WOX Travel Contest | Week 11

Hello friends, today I am going to share with you our trip to Sinharaja Forest. Recently, we headed there as usual, as we all are nature lovers. We wanted to go there at our earliest. Therefore, we left our house at 5:00 a.m., so we could arrive there around 7.30 a.m.

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There are four main entrance to get into Sinharaja: the Kalawana-Weddagala Road in the northwest, the Rakwana-Morning Side Estate Road in the northeast, the Hiniduma-Neluwa Road in the southwest, and the Deniyaya-Pallegama Road in the southeast. We chose the Kalawana-Kaduwela entrance because it is closest to us since we are from the Gampaha District. Therefore, we traveled on Kadawatha Highway Road, via Kalawana and Weddagama Road.

After breakfast in a hut created for travelers close to the gate, we set off on our journey. The travel guide advised us to wear leech-protective socks and shoes because the forest is rife with leeches.

Sinharaja is one of the tropical rainforests, which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Since this island's perfectly clean lowland rainforest is home to 830 endemic species of flora and fauna unique to Sri Lanka. Because of its rich biodiversity, it is considered one of the world's biodiversity hot spots.

The Sinharaja forest spread over Matale, Galle, and Ratnapura District. It is home to numerous endemic animal and plant species. A few examples of endemic plant species include hora, diya na, batu na, and beraliya. The green pit viper, the purple-faced leaf monkey, the jungle fowl, and the Sri Lanka blue magpie are a few of our endemic bird and animal species that reside in the jungle.

It is the best location to discover the magnificent nature that exists outside of the artificial world. This area is rich with dense trees and streams that flow over rocky terrain, spitting water onto the wetland. If we reach there at about 6.00 a.m. we could watch the animals. But because we were a bit late, we missed them.

There are also many unusual birds, butterflies, insects, reptiles, species, and plants. Sinharaja is also home to lovely waterfalls, hill flowers, and rocks. There are many beautiful waterfalls in this area where it rains frequently. Brahmin Falls, Douvli Falls, and Ura Fallu Falls are a few of the few waterfalls that exist.

It gets rainfall and there is a warm environment inside the forest. The forest is a good habitat for various organisms which helps to maintain the water cycle and balance the oxygen and carbon dioxide gasses in the atmosphere.

Commonly found in Sinharaja is this Badura flower. This plant is an example of a herbaceous plant that resembles both shrubs and semi-shrubs.

Rain can fall at any time of day in the Sinharaja, so it's important to wear a raincoat when using the footpaths. There are lovely rest huts for visitors to use along the route.

The cool, quiet surroundings of the forest made us feel relaxed and stress-free.

All images were captured using my Apple iPhone and DASH Camera.

I hope you all enjoy reading my entry for this contest.

5% to @wox-helpfund.

Thanks for reading.