A Short Walk through Sinharaja Forest

Sinharaja Forest Reserve, this was our second last place of stay in our Sri Lanka trip before we headed to Colombo. We had our share of hiking (Exploring Sigiriya), water activities (Visiting Trincomalee) and cultural activities in our trip already. So it was now time to experience a true rainforest.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve has been declared as Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It holds many wonders from the natural world, many unique to the place. We were all looking forward to it. I had been to a few rainforests during my stint in Malaysia. I was unsure of how my children would take to it. As with any rainforest it would have leeches and many a creepy crawly. I remember my son freaking out when he had got a few leeches on his shoes several years ago when we had visit a forest in Kerala, India. But I was hoping it would be different this time around 🙂 .

We were booked into a property not too far from the entrance to the Sinharaja Forest in the Deniyaya side. We reached by nightfall to the place of stay. Over dinner we discussed the plan for the next day. We had half of the next day to trek in the forest, post which we would need to head on towards Colombo. I was to go early in the morning with our driver cum guide plus another local forest guide as I was specifically interested in . The others would wake up more leisurely and then head out to explore later in an easy pace.

There was mist the next morning. But it was to be expected in a hilly rainforest.

But there were quite a bit of bird activity happening on the trees. I got excellent views of two endemics; Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot and Sri Lanka Green-Pigeon. After an early breakfast we huddled onto the vehicle and drove to the entrance of the rainforest. The trek in the forest that we took was for around 4 hours. Walking through was a brilliant experience. Towards the end when we we returning to the entrance it rained very hard. So we sat in the ticket office at the entrance. We also wanted to wait for the others in the family whom we were told had gone in with another guide. Finally I saw them walking out, all with a big smile and many experiences to share. They all had a great time and were thanking me for getting to experience it!

I was feeling a bit disappointed with not having seen as many bird endemics as I would have liked to see. But that is nature. It could have been because we had come off season or because of the rain. Or simply a day when the birds did not want to come out. But the forest had revealed many of its secret residents. Here are some of their photos.

Here are some more, courtesy my daughter, including the cover photo.

Back at the lodge it had become time for us to start our journey to Colombo. Packing done and the luggage transferred to our vehicle we headed off, saying our goodbye to magnificent Sinharaja Forest Reserve.

Tips

If you want to see many of the resident creatures it is best to take a local forest guide. Some of the creatures that we saw were not easy to spot and many were away from the walking trail. Local guides seem to know the regular spots for them. They will also be able to talk a bit on the species that one is seeing when spotted.

Interested in seeing the endemic birds? Our driver told me that the northern side of Sinharaja is the more popular destination. So one may want to read up on that and make a choice.

You have to be prepared for creepy crawlies in the forest. There will be leeches. So take appropriate precautions such as leech socks. More so be mentally prepared to have some leech bites. They look more scary than their actual bite 🙂

Lastly don’t go with a lot of expectations. Nature watching is unpredictable. Just enjoy the forest and be happy with what it offers you and you go along the trail.

 

If you liked the post then do consider following my blog. I would also love to hear  your thoughts. Maybe you have been to Sinharaja or have visited similar places. Do leave comments below to let me know.