In the morning, we headed to a tea plantation where we walked around the factory, it was huge! So many different processes to make tea haha. It was amazing to see and we went to an actual factory, like usually tourists aren’t allowed in it.. But the manager showed us round! Would not have that in england!! There were machinery flying round everywhere haha! And then we stopped at a different one to see the tea pickers plucking the leaves which was cool, the fields go on forever, lead to believe its a very lucrative business.
We then went to Unawatuna, a kind of touristy place with the most beautiful beach! We sunbathed for hours and now i feel so refreshed, also had a chicken sandwich which was peng👌 they do a beach party every tuesday and i am SO up for that.. Perhaps a 19th birthday treat 🙌 we went back to galle and i had to stop off in the town to repair my phone because the screen smashed! What am i like 🙈 like the 6th bloody screen this phone has had, most of it isnt the same phone i bought originally 😹. At least i got to walk around galle for a bit which was nice. We picked up the girls and then headed back home for a well needed shower and feed.
Its leah and rachel’s last night so they get to release a turtle into the ocean! The little squirt took some time to start but finally got going and the tide swept him away ☺️

With love from sri lanka, Jack ✌️

Well you will probably be getting this late as the house that we are staying in has not got wifi!
This morning we worked the hatchery but it was slow again today! It was the elections last night and i think everyone is busy celebrating or commiserating! After lunch we set off to galle for the weekend, kayla booked us a house to stay in and it was really hard to find. On the way we saw lots of temples and what was interesting is that wije had to stop at one of the temples and pray for a second.. They are so committed! Even the buses stop to let people off and pray at them! Also i might not have said that all sri lankans bless everything before they use it; cars, buses, engines etc… Pretty cool stuff.
We visited a mask museum on the way which very pretty interesting, its all about their culture and how they use the masks to tell a story. Also some of them are demon masks which can cause disease, and some are for good luck etc etc. some of those bastards are well scary though haha.

After that we headed to the house.. had to go up this dirt track in a kind of shanty town, we were anxious the place we were going to stay in was a bit of a dump… But once we found it, it was good! The house was big and my rooms alright ☺️ good choice! But no wifi 🙈 the host is very welcoming as well.
At night, we headed to the local town for dinner, we had dinner on the beach! Candle lit, music, beautiful food, it was paradise.. India suggested a cocktail of vodka, malibu and orange juice and my god it is worldly. Its so drinkable. So we named it the india.. After 3 of those and a pina colada, i was ready for bed…

With love from sri lanka, jack ✌️

Because I worked on sunday, i got today off work so me leah and rachel went to a town called hikkadua. Its a little town that has a really beautiful beach. We went by bus, again the buses are just so weird, everyone is just packed in and there’s indian music playing loudly haha its a surreal experience.. We got the for about 10am and went to go snorkelling! We went to this shop and he rented is some snorkels and we followed one of his colleagues to our boat.. It was one of those bloody small fisherman ones!! I helped push it out and the guy said i was very strong 👌 already getting hench 😹 the waters were so clear at the shore as this guy and i rowed the bloody thing all the way to the coral reefs.. Rowing them is SO hard. Was shattered by the time i got there haha.. We put on our snorkelling stuff and dived in!
5 minutes later we saw a wild green turtle!!! Me and the guy chased after it and he dived down and grabbed it! Never seen a wild one before so that was amazing.. We then swam through the coral reefs which were booming with the most beautiful fish 🐠 some were huge! There was a couple of parrot fish that were massive. It was amazing to see all the different species.
After that we went back to the shore where there are shallower coral reefs.. We went to get in, put my mask on and went underwater… BOOM. millions of fish, literally never seen so many fish it was so strange!! Went swam round and saw even more species, then as the went further out there was a guy with a huge ass turtle, you could properly stroke and play with this one so that was incred. The guy said it was 180 years old but i dont believe that haha with my new found knowledge of turtles 😏.
After that we dried off on the beach, little sun bathe and then we headed to get food.. We explored the town a but and its just amazing to walk through, cars flying past you, the buzz of the people, the heat, everything is so colourful. We ended up at this restaurant which i ordered fish and chips oooh yeah. We presumed it was the local fish, it was so fresh! And the chips were to die for. By this point we were all dying for hydration as well so that first sip of water was bliss haha.
After that rachel and leah both went shopping and bought some stuff, i picked up a couple harem pants.. Most comfortable things ever invented. Can tell i will be that gap yaar guy at uni who wears harem pants all the time hahahaha.
Then we got the bus home and i jumped in the shower and put so much after sun on 🙈 i am a little burnt on back of my legs and shoulders so i think a shade day is needed tomorrow 👌we have now had tea and my god i am sooo full!

With love from sri lanka, Jack ✌️

After the rain yesterday, this morning was really humid. A lot of bugs about as well but it was alright. After breakfast we had to clean the tanks.. Omg it is the most energy consuming task ever, we have to take the turtles out, empty the tanks.. Then scrub with wire wool the sides and bottom to get all the shit and algae off – thats the hard part. My arms are absolutely wrecked, but at least i will come back to the uk with ripped biceps haha. No it is fun but i don’t think it will be fun after twelve times 😫 after that we had a chill out in the sea and because its quite calm today then we could go out further and ride the waves.. That was cool. The ocean was so warm and clear, it was so fun. 🏊🏄 i went for a shower which was heavenly, getting all the salt and sand off me was just beaut. We had lunch at 12:30 and chilled at the hatchery. Its surreal how the weather changes here, within hours it can be quite cold and then clear skies and 40 degrees. The hatchery was really quiet today so all the volunteers sat outside and planned the upcoming weekends. Not giving anything away. Towards the end of the day i sat and watched the sunset, beautiful as always.. I took a time lapse which i will upload to facebook. Then as the sun set there was a tour to take! I took it and it was a mother and son from mexico, my confidence with tours has grown a lot and now i can tell them all about the turtles 👌 we had tea and now we are off to bed because all my limbs are KILLING ME. Honestly underestimated the amount of labour it is running this hatchery! No photos for today as we didnt do anything interesting (as if working here isnt interesting haha)
With love from sri lanka, Jack ✌️

It was a thunderstorm last night and i watched the lightening from my room, it also rained which meant it was very humid this morning.. We fed the turtles some small silver fish – but we had to take them out their tanks and put them in smaller ones (to prevent uneaten fish rotting in their own). Ofcourse i was given the task of the huge ones.. They are so heavy!!! Attached pics of me struggling. I took my first tour round today!! An Australian couple 🙂 think it went alright. We then went to a buddhist temple to teach english. Me and kayla took the monks. There were 3 of them and the other volunteers said they don’t speak much because they had been chosen by their parents to be a monk and had no choice – so they didn’t really want to be there.. Kayla and i prepared a lesson to teach them some words and words with silent letters. We went to the temple and there they were, 3 about 12 year old boys waiting. It was a slow start but i started off, trying to get them to speak to you is really hard. I think because majority of the volunteers are girls they didn’t really connect as well as a boy would. After about 20 minutes of confident goofing around trying to keep their attention then it became a lot easier when they started liking me. Kayla was really good with them as well and it really felt amazing teaching them. Never expected it but it when they started enjoying being taught just the best feeling. I loved it, i think I’m going to take the monks every week now and because I’m here for so long and teach twice a week thats 24 lessons, i can really make a difference in their language.
We then travelled back to the village and we went to the supermarket, of which i bought literally so much stuff. Including a pot of this magic cream stuff.. Its a small bottle of this herb cream that fixes literally ANYTHING. Its going to come in handy. The town was so busy! Just walking along the road and your stepping over dogs and dodging tuk tuks 😳.
It started raining on the bus back, TORRENTIAL RAIN. Just lightening everywhere and absolute downpour. We still ate tea outside though and that was amazing as usual, pita with creamy vegetables and a korma curry 😍😍😍 just amazing. Lea said that chandra (the chef) said she doesn’t like boys, but she said she likes me haha so i get big portions and that makes me so happy.
Whilst in the town we got this liqueur called blue arrack and its like a coconut spirit, when you put it with lemonade it tastes godly. Just getting slowly drunk haha so much for tea total 👍 all in all a very enlightening and feel good day ☺️
With love from sri lanka, Jack ✌️

Two more volunteers have arrived! Both sound. We buried 261 eggs this morning!! Then i went sand crab hunting AGAIN. but caught 4 and one was snatched by a bird 😫 its a scorcher today, absolutely roasting. We then had lunch and the hatchery was very quiet so wije decided to take us to a gem mine and a boat trip.
The gem mine was very interesting because the village is the only one in the world that has blue moonstoons! They showed us round and tried to get us to buy some jewellery, but each piece was like $500?!?!
Then we went to the boat trip, didnt know what to expect but it was on a river… We set off and literally 30 seconds after a boy on a small boat grabbed onto ours and stood up… HE HAD A MONKEY. he let us all play with the monkey and it was so cute. We then went down the river and saw king fishers and even crocodiles! But didnt manage to take a pic of the crocs 😪 after about an hour we went for a ‘fish massage’. Basically its the sri lankan equivalent of the tiny fish that nibble on your feet – like the ones you see in meadowhall. But my god the fish were huge! There were different sizes, obviously i went for the massive ones and it was such a surreal feeling, took a couple of minutes to get used to but soon i had my feet in there for ages, but if the big ones take a bit it kind of hurt hahahah. But then, the guy brought out an actual crocodile. I held it, yep with its mouth open. That took up most of the day so we came back home, ate tea which was rice and curries 👌 now I’m definitely ready for bed!! Shattered.
With love from sri lanka, jack ✌️

Landed safely in abu dhabi 🙌 the airport is so nice.. That plane was AMAZING. own touchscreen tv.. Watched 3 movies .. Now heading to maccy d’s haha

I am now sitting in manchester airport, just eaten a salmon uppercrust.. Nice. Waiting for the flight. My emotions are somewhere between excited and nervous but I haven’t woke up properly yet so just chilling at the moment… More to follow.