Day 3: Sandun Ella: Fears were conquered, abs were sailed and skin was burned!

Once upon a time on a Monday in Sri Lanka, as the sun came up over the mountain two of our fearless companions spotted a large lizard on the horizon. In a moment of shock and awe they captured photographs of the magnificent beast. Shortly afterwards the rest of our company cautiously entered the river for our morning swim.

The fearless Mr Billington trudged into the water and forced the cold, rushing water onto those who were unwilling to commit themselves.

Before the true journey began breakfast was delivered. During this time Safari Guy Ian made the courageous Sagar shriek as if he were a small, infant child (editor's note: Pray give more information on cause of said screams!). With screams echoing in our ears we departed on our epic quest. The journey began with a perilous small trek through leech infested jungle! The path lead upwards and onwards , getting steeper all the time. We arrived dripping with sweat and some tears, to the magnificent embrace of the waterfall.

One by one we began to fall, somehow gracefully defying gravity. Waiting at the bottom we followed our gallant instructors down the cliff showing no sign of slowing. The sun rose higher and our skin was scorched even quicker than anticipated. We returned to camp triumphant over the waterfall but we had lost the battle against the sun.

With aloe vera in hand, and on skin, we press onwards on our journey to understand ourselves and others.

With Much Love
The Cliff Hangers    

Day 2: HKIS Visit Belilena Caves

This morning we woke up early and some of us actually did some chores in the Long House at 6am – the rest joined us for tea and cake by 6:30am and by 7am we were doing our morning stretches and played clap rugby. Following on we took a bath in the river to freshen up before breakfast and a hike up to Belilena Cave, which took us through rubber and tea plantations and along the way we picked up a few leeches!

Up at the caves, which is a location where the remains of ancient man were discovered, we had a yoga session (Kundalni) before lunch and then went on to play several team building and communication games.

The hike back was broken by us being rescued by the Borderlands vehicle, which was great as it was such a hot day today!

We got back in the river once we were at camp and cooled down.

Back at camp we have great dinners, camp fires, we watched a slide show of out last two days at camp and videos that had been taken, and then our evening ends with really great games which really brings us all together and its non stop laughing (unless you’re Robyn and Tara who won this evening’s game!)

Tomorrow we head to up to the abseil point for another day of adventure!

Vanessa, Kyra, Drew and Jack

Day1: HKIS

The first full day in Sri Lanka for the students from Hong Kong International School is brought to you by Robyn, Nitiya and Tara: 

"This morning we woke up to the beautiful view offered to us at the Gateway Airport Hotel. Though our stay there was reasonably short, staying merely for the night it was definitely sweet. After leaving early this morning we took a three and  half hour bus ride to our new living quarters. After reaching at around 11am we were astonished that even though the cabin at Borderlands did not have air conditioning or the amenities that The Gateway had, it was still very relaxing. Our cabins are on a long river surrounded on all sides by nature.

The first thing we did was take a quick swim in the river before heading to the canyon.

A long hike through the jungle and we finally reached our destination – when we first arrived we saw massive rocks and small rock pools but as we entered deeper into the canyon we discovered that the place was much more vast. There were many steep slides and high cliffs which we had to slide and jump off. The obstacles seemed endless. By the time we finished our activity we were exhausted but felt accomplished. We took a shorter hike to the river and then we floated along the river back to camp. 

Once we got back to camp we did something we thought we would never do. We showered in the river. The water was cold and the ground was filled with pebbles – this was an unusual experience and at the end of the day we were astonished by Sri Lanka’s natural beauty. The food was amazing and very much look forward to the rest of this journey.”

Day 4: Adventure At Camp

Dear Parents

We have been able to survive  …. So far. You will never believe what we did today – you think you know us that well?

Well we did things today that neither you or us would’ve ever  imagine we would be able to do. Not only did we go through a challenging adventure race that  involved untying knots without actually touching them or boiling an egg by building our own fire, but we also had to stack crates without falling off them (our record was 16 crates) and zip-lined across a river while it was raining cats and dogs.

We finally ended our day by shopping in a few stores in the village for some gifts,

Even though we are having the time of our lives and we would wish to extend our stay here – we miss you a lot and see you soon!

Lynn, Joelle and Chami

Day 3: An Amazing Service Day at the Kelani Estates Creche in Belilena

‘Suba Sandawak parents (in case you’re wondering it means Good Evening in Sinhala.)

Were sure you’ve all been waiting impatiently to know what we did today.

So after waking up at 6:30am ee skipped morning stretches and the river bath planned because of a wild intruder. He decided to visit the girls’ bathroom which led to some excitement inside there.

Editors Note: intruder was resident Purple Face Leaf Monkey!

After that we tool a truck ride to a crèche which looks after 15 children – here we divided into two groups. One group started painting the crèche while the other played with the kids.

They were so welcoming and friendly and we spent a great time with them.

One of the mothers was kind enough to cook some snacks for us that we ate during a break. After a few more hours of work we had lunch sent from camp and tidied up the crèche and said some thanks before leaving.

They showed us great appreciation and happiness with big smiles ok their faces and bowed down to thank us which made some of us very emotional.

It was an overwhelming experience and the best part of it was making little kids happy.

When we came back we showered in the river! An unique experience Ha!ha!

Can't wait for tomorrow and some new adventures!”

Chloe and Meg

Day 2 - amazing adventures on the Sandun Ella Waterfall

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and higher experiences.” Eleanor Roosevelt

 Hey Parents!

 Hope you’re not missing us too much. Today was all about adventures. After having to deal with a cheeky monkey we did some yoga stretches, before having to take a dip in the “freezing” river.

Around 11am we went on a 40 minutes truck ride. Helmets on, life jackets buckled, we were ready to face the unforgiving jungle – we started off with a short yet tough hike, and after admiring the beautiful view, we went down a waterfall abseiling.

Despite some people’s fears (and bites from evil leeches) we all made it down the waterfall and had lunch while enjoying a wonderful view.

In the afternoon we visited a Buddhist Temple, got to learn more about Buddhism and we even lit some candles. The experience was really inspiring.

Finally after a long day we have all learned how to face our fears and going on challenging adventures”

Joelle and Joelle