Planting beach trees

Bio-conservation Society Projects http://bcssl.org/ 

28th December: a project to get locals of Mahapelena interested in and involved with conservation. At least 50 people turned up and we planted Pandanas trees that grow here naturally. Normally, they line beaches with thick vegetation. Their roots grow straight down deeply and provide sheltered nesting sites for turtles. This vegetation protects the beach from erosion and reduces the impact of tsunamis - an event that is imprinted on the minds of everyone in this community where people lost everything, including their whole families. They were enthusiastic and even helped spontaneously to clean the beach, gathering a huge pile of plastic .... to burn  :( There is, unfortunately, no system in place to collect and dispose of rubbish.
Everyone loved getting their shopping bags and pomegranate plants.
My girls, Asanka, Ruwini and the twins, Nirosha and Nadeeka joined us along with their children so we had lots of fun with the waves afterwards.

From the cloud forests to the south coast

27th December: a looong journey south. I met another of the girls I used to teach - the wonders of Facebook!!

This is Ruwini. She was once Dorothy in our performance of The Wizard of Oz when I was her English teacher:

This is Ruwini's grandmother. I remember her telling me about visiting her in the holidays - part of a heart-breaking story.

Ruwini' neighbours helped me to find her house - some of these village tracks are not so easy to find with google satellite.

They are reading our leaflet about conservation projects in Sri Lanka and I encourage them to come and plant trees with us tomorrow.

http://bcssl.org/

Deeper into the Knuckles Mountain Forests

Boxing Day

Today, we walked along a paddy field irrigation channel, into the forest, to a huge waterfall (111m high). We were led by a guide who scampered nimbly through the branches and up and down slippery rocks. He attached ropes to help those of us who were less elegant at getting to our destination, a pool gushing with torrents from the waterfall.

Finally, time to cool off in a pool - very refreshing and great fun .... holding on tight to a rope all the time:

Petawala Village in the Knuckles Mountains

Christmas Day

Good friends and ecologists spent the day with me at different sites in the Knuckles mountainous forest reserves.  We visited dry plains and cloud forests. We saw different, endemic lizards, frogs, birds, plants and butterflies.

I have not had wifi since I left home but I will post some things I captured later. 

At the end of our day of discovery, we ambled into this village of paddy fields where water buffalo are still used to plough them.

Long lost friends

Christmas Eve

Half a lifetime ago, I spent one year in Sri Lanka as a voluntary English teacher.
Ruwina was a very good student and after 23 years we met again at her home in Narammala.
Lovely smiling face as always. Thank you Ruwina for a lovely time and delicious lunch. It was so good to see you again.

Outreach event about environmental issues for a youth group in Kalpitiya

On my second day we went to a children's society - a bit like a youth group.  Lalith, a turtle scientist, delivered a talk to raise awareness about environmental issues. The children were enthusiastic and are eager to change things for the better. We distributed shopping bags to help them reduce plastic and planted some pomegranate trees in their gardens as a little reminder to look after nature.

Fishing communities and mangroves in Kalpitiya

The beach between the lagoon and the open sea is a massive expanse of sand. Kite surfers enjoy the the safety of the lagoon with the wind of the Indian Ocean. As you approach the  beach, it becomes apparent that it is impossible to dodge the plastic - bottles, shoes, toothbrushes, ropes and fishing nets.

 There are often the remains of turtles caught for food (these are endangered species, struggling to survive as light disturbs their nesting, some eat plastic bags instead of jellyfish, some get caught in fishing nets and some are hunted after they lay eggs).

A fisherman took us on a boat ride through the corridors of mangrove forests. I don't know how he kept his bearings. It was hard to imagine that there is any pollution at all while you are floating through this lush, green paradise that is alive with the diverse sounds of various birds and fish leaping out of the water. We stopped to look at an "elephant tree." There was a dung beetle busy with its perfectly spherical load. There was also some huge dug - "wild elephants" I'm told are here. We stop again at a little island where fishermen live in basic huts and the rubbish is all around again. On the way home, I spotted some strange movement in the water - dolphins!

Nature in Sri Lanka

My pictures of animals, plants and scenery

Family times shared

Family times shared