The random zoo party bus.This weekend was full of exciting events for all members of the group. Some members of the group went to Hikkaduwa to celebrate Anna’s 21st birthday by the sea. The other members of the group, Faye, Natalie, Fiona, Jack and Ashera all got up super early at 4am to go on a school/village trip to Colombo zoo. Packed inside a three-wheeled tuk tuk like sleeping zombies we made our way to the bus in darkness whilst the pouring rain flooded the streets.

On arrival at the school, the children and their parents were thrilled to see us and welcomed us onto the bus. Fully expecting it to be a long, tiring journey, we were all pleasantly surprised to see large drums being randomly carried onto the bus. Sleep was soon forgotten about when in true Sri Lankan style we sang, danced and laughed all the way to Colombo. The older children taught us some Sri Lankan dance moves and by the end we even knew some of the lyrics to Sri Lankan songs, my favourite being ‘Rosa’. By the time we reached Colombo we were all on our feet dancing in the aisle of the bus, hanging on tightly when the bus quickly sped around corners – even the drummers surprisingly managed to stay upright! The flashing decorative Buddha lights at the front of the bus was the final touch in transforming it into a true party bus. Who would have thought that so much fun could be had on a school bus!

The first stop was at a Buddhist temple which featured an enormous upright Buddha surrounded by white marble with steps leading up to it. We climbed these barefoot to take in the magnificent views and admired the beautiful carvings of lions and elephants, both of which are highly symbolic in Sri Lanka. Inside the temple were colourful cartoons explaining the buddhas life which was explained to us by the older children and their parents. This was very interesting and I was fascinated to learn more about the Buddhist culture. One picture that I found particularly fascinating was that of the tsunami of 2004 which had been incorporated as part of the temple pictures, an event that has certainly shaped Sri Lanka and its people and is now engrained on the temple walls for all to remember it by.

At the zoo, we all tried to stick together by shuffling from one animal to another given the large crowds of people. We managed to see a variety of animals including elephants, lions, leopards, exotic birds, fish, zebras and many more! The children were so excited but thankfully the big cages stopped any daring child from being ate by a hungry lion! The teachers kindly provided us with a tasty lunch of rice and dahl, much appreciated after a busy morning. After lunch we all watched the elephant show featuring an elephant the same age as me, but thankfully not the same size! The elephants very cleverly danced, did handstands and performed an array of party tricks to the applause of a cheering crowd. We then watched the sealion show with awe as it performed a variety of clever tricks with the children watching in fascination.

On the way home, we visited another temple with brightly coloured ceilings and a glass case of the Sri Pada – the buddhas foot that has religious connections with Adam’s Peak. We all walked around the temple smelling the beautiful aroma of burning incense whilst respectfully bowing to the Buddha. One thing that I found particularly touching was that from the moment of our arrival on the bus the parents, teachers and children all looked after us and made us really feel part of their family.

The journey home was just as exciting as the journey there with drums being played and many songs being sang creating an amazing atmosphere. We sang some English songs such as the famous ‘Yellow Submarine’, and a few Michael Jackson songs which everyone joined in with. One little girl incredibly managed to sleep the whole way back without battering an eyelid, despite sleeping next to a drum! We all arrived safely back at Matara with high spirits and the sound of drums still beating in our heads. The perfect end to an amazing day.