(The group during a river bath – Picture by Mr. Duncan)

Trip to Kithulgala!

As a combination of the Diploma Program orientation and the DP science trip, we took a 3-day trip to Kithulgala where we experienced a mix of both thrilling adventures and science in the outside world.

Day 1:

(Just arrived! – Picture by Mr. Duncan)

Day 1 was filled with all sorts of adrenaline-fueled opportunities! After a smooth bus trip to Borderlands, we arrived and put on safety gear then were divided into groups. Any sleepiness we had from the bus ride disappeared as soon as we entered the ice-cold water during the initial practicing bit (where we learned to paddle, float, etc.) – amusingly, I even got pushed into the water without any warning (as a way of practicing saving someone).

The rapids were absolutely thrilling, the large waves seemingly swallowed up our small rafts as we paddled relentlessly. This was my 4th time rafting and definitely one of my most favorite parts of the entire trip! After the white water rafting ended and a short hike later (in which I slipped quite a lot on the rocks), and lunch on the river, we began canyoning.

(Class of 2023 about to go canyoning – Picture by Huirong)

I had experienced canyoning twice before, yet the feeling of excitement (mixed with a bit of fear) never dulls. Strangely enough, the jumps didn’t scare me – and I’d love to do them over and over. The sliding was also especially fun, although I do think that the bumps on the rocks that we slid over left me a bit sore the next day.

Aforementioned, during this canyoning part I slipped quite a bit on the rocks – however, the people around me were amazingly helpful. Once the canyoning was over, we got the opportunity to float down the river to camp. I think that this part was rather nerve-wracking, as the rapids on the river were quite scary.

Finally, at the camp, we rested and awaited Day 2.

Day 2:

(Sights we saw on our hike to the rainforest, uniform tea plant garden – Picture by the author)

Day 2 started off early with some exercises and a river bath (the water was so cold!). Then the science groups split off to do their respective activities. I was in the Biology group, and we visited a rubber tree area in order to utilize quadrats and quantify plant species in an area in relation to the elevation of the ground. My partner, Sara, and I were at the lowest elevation and worked together to encounter many different types of small plants. This activity was rather interesting, however, the leaches in the rubber area were merciless!

After collecting data and having lunch back at the camp, the ESS and Biology group visited a rainforest – we even got to ride on a paruwa (a type of Sri Lankan fishing boat). Sara and I collected quite a lot of data on lichen growth on the trees there – which was somewhat challenging considering the lush growth we had to go through to accumulate it. If I thought the leaches at the rubber forest were bad, they were nothing in comparison to the leaches in the rainforest. Every time you stop to remove one leach, seven more would be trying to get inside your shoe! I’m quite sure that the guides found our panic highly amusing.

Finally, we were back at the camp. After a campfire music session and dinner, the grade had fun with a dance-turned-karaoke session that ended with a long dance train.

Day 3:

(A picture of the Bio class doing the river sampling – Picture by the author)

Up early, as usual, the entire grade took part in exercise and games together. Then I headed off with the biology group back to the river we did canyoning on Day 1. There, the partners were given sections of the river – ranging from downstream to upstream – and collected data on the organisms living in the water.

Sara and I were the highest upstream (and after quite a bit of slipping and sliding on rocks), we collected a strange shrimp-like animal near the river bank. Later, after some research we deduced that this might have been a Paratya compressa. Sadly, this shrimp-thing made a great escape by jumping out of the sampling bottle as we opened it to get a closer look.

(The strange shrimp-thing we caught, likely a Paratya compressa – Picture by the author)

Later, Sara caught a large water bug which we observed. Once we finished this and went back, everyone took a river bath and got ready to go home. The bus ride back was notably quieter than the bus ride to Kithulgala – I think everyone was significantly more tired. It was only when I got home that I realized exactly how many leach bites I had!

Overall, I think that this trip was extremely memorable. I was able to form closer bonds with the people around me and talk more with others that I usually hadn’t in-depth. Bonding over looking out for leaches was great fun too, and definitely not something you could do in classrooms!

(The entire grade, ready to go canyoning – Picture by Mr. Duncan)

Learning objectives:

• LO1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
  • I think I definitely got to grow as a person during this trip, and was able to deepen bonds that I had with other people.
  • I was challenged considerably during some parts of this trip and it made me understand more about my weaknesses and strengths (in things such as hiking, swimming, leaches, etc.)

• LO2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • We did quite a lot of hiking during this trip, and it is something I don’t consider myself to be overly good at. The places we went to on this trip really helped me to exercise this skill and push my limits.
  • Something interesting I noticed was that the rocky descent to the camp became noticeably easier the more I did it, and this was interesting progress to see. 
  • Furthermore, I got to attain new skills in applying science to interesting environments such as rivers – which I had never done before.

• LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
  • I think that the science part of the trip focused quite a lot on collaborating with my partner and the other people around me. We worked together highly effectively in order to achieve our objective. I think that my communication and engagement with my partner were very good, as the two of us were able to always complete our tasks on time.
  • Another encounter of collaboration would be how everyone helped others when hiking and canyoning on this trip. There was quite a lot of looking out for each other.

• LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
  • Wade talked quite a lot about the environment and global issues relating to the environment we were in (such as soil distribution, hydropower, the dam, etc.), therefore, I think that the grade was able to interact with those things efficiently.