We got up nice and early this morning to go on a day trip to Dondra.Some of the group decided to stay around the guest house in Matara and recouperate after a hextic few days so myself, Tom, Charlotte, Becky and Nicki got on the bus to Dondra. As the guidebook had described, we found it to be a ‘sleepy little town’, although it did have an interesting giant Buddha.The main attraction, however, was the lighthouse. We decided to walk the 1.5km from the centre of the the town out to the lighthouse, which was built under British rule. On the walk we saw various Sri Lankan wildlife, including two monitor lizards, monkeys, and a dead snake – so it was quite an eventful trek! The coast next to the lighthouse was absolutely stunning, with beautiful beaches. The lighthouse itself was unfortunately locked, so we were unable to go up and see from the top, or look at the light. But it was still nice to see, especially since it marks the southernmost point of Sri Lanka – after which is the Antarctic!Back in the town we got some drinks, had a look round and chatted to a couple of locals, then got the bus back to the guest house for a relaxing afternoon. When we got back we went for a swim, and relaxed by the coast – just what we needed. Duncan and Roz, two postgrads from Durham who are out working in a school in Polana, came to the guest house to visit us and see how we were settling in. As always, Duncan filmed us by the beach for his documentary on all of our work out in Sri Lanka. It’s always embarassing at the time, but it will be worth it to have some footage of life out here on our return to the UK.In the evening we did some planning for our visit to Gandarawatte the next day, for the opening ceremony. We had been warned by Duncan and Roz that they might want us to perform a song at the ceremony, so we rehearsed an improvised version of ‘Lean On Me’. As expected, most of the rehearsal was spent laughing (especially from me), but at least we are prepared for every eventuality!We had another delicious meal at the guest house, then after a bit more planning and some nice group chats on the porch of one of our rooms, we all headed off for an early night in anticipation of our busy day tomorrrow.