4S7SPG Team will be active from Sri Lanka, IOTA AS - 003, 16 February - 1 March 2025.
Team - SP3CFM, SP6EQZ, SP6JIU, SP9FIH.
They will operate on 80 - 10m, CW, SSB, FT8, RTTY.
QSL via SP6CIK.
Sri Lanka
“Glorious, blessed land” is the Sanskrit name of a little slice of Paradise on Earth - formerly known as the island of Ceylon (the name Ceilão was appropriated by the invading Portuguese), and since 1972 as Sri Lanka.
What a country
The form of government adopted throughout this island nation is a Democratic Socialist Republic, under the aegis of which 21.5 million Sri Lankan citizens reside, speaking two official languages:
- Sinhala;
- Tamil.
Since the population is rather “motley” (besides 74.88% of Sinhalese live Tamils, Burghers, Veddas, Lankan Moors), for inter-ethnic communication the Constitution established another official language - English.
Since 1982, the capital of Sri Lanka has been the city with the long name Sri Jayawardenepura-Kotte, or simply - Kotte. Surprisingly, but the administrative center of the island is not the largest in size (only 17 km²!), it is only a suburb of Colombo, the area of which is twice as large and is 37.31 km².
What an island! Land and water features of Sri Lanka
For the most part of the land spread plains, most often stretching along the coast of Sri Lanka, so that you can swim in the clear ocean waters not only entering them from the beaches, but also using almost any part of the coast.
At the same time, it is impossible to say that the island is devoid of mountains, they are there in small numbers, and the highest mountains are:
- Dome-shaped Pidurutalagala (2524 m) (translated as “mat mountain”), aka Mount Pedro, it is on it that the main antenna is placed, broadcasting television broadcasts to the inhabitants of Sri Lanka;
- Adam's Peak (2,243 meters), aka Sripada in Senegalese (translated from Sinhalese as “Sacred Trail”), aka Samanalakanda, translated as “Butterfly Mountain”.
- Samanalakanda is revered by Buddhists as sacred, their temple crowns its flat top, and in front of it you can see Sripada with your own eyes - as Buddhists claim, the footprint left by the foot of Prince Gautama, who visited the island.
Despite the difficult climb, Adam's Peak is climbed by a huge number of pilgrims every year. The mountain is revered by Jews and Muslims for the appearance of one of the gods, Trimurti (Judaism), and because Islam sees in Sripadu the trace of the first man on Earth.
The island is extremely fortunate in terms of fresh water sources. For example, there are many rivers and creeks running through its land, supplying the islanders with fresh drinking water, and their apartments and industry with electricity. On Mahaweli alone there are six hydroelectric dams!
Some of the largest rivers are:
- the longest, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, the Mahaweli Ganga, whose banks stretch for 335 km and whose basin area is one-fifth of the land area;
- the 145-km long Kelani descending from Adam's Peak;
- Kalu;
- Aruvi-Aru.
How to dock on the shores of Sri Lanka
Geolocationally, the archipelago lies in South Asia, namely it is oriented towards the southeastern side of the Indian peninsula, from which it is separated by:
- Gulf of Mannar;
- the Strait of Polk.
The warm waters lapping the perimeter of Sri Lanka's landmass belong to the world's third deepest and longest ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal.
In the old days, before the terrible earthquake that partially destroyed Adam's Bridge in 1481, the islanders used to walk across the Bridge spanning the Straits of Polk to India. Now the Bridge is a series of numerous shoals and pieces of land.
What's up with the climate?
Of course, due to its geographical location, Sri Lanka is the island of summer.
The climate on the island is like all tropical islands and is sub-equatorial. The epithet “monsoon” is added to this definition, because the island is blown by winds, monsoons, the air currents of which move from the North to the East.
From June until the last day of September, the orientation of the steady wind changes to the Southwest.
What grows, flies, crawls and swims on the island?
The tropics are the tropics, so Sri Lanka's land, air and coastal waters are buzzing with life in all its forms!
More than four and a half hundred birds take to the air, of which a quarter of a hundred species are permanent residents of the island, and 24 species are endemics, i.e. birds that originally lived exclusively in Sri Lanka throughout evolution.
Thus, almost 170 species of migratory birds winter in Sri Lanka, coming here from cold Siberia, Europe and Scandinavia.
From March to April, the air of the archipelago is filled with another creature that can fly thanks to the brightest wings, colored all the colors of the rainbow: butterflies.
Butterflies flood the island during the seasonal migration, which involves 250 species of these beautiful insects that turn the ordinary atmosphere of Sri Lanka into a fantastic one.
There are many other representatives of the animal world on the island, not capable of flight. Thus, in the secluded places of Sri Lanka's land, in its dense forests and refreshing rivers and lakes, live:
- wild boars;
- jackals;
- wild buffalo;
- deer;
- bears;
- crocodiles;
- porcupines;
- foxes.
As in all states of the tropics, you can easily see a lot of monkeys luring sweets from tourists.
There is something else of fauna on the archipelago - the largest land representatives of mammals, elephants. Unfortunately, their population has greatly thinned, and is only six of the once more than thirty thousand.
Sri Lanka's water bodies are also full of their inhabitants. Just one species of freshwater fish number five dozen, of which 17 were brought by travelers from Great Britain back in the 19th century.
There are 38 species of amphibians, 16 of which live only in Sri Lanka.
A special word about reptiles, of which there are a huge number of 76 species in the archipelago! Swamp and crested crocodiles, star tortoise can cause consternation in a tourist unaccustomed to such ancient creatures.
The other five species of sea turtles that scour the waters of Sri Lanka are protected by law.
The island's land is covered with a green sea of vegetation, which includes three thousand species! A quarter of them decorate Sri Lanka with magnificent flowers that exude marvelous fragrances, and 750 species help the islanders to get rid of diseases.
Of course, there are 83 species of snakes on the island! However, only five of them can bite you to death.