This semester OSC’s Duke of Edinburgh International Award program has been back in action, catching up and trying to find “normal.” By November the weather had temporarily dried out and Bronze candidates were ready to be assessed on their outdoor skills. Seventeen candidates and four teachers headed to the southern borders of Sinharaja rainforest near Lankagama. The journey was facilitated by Major Ruvan and his able team at Adventure Seals. Earlier this semester the cohort had completed its practice adventurous journey (PAJ) for the Bronze Award at the Kudawa entrance on the north side of Sinharaja (see link).
During this qualifying experience, we did a two-night journey where key skills (orienteering, map navigation, first aid, teamwork etc.) were put to the test. Candidates were assessed in order to qualify for the award. We followed a similar program to what we had done on the pre-pandemic trip in March 2019 (see link), however this time we did the program over three days and two nights. All in all, it was a positive experience exploring wild Sri Lanka with the students and working collaboratively to complete Award requirements.
Middle Row: Sandeep, Amy, Daria, Petra, Jed, Mai & Mali
Bottom Row: Neil, Arnav, Darini, & Kamila
(Photographs by Ian Lockwood)
Hike on Day 1
We did the longer of the two hikes on Monday, our only full day at Lankagama. As on our previous visit we walked alongside the Gin Ganga eastwards and then entered the forest at the Watugala bridge over the Aranuwa river. This is where the trail leads up to Sinhagala and the heart of Sinharaja. The groups hiked in two large teams and they worked on their projects during this time. One group recreated parts of the Monty Python -inspired The Quest of the Holy Coconut. They had printed out scripts and filmed themselves in different forest locations playing out the roles. The highlights for me were two encounters with an endemic Lyre-Nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus). The first one was at some distance from the Watugala bridge (Pep and June were able to get close to it but had to balance on a near-vertical forested slope). The two forest department guides found a second male on the other side of the bridge as we were walking by. This individual was at eye level and the group was treated to a fine encounter. Eloise helped me line up the lighting and the results are shared below.
Hike on Day 2
On our final day, we hiked to a series of waterfalls that are accessed from the Lankagama entrance. We hiked up to Gal Oruwa Ella and then came back down to swim at Doowili Ella (Dust waterfall). The path passed through fine secondary and then primary rainforest. The highlight was swimming in the pool below Doowili Ella and having a fish massage while watching sunlight filter through the spray. Earlier we had an unusual encounter with the endemic Sri Lanka Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus trigonocephalus) alongside the path. The group was descending a steep section of the trail in primary forest and clinging to a variety of small to medium size trees. One tree was swinging rather wildly and Arthur looked up to his amazement and found the pit-viper dangling and about to drop. By the time we halted the group, most people had passed the snake. There was a collective sigh of relief. I quickly assembled my diffuser and was able to get a few photographs before it decided to descend along the trunk. We left it and continued down to the falls.
The roads have been improved since our 2019 visit and after lunch, on Tuesday we bussed back to Colombo in about 3.5 hours. Most of the candidates now need to polish up their Online Record Books. It is also time to start thinking about some of the candidates moving on to the Silver Award. We have some exciting ideas that should motivate them.
CAS Pathways 