Home to over 3,000 historic years of different languages, ethnicity, and cultures, the small country of Sri Lanka gives us more than most when it comes to one of our educational trips.
For a small island, Sri Lanka has a diverse landscape like no other. From rain forests and national parks, to stretches of stunning white, sandy beaches, it’s the perfect island to let your studies come alive. Taking you from a one-dimensional textbook to multi-coloured reality and beyond.
Sri Lanka background
The island of Sri Lanka—or the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to give it its full name—is an island nation of a little over 21m people. Lying just off the south coast of India, it sits in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, taking full advantage of the tropical, warm ocean air.
With a culturally diverse history, Sri Lanka’s heritage stretches back 3,000 years, with the country’s primary religion, Buddhism, first arriving in 250 BC. Since then, Sri Lanka has been overthrown many times, coming under Indian, Portuguese, Dutch, and English rule.
After claiming independence from the British in 1948, following the independence of India just a year before, and a near 30-year civil war that ended in 2009, Sri Lanka has gone on to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Beyond its eventful past, Sri Lanka remains one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Thanks to a mix of tropical rainfall and hot and dry weather in the low regions of the north west and south, it means Sri Lanka has the highest biodiversity levels in Asia.
With The STC, you’ll embark on an educational journey of discovery like never before. Criss-crossing this stunning island and taking you off the beaten track, we’ll leave the tourist thing behind and show you an unrivalled look into every level of this multi-diverse island.
Our experience for your development
Part of what makes The STC’s educational trips so successful, is that we leave nothing to chance. Every one of our educational trips has been thoroughly researched and planned, to take into account the ability and experience of every student and teacher that travels with us.
We also make sure every student and teacher is given the right training and skills before we travel. It’s not the most exciting stuff in the world, but it’s really important stuff, covering personal health and safety, destination-specific customs that everyone should be aware of, and other essentials.
And of course, no educational trip would be possible, or complete, without our ‘local leaders’ to keep you safe, and your expedition on track. Every trip is led by an experienced guide, born and bred in Sri Lanka, with intimate local knowledge. These experts are a huge asset to our educational trips and their expertise and experience is second to none, so we trust them implicitly.
Our educational trips
Every educational trip to Sri Lanka is wildly different, and just one of the many on offer to whet your appetite is our 11-day, south western, ‘Elephants, Eagles and Sperm Whales tour. After an overnight flight landing in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, you’ll visit the Sinharaja rain forest for a damp, but exhilarating, 12km trek.
From there, you’ll head to the sprawling Udawalawe National Park, where you’ll get a taste of the dry country. Here, you’ll have an unforgettable safari experience, seeing elephants, buffalo, deer, and monkeys in their natural habitat. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the odd leopard.
After travelling onto Yala on the south coast, you’ll enter the island’s second largest national park there. Spending time with local farmers, you’ll also learn about the Yala Leopard Project. An initiative that aims to educate other farmers, school children and local authorities about the importance of leopards in the local ecosystem.
Finally, you’ll head south to Tangalle to visit the ancient port and the now busy provincial capital of Galle, before visiting Unawatuna Bay for swimming, and a tour of the Turtle Conservation Project. You’ll also get to spend a day whale watching in Mirissa. Sperm Whales are common here, as they pass through on their annual migration.
Let’s get started
Just like this one, all our Sri Lanka expeditions are crammed with experiences, adventures, and challenges. Bringing it all together with practical learning, we help every student get closer to their subject, while enriching and encouraging their thirst for knowledge.
Get in touch and call the team today on 01392 660 056 or email: enquiries@thestc.co.uk to find out more about our educational trips to Sri Lanka and just what you can discover.