DP1 Highland’s week without walls

This was at the start of the hike. Behind us was a tiny exhibition showcasing the trail map, different butterfly species, and huge antlers.

At the beginning of the trail there was a big Srilankan Samaba deer.

This was the point where the nice even grounded trail ended and the challenge started.

This picture was taken in the middle of the hike where I saw a good chance to take a shot. Really liked the shot as there was many complexions of colors.

 

During the 23rd to 27th of janruary I embarked on the highland’s trip. The foundation of the trip is hiking through nature and srilanka’s highland terrains. This trip has been designed to explore a selection of high-altitude ecosystems in and around Horton Plains National Park. On the first day we went on a small hike touring through rice fields. We still did not enter the highlands on this day because the group had to explore a nature trail in Ratnapura. The most prominent feature I noticed was the difference in temperature across the lands of Ratnapura and Horton plains. We stayed for a night in a compound equipped with big tents. In the evening we walked down the road to a nearby lake which hosted  many animals such as different species of birds, snakes and the asian water buffalo. The lake was beautiful and was not a infestation for plastic. As the day passed and the sun came down we got back to our tents to get ready for dinner.

We packed our bags early as we could as we would leave to Ella falls first thing in the morning. As we drove up to ella falls I noticed the altitude change and my ear started to pop. But the most interesting part of the 2nd day was the montane rain forests. The Sri Lanka montane rain forests is an ecoregion found above 1,000 m in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. A province where there is rich biodiversity and is considered as a hotspot for Srilanka’s many endimic tree species. There forests are typically a lot cooler than the forest hosted in the low land’s of Srilanka thus creating a more idealistic environment to growing cloud forests. As we hiked up to the Ella waterfall the I noticed that the forest hosted pine cone trees which I have never seen in Sri Lanka. I also learnt that the pine cone tree leaves are very thing and moist which could make you slip on your path. As we got to the middle point to admire the view, we were basically inside a cloud and was going through the trees. We finished the hike by swimming in the Lanka Ella falls which was a whole new experience as the water was incredibly cold and didn’t imaging it to be that cold.

The 3rd day was going to be our longest hike we would be doing on the trip. The trip circulated around the Horton plaines national park and featured hotspots like the great world’s end drop. A sheer cliff, with a drop of about 4,000 feet. The hike is located at an elevation of 2,100–2,300 m and encompasses montane grassland and cloud forest. It is rich in biodiversity and many species found here are endemic to the region. Animals such as deers with massive antlers to small birds and mantis were found during the duration of our hike. The clouds at the great’s world end covered the long drop. But we waited around 10 minutes so the clouds could clear up and saw the extrodonary scale of the vast land filled with big green trees and encompasses a valley.