(The DS group about to go on the fish massage walk – photo cred: person working there, Ms. Desline)
Down South Day 3
Day 3 of the Down South trip was mainly travelling, and rather slow in comparison to the day before. I think that everyone was a bit sleepy from the sheer amount of travelling that we did on this day. When we arrived in Deniyaya, it was a very exciting jeep ride up to the hotel – something similar to Jurassic Park!
The Rainforest Ecolodge was quite cold, but the rooms were absolutely amazing. After getting settled in and having lunch, we put on leech socks (a first time for me!) and went off on a hike to fish massages.
I believe that this hike/ walk was very enjoyable, we went rather deep into the rainforest – which was a bit of an interesting experience. However, something that I did not like was that the forest almost seemed to close in on you during the walks. After a considerable walk, we arrived at a river-like place for the fish massages.
It was quite humorous to hear everyone scream their lungs out at the sensation of the fish, although I do admit I find myself being part of them. It was a very new experience.
We walked back – which was considerably harder than the route down, especially as it was in the rain. After resting and sundown, we went on a night walk in order to observe frogs that were in the area. The guide, Jagath, was extremely helpful when pointing out certain frogs and giving us some background information on them. This walk took a rather long time, as we took many pictures of the things that we saw.
That was the end of Day 3!
Learning outcome:
- LO1 – Strength and growth
- This days activities and what we did allowed me to discover that I was actually quite good at walking long distance without stopping – even though I believe I have a weakpoint in hiking uphill, I was able to complete this hike without stopping at all.
- Furthermore, I was able to explore my stamina more and I think that this would be something that is very beneficial in the future for me, especially when conducting activities that are similar to this.