5.30 am
Wake up just before sunrise to the relaxing sound of bird sing, and enjoy a good local breakfast. It’s an early wake-up call, but it’s important to get started before the sun gets too intense and the sea is generally calmer early morning.
SL001 – Sri Lanka – Coral Reef Monitoring Internship – Life on site
Accommodation and transport to site
Accommodation on site is relatively basic and provided through a local guest house located 200m from the main project base. Rooms are fan-cooled private rooms with private bathroom. The great breezy verandas and the meals consisting of traditional recipes created using locally sourced organic ingredients will leave you an unforgettable memory.
Food and drink
Three meals a day will be provided by local cooks. This is a fantastic opportunity to experience the wonderful variety of tastes and colours of the local cuisine. Curries, kottus, “hoppers”, roti, are just a few of the dishes you will get to try.
How to get there
By plane
After flying into Colombo airport, you will be welcomed by a staff member of our local partner: Blue Resources Trust.
For flight information and reservations, please contact our partner STA Travel and make sure to mention EnScope. For every flight reservation made through them, they will make a 1% donation towards the development of our projects.
Local transport
As you arrive, you will be picked up from the Colombo Bandaranaike Airport by a local driver and will travel directly to the project site. All fees are covered as part of your project.
Life on site
The project is based in the center of Pasikudah, a few hundred meters from the beach front.
Pasikudah is historically a small Tamil hamlet, but has received increasing attention from investors and is now an up and coming tourist area. This makes this location particularly interesting to work in, as anthropogenic impacts associated with coastal development and the affluence of tourists are currently still limited.
Outside of project work, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the local culture and cuisine.
Typical day
6.00 am
Pre-departure briefing.
The project leader will provide your with the day’s schedule and objectives as well as the list of dive sites to be visited. Dive teams will be assembled and roles assigned (e.g. fish surveyor, invertebrate surveyor).
6.15 am
Pack all survey equipment and dive gear and load it into the boat. Assigned boat drivers will also be preparing and loading the boat radio, safety kit and fuel.
6.30 am
Boat departure and travel to site(s)
All team members are on board, boat engines are started, site locations selected in the GPS and off we are for a day’s adventure!
12 pm
Back to shore, all the dive gear is rinsed and put out to dry. All samples collected for further analyses are appropriately stabilised and stored before a well deserved lunch.
1.00 pm
Lunch
2.00 pm
Data entry and analysis
Time to type up and analyse all recorded data. This is also an opportunity to discuss data analysis strategies with local scientists and to start working on the project report.
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