30/01/23- Highlands WWW 2023

Last week from the 23rd-27th of January we went on our annual WWW(week without walls) trip. The trip is done every year by grades 6-11 and it’s an opportunity to explore different parts of Sri Lanka. Grade 10+11 combine year groups and we get a choice of 4 micro trips we can go on; cycling, highlands, jaffna, and down south. I went on the cycling trip last year, so this year I signed up for the highladns trip which is hiking based.

Day One:

Our first day was super fun, and we started off with a bus ride and then a 2 hour hike to our accommodation, which was a campsite for the first night. Shortly after we got there, we went swimming in this beautiful lake that we could see from the camp. It really opened my eyes to the beautiful areas this countey has that are so hidden sometimes, as people were describing this lake to look like a painting, or even a photograph.

The lake view from our campsite

Reflections on the day before dinner

Day Two:

The second day was a really beautiful day, as it was the day we did the hike to a waterfall. It took a couple of hours to get there, but it was worth it. The water in the waterfall was freezing but so refreshing after a long walk.We then made our way to our accomodation for the next two nights, which was the Adisham Monestary. We spent our evening walking around the grounds and learning aboiut the monastery and the significance of the fact that we were able to stay there in such a respected place.

The Adisham Monestary grounds

The waterfall we stopped at

Wednesday was the day of the longest hike. We hiked Horton plains, and we did a 11km loop around the area. The hike was not only the longest but also the most challenging, as it involved a lot of uphill and downhill walking on rough and uneven terrain. We stopped at 2 lookout points; worlds end, and mini worlds end, both of which had an amazing view of the area. We stopped at the world’s end first, and had our packed lunch as we waited for the clouds to clear away so we could see the full view. On our way out, we stopped at an area that’s common to find lizards, and spent about half an hour looking around, photographing the lizards we saw.

photographing wildlife in H0rton Plains

The trail..

Resting after the walk

Day Four:

Thursday was our last full day, and we started off with breakfast at the monastery before we went for a small hike up to devils seat. Some of us climbed a big rock and we managed to get a really beautiful view of the whole area by being higher up in this spot. After devils seat, we packed our stuff and headed to our last accommodation, where we got really lucky and were staying at a Jetwing for the night. On the way we stopped at the Jagro Farm and everyone got one of their really good desserts. I got the strawberry cheescake and a smoothie, but there were also brownies, waffles, ice cream, milkshakes etc. after Jagro, we arrived at Jetwing and had a really amazing 3 course lunch. The stay at Jetwing following camping and the monestary really allowed me to be more aware and appreciative of my resources and privelage and understand how different people live differently. Our afternoon was spent at victoria park in the Nuwara Eliya city, which was a park filled with many types of wildlife including rare and beutiful plants, flowers and animals. Before dinner, we went on a frog walk to the forest and the grounds around the hotel. We went with a guide who told us about the different species of frogs,the sizes of which as well as how and where to look for them. I found 6 frogs in total, 3 Montane Hour Class Frogs, 2 Pseudophilautus viridis, and 1 Pseudophilatus microtympanum, which was one of the rarer ones. The guide let me hold one of the really small Montane Hour Class Frogs, and it was barely the size of my fingertip. We also saw a really cool spider on one of the tree branches. After the frog walk, it was time for another really good dinner, and we ended the night by playing card games and then we went to bed.

View at Devils Seat

Jagro!!

At Victoria Park

Me holding a rare frog (the size of a fingertip)

Our last day was Friday, and before we went home, we had breakfast, and then drove to Pidurathalgala. It’s an air-force base, and so it was very high security, but luckily we were able to look around the place that is actually the highest point in the country, and we found out that it was used as point 0 when mapping the country. We learned that the work they do is mostly tracking air patterns using the radar, and organzing intersection when necessary. After Pidurathalagala, we went back to Jetwing, had some more food, before heading off in the bus back to school. This trip was a really significant one, and I definitely learned a lot from traveling around the Sri Lankan highlands, and had a really good time.

The group at Piduruthalagala

Walking down