Group A. Kirsten, Alex, Isabel

On February 23rd we started our day off nice and early at 4:30 am, with departure from the hotel at 5:15 am. We rose but I think we forgot to shine. The sky was dark and greeted us with a cool morning rain. With excitement for the day, we hoped into three vans as our typical buses would not suffice for our journey to Horton Plains national park. The majority of the ride was in darkness but the sun began to rise as we arrived at 6:30 am. The hotel staff were kind enough to pack us breakfast which we consumed before getting our tickets and bags checked. They don’t allow any plastic into the park except for plastic water bottles (as long as they have the label ripped off). Dilini explained to us that visitors tend to litter the labels throughout the park. I personally think that the no plastic rule should be adopted in our Canadian parks! We started our hike off at 7:30am and continued to mini worlds end. During our venture we were able to find 5 of the 8 species listed on the park information board. These included the Sri Lanka purple-faced langur, Rhinohorn lizard, Sri Lanka dull blue flycatcher, Sri Lanka yellow-eared bulbul and some of us were even lucky enough to spot the Sri Lanka whistling thrush among many other wonderful sightings. Also notably there were lots of pipits and we saw a pied buschat. When we got to mini worlds end we were in awe of the view that was presented before us. Valleys and hills full of lush vegetation, lakes and distant houses lit up the landscape. After snapping a few shots we all prepared to hike back to the buses. When driving out of the park we were greeted by a troop of toque macaques. Many of which were mothers carrying their young. Lunch was a mix of personal preferences prepared by Perera and Sons. Im not sure if it was the restaurant or the fact that we were very hungry but lunch tasted very good! Most of us enjoyed kottu, Mongolian rice or fried rice. With being just a short distance from the hotel we stopped at a cafe for some refreshments and continued on our return. The afternoon was filled with many insightful presentations. The first was a debate regarding debt for nature swaps and whether their effects are ecologically beneficial or simply greenwashing underlying concerns. Following this we listened to three seminars. We began with Meg who presented a seminar about how institutional pressures shape biodiversity management in Sri Lankan tea plantations, then Isabel who discussed the socioeconomics of biodiversity conservation in protected areas, and finally we ended with Josh who addressed the threats that oil-palm agriculture poses to biodiversity. After our academic evening we all rested and had a lovely dinner before heading up to pack our bags for our next journey!