Kithulgala bound

On Friday 12^th  January, 2018, the year 10 Geography students were taken to Kithulgala to carry out the fieldwork required for our IGCSE coursework. Sleepy-eyed, we all arrived at school at 5.15am (bearing strong resemblance to zombies I’m sure,) and left for kithulgala at 5.30. After a rather loud, yet enjoyable bus ride we arrived at our destination 3 hours later.

We were warmly greeted by the manger of the Kithulgala Rest House and were offered refreshments as our teachers divided us into our groups. Shortly after, we set out to the town to begin our day’s work.

Despite the unrelenting heat and many kamikaze bus drivers, we successfully managed to collect plenty of data and get a first hand look at how the increase in tourism was affecting the settlement of the area.

We gathered information on the pattern of settlement and the land use of the area as well as interviewed many of the local business owners and even the tourists themselves to find out their opinions on Kithulgala’s increase in tourism and the effect it was having on the environment and overall settlement of the town. We used Butler’s and Doxey’s Model to identify which stage Kithulgala tourism had reached.

Once we returned to the Rest House tired, yet pleased with our accomplishments, we were treated to a delicious lunch and after a final debriefing, collation of data and photographs to mark this field trip on the lovely green beside the Rest House with the Kelani River flowing in the backdrop , we set off back to Colombo.

 After hours of uncontrollable laughter and massacring far too many overplayed pop songs, we eventually reached the school.

While we learned many important geographical skills and collected  data on this trip, that wasn’t all we walked away with. The tasks of the day showed us the importance of teamwork, responsibility and leadership. It also taught us that not many of us showed very promising futures in the singing industry.

Finally, on behalf of all my friends who went on this trip, I would like to give my sincerest thanks to Mr. Harwood and our amazing teachers; Mr. Gareth, Ms Sharmele and Ms Cini from the Geography Department for giving us this amazing opportunity.

-Shenaya Fernando