Photo Journal of 2 Weeks Volunteering in Sri Lanka

Greenheart Travel partners closely with Go Overseas, whose mission is to empower more people to spend meaningful time overseas through transparency, inspiration and integrity. When they approached us about sending their content director Jessie Beck to visit our elephant conservation project, we were thrilled! Jessie and the Go Overseas team thought it was important for her to truly immerse herself in the program so she could better talk about the volunteer abroad experience with her audience. We love connecting partners with our projects and we were happy to sponsor Jessie’s visit to Sri Lanka.

Freshly returned from 2 weeks in Sri Lanka, follow Jessie & her partner Jon through a photo tour of their two week adventure!

Boarding the train to #kandy and on our way to volunteer with @greenheart_travel. #srilankatrain #srilanka #travelgram

A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Oct 22, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT

“Our first day in #srilanka, we had to spend 2 hours on a train and 4 in a bus just to get to the field house. Good thing I had lots of podcasts to listen to…” // Shot of @beatnomad taken by @jondotli #greenhearttravel   A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 9, 2015 at 4:50pm PST

After 3 flights, a train ride, and a bus ride, the computer donation from #greenhearttravel finally made it to SLWCS safe and sound! #volunteerabroad #srilanka

A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Oct 29, 2015 at 4:28am PDT

“When we arrived at the field house, it was already dark. We didn’t get to see this incredible view until we woke up the next morning.” – @beatnomad #SriLanka #VolunteerAbroad #Greenhearttravel A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 10, 2015 at 9:34am PST

“So, what do you do when you #volunteer with wild elephants? Spend a lot of time looking for them, for one.” – @beatnomad #FirstDayOnTheJob #Greenhearttravel #volunteerabroad #srilanka #asia #travel   A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 10, 2015 at 5:15pm PST

Waiting for elephants, but having more luck with peacocks and rain clouds… #srilanka #travelgram #wildlife #greenhearttravel #adventure #safari

A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Oct 28, 2015 at 5:09am PDT

“A major mission for our organization was to help keep elephants out of locals’ gardens and homes — a problem that causes numerous human and elephant deaths each year. Here Kylie, a PHD student from Australia, tests whether beehive fences can help this.” – @beatnomad #volunteerabroad #greenhearttravel #srilanka #asia

A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 11, 2015 at 10:02am PST

Being chased by storms and a scooter. #LandRoverDefender #elephantresearch A photo posted by jondotli (@jondotli) on Oct 21, 2015 at 8:00pm PDT

“Finally, in the national park, we spotted one… I mean three!” – @beatnomad #elephants #elephantsafari #asia #srilanka #greenhearttravel A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 11, 2015 at 9:05pm PST

“#Greenhearttravel told me part of the volunteer work with wild elephants would be ‘transecting’ — which means: looking through elephant poop to see what they ate. Not the most glamorous work, but at least it was in a beautiful place!” – @beatnomad #asia #srilanka #volunteerabroad A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 12, 2015 at 8:22am PST

“These little three-wheelers made it through some impressively bad roads!” – @beatnomad #srilanka #greenhearttravel #asia #tuktuk A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 13, 2015 at 4:38pm PST

We got personal with this #elephant as it crossed in front of the @landrover, eyed us with its hormonal-filled eye glands, then slipped into the jungle after it determined we were not a sexy lady elephant. #Factoid: Bull elephants can voluntarily suppress their hormones in order to reduce injury while competing amongst other larger mating elephants. A photo posted by jondotli (@jondotli) on Oct 23, 2015 at 8:33pm PDT

When an #elephant crosses your path, is that bad luck? #TerriblePun #srilanka #wildlife #asia #travel #animalcrossing A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Nov 13, 2015 at 4:35pm PST

After lots of rain and chasing an #elephant around the ranger parking lot, @beatnomad and I went off-roading through the #wasgamuwa park and observed 17 elephants (and 1 crocodile) roaming about. This solo bull was by far the biggest. #tinyelephants A photo posted by jondotli (@jondotli) on Oct 23, 2015 at 3:35am PDT

“You’re probably thinking: Wait, wait, I thought you were supposed to be volunteering with elephants? What are all these #kittens doing here? But seriously, waking up to these little guys in the field house every day was pretty awesome.” – @beatnomad #greenhearttravel #volunteerabroad #cuteoverload A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 13, 2015 at 10:24am PST

These little guys have been hanging around the field house… And they can’t get enough of these hiking boots. #kittens   A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Oct 21, 2015 at 8:17pm PDT

Just another morning at the field house with @jondotli covered in kittens. @greenheart_travel #srilanka #kittens A photo posted by Jessie (@beatnomad) on Oct 27, 2015 at 7:18pm PDT

“With only one weekend off from #volunteeringabroad, we decided to high tail it to the coast. This is what we found…” – @beatnomad #Greenhearttravel #asia #poolside A photo posted by Go Overseas (@gooverseas) on Nov 12, 2015 at 3:25pm PST

I awoke in #Colombo to the waves of the Indian Ocean. #srilanka #gallefacehotel A photo posted by jondotli (@jondotli) on Oct 31, 2015 at 9:48am PDT

There is a man at our hotel whose job is to shoot pestey black birds with a sling shot. We became good friends and traded tips. #Colombo #srilanka #slingshot A photo posted by jondotli (@jondotli) on Nov 1, 2015 at 12:12am PDT

Are you ready to immerse yourself in Sri Lanka life and learn about the human-elephant conflict? Get more information about the program below.