The Devil's Home

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The Devil's Home, also known as: Sinharaja. I feared this place. I had been dreading the day the we would have to go. Okay, so first I will tell you a little bit about it. Sinharaja is untamed. It is the last remaining primary tropical rainforest in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. It presents a large diversity of plants and animals. The forest has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Wilderness Area, prompting the world community to preserve this gift from nature. The forest is home to more than 60% of Sri Lanka's endemic plant species, and has the highest amount of endemic animals in Sri Lanka. eight out of twelve endemic species of mammals are found here. Commonly sighted are: the giant squirrel, the dusky-stripped jungle squirrel, the purple faced monkey, and the torque macaque. Now there is something for every nature lover here. For the bird lovers out there, this forest is home to 95% of the indigenous birds of Sri Lanka.
Although I was very affraid of this place, I must admit, it was very beautiful. Dr. Pearce could sense my fear, and I guess, to calm my nerves, he told me that the forest had been exterminated, yes, rid of all creepy crawly things. Nice try Dr. Pearce. We arrived in the after noon and greeted by our tour guides, (also our professors from PGIS) Prof. Savithri Gunatilleke and her husband Prof. Neemal Gunatilleke. And so the nightmare began. Poor Allegra was attacked by a spider in the bathroom. Could you just imagine, being attacked by such an evil creature during such a private moment? Later on, some of the group decided to go on a hike, while three of us (Somalla, Laura, and I ) decided to stay and "bird watch". As we were "bird watching" we came across a very rare species: homosapien jungle villager. Okay, okay, we were watching a guy bathe in the river.
Our walk through the forest began the next morning. After the first scream let out of an attacking leech, I ran to the truck. I had had enough nature for the day. I observed the forest behind the truck's window, and I HAVE NO REGRETS !
Later on that evening, I was so happy that I had made it through the day. More involved in my own thoughts, I had never noticed forest's music, until Chris said,"Listen." "Can you hear all the noises that the jungle has?" Wow, what an experience. Complete silence from other human voices, or traffic, from the noises that I am so used to hearing in the city. All you could hear was another world. I could hear the ripples of the water in the river, and birds calling out to each other. I could hear so many little animals interacting in THEIR world.

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