Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Trip to Sinharaja Rain Forest

 

 

Located in south-west Sri Lanka, Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. There is much endemic wildlife, especially birds, but the reserve is also home to over 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of mammals and butterflies, as well as many kinds of insects, reptiles and rare amphibians.


Sri Lanka's tropical rain forest, the Sinharaja is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. One of the few virgin forests left in the world. Visitors are required to obtain permits from the Wildlife Department in order to visit this sanctuary. Streams, springs, rivers, waterfalls, leopard, monkeys, butterflies and moths, rare trees, valuable shrubs and medicinal herbs are all found within its green canopy. A trek along prescribed paths would provide nature lovers with a never to be forgotten experience of sights and sounds.


There are also shrews, giant squirrels, porcupines, civets, mongooses, venomous snakes, 20 species of birds and 45 species of reptiles!.

 

My company's Sports club palned to trip Sinharaja forest,  my frirend Puspaka with few other colleagus organizsed whole event & things .. bus, forest bunglow ( where we going to stay ) , foods   and so on,  unfortunatly they couldn't find camp sites to stay.

It was last friday late evening around 4.30pm we all ( unfrotunatly few colleagus couldn't make it due to varies other reasons) started the journey through the rathanapura root, basically it's a 5 - 6 hrs tour, we managed to reached there around 11pm midnight, it was raining and very cool night. as we planed we stayed at  Sinharaja forest bunglow.

 

 

Saturday morning we strated the hiking, we went about 13 km hike in the forest.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great trip indeed, unlike other places this rain forest atmosphere is brilliant, freash air, greenish eye sights  etc.