Wednesday 30th October 2019
Today was a very important day, as I completed the Tea Pick for my Fundraiser for the Tea Leaf Trust, so this is a longer account today than I normally write. See the details below and today's photographs!
Around 09.00 we were driven in a tuk-tuk to the Kelaniya Tea Estate for the Tea Pick. It was a tricky climb to
the Tea Estate once we had left the main road. On our arrival, we were shown into the main
office, where we were met by a very welcoming Tea Estate Manager, who has worked his way up there over the past 50 years.
It was dry when we set off for the Tea Estate, but, typically, started
to rain just as we headed out to pick the tea, although we all had waterproofs
to keep us dry. We were so well kitted out for this. I had brought a cheap pair
of boots to wear and I had two pairs of socks on, one covering my trouser legs
so that no leeches could get in. We had all sprayed ourselves with mosquito
spray, which is strong smelling, so the leeches don’t like it and rubbed some
other stuff on our arms and legs to protect us from the leeches.
Once we got out onto amongst the tea bushes, around 09.45, we were shown
how to pick the leaves and we were off! It
wasn’t easy, but we soon settled into it. The rain eased off and eventually
stopped, so I took my waterproof jacket off and even my jumper because it was
so warm. We were picking tea leaves in a beautiful area overlooking a
reservoir/lake. We worked for 2 hours, as we were being picked up by tuk-tuk at
12.00. We each managed to pick around 2 kilos of leaves, which wasn’t too bad
for first timers (the ladies must pick 18 kilos a day to reach their quota!).
We had lunch back at school before travelling back to Nuwara Eliya. As
far as I could tell, the day had gone well, and I had avoided the dreaded
leeches! However, later in the evening when I had taken my jumper off and I was
sat on the sofa, I noticed that there was a large amount of dried blood under
my left arm and, when I checked, I realised the left arm of my t-shirt and
jumper were both soaked in dried blood! It was obvious that when I had taken
off my waterproof jacket and jumper at the Tea Pick that a leech had crawled up
my arm unnoticed and that I had then put my jumper back on without realising it
had attached itself to me! The trouble is you don’t feel a leech attaching
itself to you and, when they do, they secrete a peptide called hirudin that
prevents your blood from clotting, which is why you bleed for such a long time
afterwards! It was my second encounter with a leech in Sri Lanka and I
sincerely hope it will be my last one too!
I am extremely grateful to the many of you have already contributed to my Fundraiser, where I am trying to raise £1,000 for the Tea Leaf Trust. If you haven't contributed yet, but would like to, please follow the link below:
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