Hard work pays off, and this doesn’t go unnoticed by the amazing crew. I managed to go onto an exclusive boat trip which had less clients on board, giving me more opportunities to capture some great footage of the sharks who displayed incredible activity, breaching around six times in the space of two hours.

Most people in Sri Lanka were extremely friendly, and it was ok to use the combination of English and body language to communicate with them. I chose the orientation week as my first week program, and during this period, I visited many interesting places in Kandy, which included the temple of tooth. Kandy is the center of Buddhism; it was an impressive experience to learn the history and culture of this city.

It was an excellent location to learn about the +/- 1100 species present in the Red Sea. Together with Leras, a marine biologist, I received her help in analyzing the photographic material (pictures) from my UW camera. Initially I was only interested in fish species, though after a while I started to do some coral identification as well. In the Red Sea this is pretty much amazing!

If you are lucky you are also able to spend time with baby animals during the stay. Honey badgers, antelopes, servals, cheetahs, lions and even a 6 months old rhino were some of the baby animals I had the pleasure to feed and spend time with, and I loved it!