“Can you please hold my flash?“
– Ian Lockwood
On the 21st of January, 10 students from MYP 5 and DP 1 along with three chaperones, Ian Lockwood, Desline Attanayake and Loretta Duncan, set out on an adventure they would never forget.
We departed school at 7.00 am and after a tedious but fun bus ride, we stopped at Belihuloya for lunch. Here, we tried out some long exposure photography of water and after lunch, we went on a 4-hour hike to our campsite through paddy fields, streams and a waterfall where we could take a dip. The hike was done in, for the most part, broad daylight but due to the cool air up in Belihuloya, the heat was bearable (I would never do this in Colombo). Also, on our hike we saw a crested serpent-eagle which looked quite magnificent.
Our campsite, to be frank, was beautiful. With a gorgeous view of Montagne paths, we were surrounded by wilderness and the campsite itself was well maintained (they even had hot water!). After an appetizing dinner of barbecue chicken, garlic bread and an accompanying fruit platter for desert, we head out for a nocturnal walk. Despite not seeing anything, it was fun to be out with the gang in the dark, trying to spot something with our head torches and getting excited at the slightest movement from the forests.
On Tuesday morning, I accompanied Mr. Lockwood and Luca to find an exotic bird called the Indian Pitta and I was thoroughly fascinated by how the bird called in response to a recording Mr. Lockwood played. After breakfast, we drove to Bambarakanda Falls where we hiked and took some great photos of beautiful sceneries and fascinating fauna like the black eagle.
We hiked past Bambarakanda Falls, the tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka, past beautiful grasslands and pine forests, and went to a less famous but equally beautiful waterfall called Lanka Ella Falls where we swam in ice-cold water. Now, I would understand if you were to be skeptical when I say ice-cold, given how I am a tropical girl who may not be used to freezing weather but trust me, even my foreign friends were dying of hyperthermia! On our way back, we saw Grizzled Giant Squirrels and spotted a Rat Snake.
This wonderful experience was then followed by a not-so wonderful one. We departed for the Horton Plains National Park (HPNP) and on our way, we stopped by in a forest to find a rhino-horned lizard which we did and were blessed with a sighting of leopard in the adjacent forest. Unfortunately for me, I was only able to see it tail and behind but hey, at least I saw it right? We unpacked for the night at a disturbingly pathetic bungalow inside the park but ended the day by stargazing and I must admit, it was beautiful.
The night was uncomfortably chilly. Even in my sleeping bag, I could feel my fingers and toes going numb. On Wednesday morning, I woke up early to see the sunrise and the light-yellow sky twanged with blue, the cloudless sky, it was breath-taking. I would like to take this moment to really elaborate on that beauty because, no matter how much I verbally explain, no matter how many pictures you take of that sunrise, it wouldn’t compare to the actual thing. After this, I did some bird-watching with Mr. Lockwood and some others and was lucky enough to spot a pair of Sri Lankan Bush-Warblers (honestly, I didn’t see what was so special about it but apparently, it’s a rare and range-restricted endemic bird… lucky me, I guess). We also saw a very cute endemic squirrel species, the Dusky Squirrel. And after breakfast, I had the best cardio workout I’ve had this year.
We set off on the longest hike of this trip that morning, which was to Sri Lanka’s second-highest peak, Kirigalpotta (2388m AMSL) and spent most of the day climbing it. This was a 14km hike that was quite challenging because certain areas would be rather steep, but it was worth it because the view at the summit was spectacular. We encountered many cool plants and animals on the way and it was fun to just hike with a bunch of whiny but lively people. We finished the day with reflections (ugh, IB and its reflections) and some long exposure photographs outside that turned out great!
Thursday was a long, and I mean LONG, day. We got up at around 5.00 in order to hike up Totupola Kanda, Sri Lanka’s third highest mountain (2357m AMSL) and reach the summit by sunrise. The hike was interesting because the trees dwarfed as we reach the top where I experienced yet another unforgettable sunrise.
We got back to our ratchet bungalow for breakfast and packed up and headed to Nuwara Eliya. We settled at St. Andrew’s (Jetwing) Hotel and after a delicious lunch, we set out to Victoria Park to search for yet another rare bird species called the Pied Thrush (again, I did not see anything special in this bird but it’s super rare so, yay…). I did see some other beautiful birds that I did find exotic like the Yellow-Eared Bulbul and Indian Blue Robin (now these birds were truly beautiful).
I tried searching for the Kashmir Flycatcher as apparently, there were some sightings of it around the area as well but was not as fortunate to spot one. We returned to the hotel only to venture on an even better hunt for frogs (no, we didn’t hunt frogs, we just searched for them). This was probably a highlight for me because I was never fond of frogs but we spotted all 8 endemic frog species known in that area. I had never done frogging before so this experience was not only out of my comfort zone but also completely new to me!
The last morning was spent in Pidurutalagala, Sri Lanka’s highest peak (2524m AMSL). The experience wasn’t worth reliving but I enjoyed the view nonetheless and the drive up to the peak was stunning, given how those forests were some of Sri Lanka’s most untouched areas of land. We also found a new species of lizard, Black-lipped Lizard. After this, we returned to the hotel to pack up our bags, and headed back to Colombo, where we arrived at around 7 pm.
Given that this was my last WWW trip, I have to say I enjoyed it beyond words. The physical challenges and the mental ones taught me to appreciate nature even more than I ever have before. The sceneries will be embedded in my memories for a long time and I know I will return. I am grateful for my group for making this trip even more memorable, Andrew’s yearning for a Big Mac and Rika’s ungodly threats will be greatly missed.
Let me end by saying,
I love Sri Lanka!