Calm before the storm!

Before we left the UK we were advised to have a rest day on day 3 of trekking. However, we managed to last until day 5 until we felt over-tired and irritable! As a result we didn’t set our alarms and didn’t wake until gone 8am so we’d had a solid 10 hour’s sleep which prepared us for our rainforest trek. 

The spectacular 3 hour car journey from Udawalawa to the entrance of the Sinharaja forest was along very windy roads. The scenery was vast and mostly covered with tea plantations carved into the side of the steep hillsides. It was lush and green as far as we could see with waterfalls spilling out of the mountain rocks. 

We arrived at The Blue Magpie Lodge on the edge of the Sinharaja soon after 1pm completely cut off from all communication and 8km away from any wifi. On arrival we were given an amazing drink called Sour Sop which the lodge manager told us has properties that directly attack cancer cells. We were also asked if we wanted to buy leech boots for our trek which Gill looked pretty aghast at but readily accepted!

The Sinharaja is 6000 acres of rain forest, declared as a reserved forest in 1875 and in 1989 awarded World Heritage status. One of its key objectives is to enhance and maintain the carbon stocks through sustainable management.

We started our trek with a professional tracker called Sampa who would walk with us through the rainforest. The heavy rainfall just before we arrived meant we were fully kitted out in our waterproofs as well as our glamorous leech socks! We’d got used to ‘humid’ but this was steaming! The thunder roared gently in the background as our tracker pointed out to us the exotic medicinal plants, massive snails, spiders in webs, lizards, and best of all a purple faced langur monkey. Click here for my earlier blog dedicated to this shy monkey. 

10 minutes or so into the walk we were warned about the two elephants that lived in the forest, one which had been seen on the pathway in the morning and was aggressive. We then spent the rest of the trek scenario-planning in case we encountered him – run, climb up a tree, jump down a ditch and sod the leeches etc.

As we clambered down from the forest canopy to the bed and through a gently running stream, Gill’s worst fear was realised! Leeches all over her boots and socks! The screech from her made me slip and into the stream I went.

With Gill’s leeches all peeled off by Sampa, it was back to our lodge for another glass of sour sop and a surprise meeting with Koush, a famous Sri Lankan birder and ecologist who’s stayed here many times when taking individuals and groups bird watching. 

We ended the day with the best food for a few days – string hoppers, fish curry, coconut samba and dahl. A-MAZ-ING!

If you missed the last blog – number 5 – here it is.

Further sponsorship – If you’d like to sponsor us on this trek whilst being assured that every penny will go to those who need it, then please donate by clicking on this link. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/marcia-summerstrekssrilanka Don’t forget that if you’re a tax payer to declare ‘gift aid’ when doing so which will increase your donation by 25% at no cost to you . Alternatively, if you know anyone or an organisation which may have any interest in these causes please forward onto them.

Next up: Blog 7 – Re-visiting a gem mine in Ratnapura