Wildlife holiday in Sri Lanka
| country: | Sri Lanka |
| departures: | This trip can be tailormade at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary |
| price: | From £1355 (14 days) excluding flights. Price includes accommodation on HB, naturalist chauffeur guide, entrance tickets, safari jeep hires, book on 'Wildlife of the dry lowlands' and airport transfers. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Sri Lanka is an island, which defies convention. According to classic island bio-geographic theory, small islands don't have large mammals. Unfortunately for theory Sri Lanka is an exception, as the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia, the Asian Elephant, is found on the island.
What is more, Sri Lanka is beyond doubt the best place in Asia to see the Asian Elephant. Visit Uda Walawe National Park, to the south of the central mountain massif, and you are guaranteed to see elephants.
During September and October an annual concentration of elephants, called 'The Gathering', takes place on the receding shores of the Minneriya Lake in Minneriya National Park. 'The Gathering' is surely one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet.
Then there is the Big Spotted One. The leopard is elusive all over the world and almost impossible to see in most of Asia. In Sri Lanka, the leopard is the Top Cat and reigns supreme. Unchallenged by Lions or Tigers, it can be seen at times having a siesta on the road under the shade of a tree. Recent research suggests that Yala may have one of the highest densities of Leopards in the world. For wildlife enthusiasts, seeing a Leopard is one of the highlights of a visit to the island.
What is more, Sri Lanka is beyond doubt the best place in Asia to see the Asian Elephant. Visit Uda Walawe National Park, to the south of the central mountain massif, and you are guaranteed to see elephants.
During September and October an annual concentration of elephants, called 'The Gathering', takes place on the receding shores of the Minneriya Lake in Minneriya National Park. 'The Gathering' is surely one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet.
Then there is the Big Spotted One. The leopard is elusive all over the world and almost impossible to see in most of Asia. In Sri Lanka, the leopard is the Top Cat and reigns supreme. Unchallenged by Lions or Tigers, it can be seen at times having a siesta on the road under the shade of a tree. Recent research suggests that Yala may have one of the highest densities of Leopards in the world. For wildlife enthusiasts, seeing a Leopard is one of the highlights of a visit to the island.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival in Sri Lanka and transfer to Villa Talangama, Colombo for one night. |
| Day 2: | After breakfast, leave for Teak Forest, Sigiriya for two nights. |
| Day 3: | Morning, visit Sigiriya Rock Fortress, which was the pleasure capital of a single king, called Kashyapa in the 5 Th centuries A.D. Here we look at troops of toque monkeys and hanuman langurs around the Sigiriya Moat. Afternoon, safari at Minneriya National Park. Over 300 elephants gather on the receding shores of the Minneriya Tank. ‘The Gathering’ of Elephants at Minneriya is one of those awesome spectacles, which should rank alongside better-known wildlife spectacles such as the migration of wildebeest in Africa. |
| Day 4: | Morning visit Polonnaruwa (A UNESCO World Heritage Site), the medieval capital of Sri Lanka. At Polonnaruwa we will encounter troops of Toque Macaques, who were famously featured in both the BBC’s ‘Temple Troop’ and David Attenborough’s ‘ Life of Mammals’. One will be intrigued by the power play between the Macaques and Hanuman Langur. Afternoon leave for Willy Safari Hotel, Wasgamuwa for two nights. |
| Day 5: | Morning and afternoon, big game viewing at Wasgomuwa National Park. Twenty-three species of mammals have been recorded in the park and of these, the most important is the Elephant of which there are approximately 150 in the Park. |
| Day 6: | After breakfast, leave for Hunas Falls Hotel, Kandy for one night. En route drive through Knuckles Wilderness Area, which is one of the most rugged and picturesque terrains in Sri Lanka. The drive from Reverseturn to Pitawala-Patana grasslands offers panoramic views of rugged hills. |
| Day 7: | Morning, leave for St.Andrew’s Hotel, Nuwara Eliya for two nights. Afternoon, visit Hakgala Botanical Gardens. Here we look for the highland races of Purple-faced Leaf Monkey and Toque Macaque. The Toques brim with self-confidence and may approach the visitors! |
| Day 8: | Morning, visit Horton Plains National Park to see Cloud Forests and rare montane fauna, which include the endemic Rhino-horned Lizard, which was featured in Charles Darwin's monumental work on evolution. Mammal highlights include Bear Monkey, Giant Squirrel and Sambhur. Walk though the grasslands and Cloud Forests to a popular viewpoint known as World's End, which is an escarpment with an 870 m drop. Afternoon, visit Hakgala Botanical Gardens once more. |
| Day 9: | After breakfast, leave for Elephant Reach Hotel, Yala for three nights. |
| Day 10: | Morning and afternoon, big game safaris at Yala National Park. Research on Leopards in Yala Block 1 has shown it has one of the highest densities of Leopards in the world. Yala is the best place in Asia to see Leopards. Other large animals you may see include Elephant, Sloth Bear, Mugger Crocodile, Spotted Deer, Sambhur, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Wild Buffalo, Jackal, Grey Langur and Mongoose. |
| Day 11: | Morning relaxation, afternoon visit Yala National Park once more. |
| Day 12: | After breakfast, leave for Centauria Inn, Embilipitiya for one night. Afternoon, visit Udawalawe National Park for elephants. On a visit to Udawalawe National Park, Elephants are virtually guaranteed. |
| Day 13: | After breakfast, leave for Seashells Hotel, Negombo for one night. Afternoon, relaxation by the beach. |
| Day 14: | Transfer to International Airport. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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This tour aims at popularizing some of world’s less known places for wildlife. Wasgamuwa National Park is not promoted in many Sri Lanka holiday packages due to its remote location and limited accommodation options. One of the highlights of this tour is your safari at Minneriya National Park, where “The Gathering” of elephants takes place. The local safari jeep operators benefit with this promotion as they find it hard to keep attracting travelers due to so much little being done to promote this wildlife spectacle. They’re also masters of the latest information on wildlife sightings inside the park!
We are keen to actively promote places such as Udawalawe and Yala National Park so that it helps small; locally run places such as Centauria Inn and Elephant Reach Hotel survive. Elephant Reach Hotel employs local persons to run all operations in the hotel. Elephant Reach buys products such as soaps, mugs and bags from local manufacturers. We only employ English-speaking Sri Lankan Naturalist chauffeur guides who are all licensed by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. These guides work exclusively for us. They have been leading special interest tours for the past 15 years. They carry the primary responsibility of implementing many of our responsible travel policies during a tour. They brief you on arrival of key environmental practices for the tour such as waste management, re-cycling of water, noise pollution, re-cycle paper etc. We find the time with your permission during the tour to take you to visit “Yala Fund” which is a UK charity set up in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. It raises money to alleviate financial hardship and suffering with a particular focus on Sri Lanka.The name "Yala" comes from Yala National Park in southeastern Sri Lanka. The charity helps tsunami communities as well as impoverished rural schools and other deserving causes.  We have produced a wildlife book called the, “Wildlife of the dry lowlands” with financial assistance from USAID; it is one of the most comprehensive field guides on the wildlife of the dry lowlands of Sri Lanka. Free copies of these books are distributed by USAID to local guides at National Parks and members of nature societies with the motive of enhancing their knowledge and as a method to spread the message for conservation. A copy of this book will be provided to you on tour.Approximately 8% of the total employment in Sri Lanka is created through tourism. Your visit on this trip will certainly help many families who solely depend on tours such as these to sustain their revenue streams. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |