Luca: “Let’s go find frogs.” Josh: “The bird frogs or the frog frogs?”

– Geography Class of 2020.

Each year, the Geography class ventures into the deep forest of Sinharaja for their Geography Internal Assessments. This trip usually happens towards the end of DP 1 but due to the terrorist attacks in March, the trip was postponed to the first week of September.

Just a few fun facts about Sinharaja:

1. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is under consideration to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
3. The canopy trees of Sinharaja Forest Reserve reach heights of more than 45 meters.
4. The majority of sub-canopy trees in the reserve are considered endangered or they are very rare.
5. It’s the most mesmerizing place I’ve ever been to.

We spent our three days in Martin’s Lodge, a basic accommodation close to the small town of Kudawa and right on the edge of the magnificent Sinharaja Rainforest. When I say, the edge, I mean you walk into the forest for about a kilometer until you actually reach the lodge.

I genuinely don’t know where to start with the trip. But since I already mentioned it, let’s start with Martin’s Lodge. His lodge is in such a remote part of the Sinharaja border that there is nothing but forest no matter which direction you look. There’s this balcony area where I sat every morning at about 5.30am, waiting for the sunrise across the mountains, watching the clouds move about, listening to the sound of bird calls around the constant gushing sound of flowing water. I could write you a poem about that experience, of just sitting there, doing absolutely nothing but breathing, of noticing the slight movements around you and being mesmerized by the occasional grey hornbill, blue magpie or emerald dove that landed on the balcony right in front of me. a leech would crawl from nowhere across the floor, searching for blood and is suddenly attacked by a colony of red ants. Once the sun would rise, I would walk around the forest, not too far off from the lodge, but far away from the others and I would just see the raw nature around me.

I have had my fair share of experiencing the beauties of nature but there is something so raw and untamable about the majestic rainforest that made me catch my breath every day. I was fascinated by how, no matter which direction you went, you would always hear the sound of flowing water. It was like an assurance, a song, I had gotten so used to hearing that I still can hear the faint sounds. I know this might sound like a load of crap and it’ honestly up to you to believe me but trust me, in just those three days of being in Sinharaja, I’ve felt wilder and freer and more alive than I have in a long, long time.

Calotes calotes and Hypnale hypnale PC: Ian Lockwood

It was as if life had made me hold my breath for so long, I felt like I was breathing normally again.

We did a lot of hiking throughout the three days. I took every opportunity I could to walk and I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say I was one of the people who hiked the most during this trip. Every day I’d go out to do interviews around the village and walk back to the lodge. I don’t think I would ever get tired of that hike, I really don’t. On our last day, we did a hike up one of Sinharaja’s peaks, the Mullawella hike and it was just one of those experiences that I’d never forget. I remember how the climb started around the dense secondary forest, lush and so full of life, I was sure there could be nothing more magnificent than this.

But boy was I wrong.

The moment we stepped foot into the primary forest, I could feel the difference: the shape and size of the trees, the height, and color, the silence. It was something out of a fairytale. But just like all things magical, it felt so unreal. No, more like, I felt so out of place. In that forest, I truly didn’t belong. That forest was not just wild but it was ancient. Those trees told stories that made the entire evolution of the human race seem insignificant: I found myself being overwhelmed, unable to take everything in. I sent a silent prayer hoping that people never destroy this place.

But it was the view at the top that made everything worth it. I have no words for that view and no picture will ever do it justice. “The more I look, the more fascinating it gets”, Luca said, and I couldn’t help but agree.

I also took to birding over the three days. My friend, Luca, and our geography teacher, Mr. Lockwood, are passionate birders and I took it upon myself to see what it was that they found so interesting. I started small, spotting birds and remembering the ones that caught my attention. I tried to see what they saw, not just look for things, but to really observe and see things, notice the small movements of a bush, the rustle of a leaf, a different color in a tree. It was hard, really, and I realized how untrained my eyes were but I got better at it and I even started spotting things faster. I’d find myself getting excited at the sighting of a beautiful bird and wouldn’t care if it was rare, endemic or common. Nonetheless, when I saw the Frogmouths for the first time, I did get quite excited as they were as cute as the pictures I had seen of them. In the mornings I saw the grey hornbill, the blue magpie, flowerpeckers and emerald doves. During the day I saw Greater Flamebacks, Crested Drongos, a Chestnut-backed Owlet, a Green-billed Coucal, Malabar Trogons, Spot-winged Thrushes and through it all, I was becoming more and more interested in these different species.

But the highlight of this trip happened towards the very end of it. Mr. Lockwood and Luca told me a few months back about finding a “lifer” as they called it, the Serendib scops owl. It was the only bird I had bothered to research. I had heard recordings of its call, seen pictures of it, read descriptions in books, questioned about it and I yearned to find it. On our entire duration in Sinharaja, we were unable to find the scops owl but it is known for being rare and secretive, discovered as a species only in 2001. The small owl is hard to find and never seen in the open, so Mr. Lockwood had told many guides to let us know if they find it at any given time during our stay. Unfortunately, they didn’t find it. However, just as we were about to head off to Colombo, a private guide told us he knew where the Serendib scops owl was at. Mr. Lockwood took the opportunity to ask whoever wanted to go with him to find the owl to tag along and only Luca, Ms. Desline who was our female chaperone, and I agreed to go. We took the guide’s jeep along a semi-constructed road lined by wild pine forests just bordering Sinharaja. He stopped at one point and motioned for us to walk on foot. Mind you, I was ready to head back home so my attire wasn’t the most suitable for hiking: flip-flops, a skinny and tights. The guide then motioned for us to go left but there was nothing but steep forest towards on the left side but he directed us through a small canopy into the pine forest.

Not going to lie, the hike to find that owl was pretty intense. It involved a lot of slipping, sliding, grabbing, crawling, the destruction of a few trees and a lot of stomping. By the time we reached the destination for the owl, I was pretty worn out. The guide pointed at a canopy a few meters ahead of us, indicating that the scops owl was in there. He instructed us that he will take each of us at a time but he warned us to not make any sudden movements or move the leaves too much as the owl is bound to fly away.

Luca went first. I saw him crawl under the canopy until all I could see of him was his legs. A few moments later I heard the shutter of his camera and my heart started beating faster and faster.

He saw it.

A wave of excitement and anticipation took over me, a feeling I’d never experienced before over any animal let alone a bird. But I wanted to see it, now more than ever, and when the guide motioned for me to join them, I crawled as silently as I could towards where they were at.

Luca had left the canopy and gone around it so I couldn’t see the expression on his face. Did he see it? Was he happy?

What am I to expect?

I began crawling under the canopy, slow and steady, keeping myself nearly at ground-level, crawling. He told me to stop and not move and I realized I had gone relatively into the canopy. I looked up then and the guide pointed right ahead of me. “It’s sitting on that branch”, he said. I didn’t really know where to look and kept looking in the general direction of where he was pointing. It took me a few minutes but then I saw it: I had been looking too far ahead when the Serendib Scops Owls had been sitting right in front of me all along.

I kid you not, my heart stopped. Like, it literally froze along with the rest of my body. I don’t know when my jaw dropped but once I regained control of my own body, I realized my mouth hurt from gaping for so long.

Because there it sat, in all its little glory. It’s orange eyes, looking, no, staring into me, acknowledging my presence just as much as I acknowledged his. It sat on that branch, smaller than I’d expected, closer than I’d anticipated. I could see the black dots in his light brown feathers, his furry little beak, that magnificent brow.

And it watched me from a position higher than me. And for a moment, it was just me and the Serendib scops owl. I’ve never felt more intimidated and overwhelmed by seeing an animal in the wild. Maybe it was the journey leading to that moment, maybe it was the spontaneity of the decision, or maybe it was something in the air in Sinharaja but my interaction with that bird left me wanting to cry and jump in joy simultaneously.

I came to Colombo with a fever but the joy and excitement I felt in my heart, I still feel to this day. I’m not saying that I’ve become some hardcore birder now but I have come to understand where such a love originates from because birds are truly fascinating and majestic creatures, even the smallest of them. I don’t know what life lesson I’ve learned from this experience but I have learned something, I just don’t know how to describe it.

This was my last school trip as a senior and I can’t think of a better way to end it.