On Saturday April 27, despite the devastating events in Sri Lanka, the TukTuk Warriors successfully finished their 1,000 km adventure around Sri Lanka at the Suriya Resort in Waikkal, Sri Lanka.
The group had been camping in the middle of a forest in Mannar, when the unfortunate incidents of last Sunday first occurred and even though the group was shocked and saddened all participants came together with the intention of completing the challenge as planned.
This year, (Large Minority) in partnership with Connaissance de Ceylan, Sri Lankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Ministry of Tourism, organized the 14th edition of Lanka Challenge. Territory from Minuwangoda, Kalpitiya, Wilpattu, Mannar, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Sigiriya, Riverstone, Kandy and Waikkal were covered, while the participants rode approximately150 km per day over 9 days.
The self-drive Tuk-Tuk Challenge gave 53 participants in 20 tuk-tuks from 10 countries, an up close and personal experience of some of the most fascinating historical sites and views of this island, all the while raising money for local charities, environmental organizations and above all not giving into terror.
In this edition, the participants faced some unusual challenges from tasting the hottest chilies to selling fish at the local market to (probably the most comical for us locals), taking groceries to a random home in a village and getting the home dwellers to cook for them.
It was important that The Lanka Challenge event was seen through to the end especially, given the existing climate here in Sri Lanka, as the event supported local partners such as ‘the Red Cross Society of Sri Lanka’ and ‘Land Owners Restore Rainforest in Sri Lanka (LORRIS).’ A total of 10 percent of each team’s entry fee was given directly to charity partners,” one of the organisers, Julian Carnall said.
“Last year, we collected over US$ 8,000 which was used for different charitable projects including donating textbooks, musical instruments and planting more than 200 indigenous trees to offset our carbon emissions. In 2019, we raised even more funds in Sri Lanka and were able to touch many more lives.
“We are grateful to this year’s brave participants and Large Minority, who decided to stay and witness their 1,000km challenge through to its completion. A special mention must be made to the Police, Army and the Ministry of Defence along with Connaissance de Ceylan and Sri Lanka Ministry of Tourism, who went the extra mile to provide the additional infrastructure and security needed for our visitors to complete their mission post-Easter Sunday attacks.”
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