TV Times

TV Times

Shehan believes in descipline
Born into a Military family and the youngest shehan has come a long way to be one of the best Adventure specialist in the country. He has an all round knowledge in adventure from the experience he has gained locally and overseas. A product of Trinity College Kandy, Shehan Pilapitiya a Military trained guy always believed in doing and achieving the impossible in life.
Being a Former club rugby player he loves the sport but wanted something more challenging so he went overseas and took to Desert Safari and Dune driving in the middle east.

He went over to South Africa and India where he took to the high octane adventure sport White Water Rafting. ‘I always wanted to be a professional in this field so I underwent training and got my International license in Rafting’ Shehan said.

He was the first Sri Lankan to hold such a qualification in adventure in the country. Shehan was instrumental in assisting many to train and develop their adventure outfits, and now he shares his expertise and knowledge with his clients who patronize his services many times. He got his biggest break when he was invited as a official for the ‘Four Square White Water Challenge’ overseas, where he gained immense knowledge by rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s best rafting teams.

He is proud to have a team who are the only outfit, who rafts many other senior grade rivers for rafting and expeditions. ‘My clients come to me over and over again cause I always give them a different experience in life. I love people, who challenge me’ said Shehan, who is popularly known as ‘Bullet’ in the trade.

Shehan is popularly known for the many Adventure challenge races he conducts; his immense knowledge of every hill and rivers in the island gives him definite advantage to conduct such competitions. He is also the adventure course director of the newly developed ‘Adventure Base Camp’ in Kithulgala.
‘I love heights and rough water, I feel a sense of achievement, when doing these acts’ he said.

Jumping off 60-80 ft bridges in to water, Deep Sea diving to see ship wrecks are some of his other interests. ‘Adventure has to be done professionally as other peoples lives depend on you and the way you handle things, we have to be ready to meet the demands of what client's request’ he added.

As for unforgettable memories one he remembers always is when he fell overboard and his raft was filled with girls, after pulling himself into the boat did he realize that his shorts had been washed away and he was just bare, giving the command to the assistant guide he had to jump back into the water and swim the balance of the river being born free.

‘As for scary moments he is full of them, but it has always been a learning experience for me. I will introducing new exciting activities soon, it will involve air and water. There is nothing call fear in life, its all in our mind’ said Shehan, who is a Team building and leadership training instructor at present.

‘I help people overcome fear factors and help them to get to know their inner self and to believe in themselves. "Life is a challenge" it's what we make out of it that counts. Life has never been a bed of roses for me. I am ever grateful to my late father Harold Pilapitiya who was a ex Air force officer who gave me a tough disciplined up bringing’ Shehan said.

‘My next family is my office mates and my adventure team in Kithulgala who have shared many ups and downs in life with me, we have stuck together in good times and bad, I know I have the best team for adventure in the country , and they hold relevant license and qualifications and more over experience in what they do. I believe in myself and fear nobody or anything except god.. I love life, attached to Traveller Global Destinations and Leisure Holiday’
Shehan is contactable for free advice on adventure on 077 3071541 / shehantraveler@sltnet.lk.

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