Never have I ever had such an action-packed day in my entire life! Our legs are tired, our throats are soar from cheering on our friends, but our hearts are filled with an experience we will cherish for the rest of our lives. The idea of today was to “step outside of our comfort zone” and work as a team, as introduced by our inspiring eco-adventure guide and experienced ecologist Mahesh.
We spent last night in tents, with the Yathrees taking sentry posts throughout the night. Rather than seeing this as a task, they were highly grateful for the experience, and even pleaded with us to let them do this every night!
We rose at dawn to raise the Sri Lankan flag, before jumping into a meditation and yoga session to get our minds and bodies in tune for the day ahead. We then launched into some innovative and hilarious group activities. I have never witnessed such comradery, selflessness, teamwork and participation in all my experience in adventure guiding!
A morale boosting Haka (Maori-dance) inspired performance by Team-River, in the pouring monsoon rains
After breakfast we took to some rope courses in the jungle canopy, and despite torrential monsoon rainfall, which persisted all day, none of the Yathrees ducked for shelter or complained once – rather, cherishing this added challenge from Mother Nature.
Kanchana being lifted down from the high ropes course
After lunch we hiked through awe-inspiring jungle, across wild river crossings and into the mountains around Kithugala, with the raging sound of the Kelani River never far away. We passed the location where the classic World War II movie, Bridge over the River Kwai was filmed, and even visited an eco-friendly micro hydropower house. This led us to the rarely-seen Katarum River, where we took turns in plunging down a hair-raising rock pool slide!
Upon returning to base camp we sent the Yathrees off to prepare a drama to perform tonight to reflect on this marvelous day. Judging by the Yathrees performance so far, I trust this will be a hilarious, jaw-dropping, tear-jerking and heart-warming evening!
At this half-way point in our Journey we would like to say a heartfelt thanks to our kind and generous sponsors and supporters, your support has changed the lives of our youth, as well as everyone that we have passed along the way on our Journey For Climate Justice.
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