I have just returned from an unforgettable two weeks away in Sri Lanka modelling for Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts. I was joined by five other models who are all also part of the Miss England Beauty Pageant, including Kirsty Heslewood Miss England and United Kingdom 2013-14, Rachael Barker Miss Birmingham 2013-14, Milly Tritton Miss Kent 2014, Linford Martin Mr Leicestershire 2014-15 and Andy Beard a part time model. I was already elated before I began the trip as only the day before I went away, I officially finished my 7 years of studying by handing in my dissertation and final projects. It was a dream come true to have the opportunity to go away with five other amazing people to Sri Lanka!

Sri Lanka is extremely rich in culture and heritage; we travelled to 4 different hotel locations during our stay and I experienced more than I could have dreamt of!

The Cinnamon Journey started at Cinnamon Bey in Beruwala on the Southern Coast, it was pure luxury and we stayed in beautiful suites with views onto the beautiful Sri Lankan coast. After a day of rest from travelling the work began with a photoshoot in their Rock Salt restaurant where you cook your own food. This included fish, lobster, steak, chicken and much more along with fresh vegetables and sides, it was hard to call it work when we were being photographed enjoying the experience. The next day we were up again to shoot on the hotel’s roof top bar followed by a pool shoot. One of the highlights already was working with the amazing team behind the scenes doing direction, styling, hair, makeup and much more; it meant we were able to chat and learn about Sri Lankan life and culture whilst getting ready. The same team travelled with us to the different locations and took such good care of us!

The second destination we travelled to was the vibrant Chaaya Tranz Hikkaduwa, also on the south coast and to my delight it was decorated with a fuchsia pink theme! On the first day we were having a wander around the hotel and beach when we came across two adult leatherback turtles! I couldn’t believe my eyes when Rosie and Sophie (named by the locals) came towards us in the sea, I even got a chance to stroke their backs, they were such calm and friendly creatures and even though they were utterly huge I felt relaxed. But that’s not all, this hotel is the perfect place to go snorkeling. On the second day at Tranz I had an afternoon off shooting and spent an hour in the gym with Linford, after we took a stroll along the beach to take in its beauty; we were in for a surprise when the locals called us over as they were releasing baby turtles into the sea and invited us to join them. I was so moved, it was beautiful and a very rare and special experience.

Soon it was time to go to our third location which was situated in the city, in the hustle and bustle of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. We stayed in Cinnamon Red, the country’s first ‘Lean Luxury’ hotel, reaching 26 storeys high; we were able to wake up to the view of the city and coast. It was quite surreal enjoying the rooftop pool and gym; our photoshoots came every natural to us as we were photographed enjoying the luxury bar, pool and gym with a breathtaking view behind us!

Whilst staying in Colombo I was lucky enough to take a trip into the city in a tuktuk to admire the architecture and Buddhist temples! We took along our new Sri Lankan friends working on the shoots to tell us about the Gangaramaya temple! I have never seen anything like it, it was full of Buddha’s, artwork, elephant statues and colour! On the following two days of our stay we were lucky enough to be staying in the capital for the national holiday and two day festival celebrating Vesak which is Lord Buddha’s birthday. The streets were covered in lanterns and decorations and just a few hundred yards from our hotel, crowds gathered by the lake to celebrate in the distance I saw an array of orange where hundreds of monks gathered and excitement built as the president arrived; absolutely phenomenal.

We were on the move again to our next location which couldn’t be more different! We travelled to Cinnamon Wild Yala in the Sri Lankan Jungle, it was very exciting to see animals in the wild and on our way to the hotel we saw road signs saying ‘beware, elephants crossing’. The accommodation consisted of luxury lodges with the exciting privilege of being able to see a range of wildlife on our doorstep, On our first night we saw Grey Langur Monkeys jumping across our roofs and crocodiles in the lake beside our pool. I also had the chance to shoot safari scenes and we encountered a Leopard at the Yala National Park (which btw has the highest density of Leopards in the world) and also elephants, crocodiles, deer, sambar, birds and more; to see untouched nature and wild animals like this was an experience I will cherish forever!

I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into what I experienced during my working holiday to Sri Lanka, these were just the highlights and I have so much to say about my wonderful trip. I also made friends for life and to share the experience with the amazing people I stayed with was incredible. I would like to say a big thank you to Angie Beasley, director of Miss England Beauty Pageant for the opportunity and Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts for their hospitality, I hope to visit again! For more details visit www.cinnamonhotels.com

Sophie Lydia Smith is a Building Surveyor, is currently Miss Cheltenham 2014/15 and a part time model from England.

Award winning Photographer Jon McCormack spent the weekend in Yala with the Cinnamon Nature Trails team.

Chitral Jayatileke who heads Cinnamon Nature Trails said that the team had a very good trip with Jon where they had been lucky enough to have 11 leopard sightings in a single weekend!

Chitral – “I was delighted to be introduced to Jon McCormack by National Geographic photographer Ami Vital.Jon with his IT expertise has spent much time in exotic areas rich with wildlife around the world and his passion to photograph leopards brought him to Sri Lanka.

My time with Jon was an extraordinary experience,  as Jon was more than a great wildlife photographer. His keen interest on Community assistance while being the co-founder of the “Kilgoris” project in  Kenya made us connect with ‘Project Leopard’ spearheaded by Cinnamon Nature Trails based at the Cinnamon Wild Hotel.

One of the highlights of my work is the luxury I have to spend time in the natural world with like-minded people and this weekend ranked among the best game drives at Yala studded with 11 leopard sightings to remember.”

Jon also posted about the trip on his blog www.jonmccormack.com and was kind enough to give us permission to use it on Cinnamon U as well.

Thank you Jon!

The Leopards of Yala

by Jon McCormack

“Block 1” of Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park has more leopards than any other place in the world. Over 60 leopards inhabit a mere 40 square miles – about 1 ½ cats per square mile. This amazing density comes from a perfect combination of habitat, water and prey. Since there are no other big cats in Sri Lanka the leopards get to hunt the abundant wild boar and deer by themselves. The hunting is easy because much of Yala is dense bush, a habitat that these stealthy cats love. Finally, there is an abundant water supply for both leopards and their prey. Interestingly, much if this water collects in irrigation ponds built by the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ruhuna before they moved on 1200 years ago.

This “leopard nirvana” is also a wildlife photographer’s paradise. I spent the weekend with the extraordinarily talented Chitral Jayatilake of Cinnamon Nature Trails and the leopard sightings we had were beyond belief. Well, to me they were beyond belief … I overheard Chitral on the phone telling a friend that the sightings were “OK, but nothing spectacular”. I guess it all depends on your perspective. In 15 years of traveling to Africa I’ve only seen 7 leopards – 3 of which were close enough to photograph. In one weekend in Yala I had 11 leopard sightings – 6 of which were photograph-able. If you love wildlife, Yala needs to go on your list.

Chitral also works with local farmers to help them manage the interaction between cats and cattle. Yala has so much game that leopards generally wont attack fully grown cattle, but they will attack calves. Cinnamon Nature Trail’s “Project Leopard” provides protective cages to farmers so they can protect calves during the danger period.

If you decide to go to Yala, I’d recommend staying at Cinnamon Wild. The accommodations are lovely and the naturalists are world class (don’t just take this from me, the BBC’s Natural History Unit uses them when they’re in town!)

A BRIEF (AND SAD) ELEPHANT MOMENT

As inspiring as the story of Sri Lanka’s leopards is, Sri Lanka’s elephant population fills me with despair. Normally 80% of make elephants have tusks. Startlingly only 6% or male elephants in Sri Lanka have tusks. This anomaly comes from elephant hunting. Tusks are genetic and during the 150 years of British rule so many tusked elephants were shot that the gene pool was catastrophically altered. Epically sad.