A LASTING LEGACY
Along with exploring and kayaking, our trip also aimed to leave a lasting legacy in Sri Lanka to benefit the local people.
We enlisted the help of a rafting company based in Sri Lanka, Borderlands. We used their vehicles to travel and explore Sri Lanka and took take a member of their staff along with us as an interpreter and for logistical help.
Much like many places in the world clean energy generation is becoming an issue in Sri Lanka, as kayakers this is an emotive issue as it inevitably results in the loss of whitewater rivers which we enjoy and many rely on for their livelihood. We learned that the Kelani River on which white water rafting is based has been scheduled to be damned with work beginning in six months. One of the main goals of our trip was to find a new section of whitewater to enable rafting at Borderlands to continue, we found two rivers with potential, the Sitawaka and Kotmole Oya.
We also worked with Borderlands staff to provide coaching on general river safety and more specific techniques such as leading and rescue skills. These are skills which can then be passed within borderlands and other rafting companies in Sri Lanka. We spent time at Borderlands in Colombo providing advanced rope work and safety lessons to local raft guides and kayakers. One of the Borderlands raft guides joined us for a memorable first descent of the Goorook Oya where his skills improved immensely and we hope some of our river leading skills were passed on.
When we left Sri Lanka we also left much of our equipment to the local paddling community.
In an attempt to advance the 'outdoor scene' in Sri Lanka we held a presentation in Colombo as an expedition wrap up. There were reporters, and many people we had met and who had helped us have such a successful expedition. This included Mr Prahara, the President of NACKSL (the National Association of Canoeing and Kayaking Sri Lanka), who we met at the start of the expedition to gather information from, but also to whom we detailed the benefits of whitewater kayaking and how it could help Sri Lankan communities should the sport develop. To give the outdoor scene some media presence in Sri Lanka we did some interviews and filming for Sri Lankan MTV, which we hope will boost tourism in the area. After a chance meeting with the Government Minstry of Tourism, we have been in touch offereing advice and media (pictures and video) of how to improve Tourism up the Sitawaka Valley - a beautiful area which offered us so much and has so much potential for travellers and trekkers.
Full travel around the north of Sri Lanka has only been possible since the 26 year long Civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) ended in 2009. We found a number of rivers suitable for rafting though there are still many left to be explored. We hope that they may be used for rafting in the future, and boosting tourism in an area where there is currently little.
Upon returning to the UK we will put together some footage and photos taken in Sri Lanka and present our trip at various paddling and outdoors events. We will also write river guides for all the rivers kayaked on this trip and publish them on our website for future trips to use. This should increase the popularity of Sri Lanka as a kayaking destination.
We enlisted the help of a rafting company based in Sri Lanka, Borderlands. We used their vehicles to travel and explore Sri Lanka and took take a member of their staff along with us as an interpreter and for logistical help.
Much like many places in the world clean energy generation is becoming an issue in Sri Lanka, as kayakers this is an emotive issue as it inevitably results in the loss of whitewater rivers which we enjoy and many rely on for their livelihood. We learned that the Kelani River on which white water rafting is based has been scheduled to be damned with work beginning in six months. One of the main goals of our trip was to find a new section of whitewater to enable rafting at Borderlands to continue, we found two rivers with potential, the Sitawaka and Kotmole Oya.
We also worked with Borderlands staff to provide coaching on general river safety and more specific techniques such as leading and rescue skills. These are skills which can then be passed within borderlands and other rafting companies in Sri Lanka. We spent time at Borderlands in Colombo providing advanced rope work and safety lessons to local raft guides and kayakers. One of the Borderlands raft guides joined us for a memorable first descent of the Goorook Oya where his skills improved immensely and we hope some of our river leading skills were passed on.
When we left Sri Lanka we also left much of our equipment to the local paddling community.
In an attempt to advance the 'outdoor scene' in Sri Lanka we held a presentation in Colombo as an expedition wrap up. There were reporters, and many people we had met and who had helped us have such a successful expedition. This included Mr Prahara, the President of NACKSL (the National Association of Canoeing and Kayaking Sri Lanka), who we met at the start of the expedition to gather information from, but also to whom we detailed the benefits of whitewater kayaking and how it could help Sri Lankan communities should the sport develop. To give the outdoor scene some media presence in Sri Lanka we did some interviews and filming for Sri Lankan MTV, which we hope will boost tourism in the area. After a chance meeting with the Government Minstry of Tourism, we have been in touch offereing advice and media (pictures and video) of how to improve Tourism up the Sitawaka Valley - a beautiful area which offered us so much and has so much potential for travellers and trekkers.
Full travel around the north of Sri Lanka has only been possible since the 26 year long Civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) ended in 2009. We found a number of rivers suitable for rafting though there are still many left to be explored. We hope that they may be used for rafting in the future, and boosting tourism in an area where there is currently little.
Upon returning to the UK we will put together some footage and photos taken in Sri Lanka and present our trip at various paddling and outdoors events. We will also write river guides for all the rivers kayaked on this trip and publish them on our website for future trips to use. This should increase the popularity of Sri Lanka as a kayaking destination.
