the way to the campsite we stopped at the spot to see the landscape and Mr. Nimal gave us Info about the area and the history
• Then we were put Into the same groups as yesterday and we were assigned different areas inside the jungle to do the plottings, collect the data in total we had to make and collect data from 3 different plots
• We were given documents that we had to use for data collection the document consisted of luminosity, canopy cover, Ph, distance from the road, forest land type cover, slope of plot, aspect of plot, humidity, nitrate level
• Luminosity and humidity were measured by a lux meter, canopy cover was measured using the app, the aspect of the plot was measured using the slope tool, and the land type cover was the secondary forest, the distance from the road was estimated
• The pH was measured by me and Chiran buy taking 3 soil samples and then adding the distilled water provided in the box to us the last step was to put the universal PH indicator and then compare it to the scale
• Surprisingly all three plots had a pH level of 6 which meant it was a bit acidic
• The temperature of the soil of measured by sticking a thermometer in the soil
• Today I learned how to properly do data collection in the forest and also how to do a pH test for the soil along with measuring the temp
• The experience e today was really good for me because by as I learned a lot about citizen science as we as citizens of the country helped the organization collect the data
• I discovered that I have improved my communication and team-building skills during this trip moreover I was also able to learn the mindset of the students from different scientists as each person had a different perspective on a topic and the particular skill of different Sciences and how are they linked together
• I think I need to work more on my skill of being open-mindedness as I was pretty negative about the hiking stuff
• Some of the challenges that we faced during the whole day were the fear of leeches and the process of data collection. Especially for me to understand how to process the data for the leaves, stems o, and especially the girth of the plant and the process of measuring it.
• As the interdisciplinary trip came to an end It was very interesting and mostly a new experience for me I had a lot of fun along the way I learned how to play the game named Werewolf and strengthened my friendship

(Glimpse  of  the  2nd day)

Day 3

•  The  plan was to go on a small hike and after that, we were going on our way  to Colombo
•  The hike was small but steep with a a lot of climbing
•  10min into the hike I gave up along with Avin
• Me and Avin walked back to Martin Lodge and sat there with Chiran, Aniqu just relaxing and listening to music.

( the final day)