Holiday Reviews
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same trip can have different views!
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Family holiday in Sri Lanka, elephant heaven, independent reviews
 Reviewed 26 Feb 2007 by Dinah Perry |  |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The most memorable part of the trip for me was seeing the enormous excitement and pleasure my 2 daughters (aged 16 and 12) derived from their holiday. This was their first trip outside of Europe and Sri Lanka provided a fantastic backdrop, the people, countryside, wildlife (elephants galore!) and cultural visits provided an exciting mix, and ample time to relax by beautiful pools provided an oasis of relaxation. The highlights are almost to numerous to list-cycling through paddy fields and stopping to sample locally grown fruits, climbing Sigiriya rock, white water rafting through the jungle, and a tuk-tuk ride through Kandy all have created unforgettable memories. The most important factor however was the humour, knowledge and skill of our guide Sujan and driver Sri.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
The most important tip I can give is to be prepared to be open and flexible to all the wonders Sri Lanka throws up, but not to expect anything to happen too quickly!. We found that our one day and night in the highlands to be pleasantly warm and fresh- we did not have to lug a change of warm clothes all the way round with us. The sun was very strong (we were burning after only 1 hour in the sun even with a good 'all day' factor 30). Take plenty of mosquito spray, and anti-histamine cream, some of our group were badly bitten in the south. I am very glad that we booked a holiday especially aimed at families, as the pace and emphasis was perfect for younger travellers ( whilst still providing for all the adults needs as well) 3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
I felt this trip did benefit local people, we flew Sri Lankan Airways, the guide and driver were Sri Lankans employed by a locally based company, and we only stayed in hotels/guesthouses owned by local businesses. We bought produce directly from market stalls, and farmers, and ensured our tips went directly to the individuals who gave us excellent service.
4. Any other comments?
A 5 star holiday for us all.
| Reviewed 6 Jan 2007 by Clare Pallett | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Three things: tea plantations; Madurai; coir making village. Strangely also the coach travel which I had expected to be a chore turned out to be a very good part of the holiday because of the excellent planning, and because of Manoj's informative commentary, and the places we stopped en route - particularly the small scale manufacturing - jaggery making and brick making. The team on the coach looked after us very well and the driver was brilliant.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Manoj's input was so good that there was little need to have read up beforehand. I would have liked a few more maps while we were there to trace our progress so I would recommend visitors to buy a detailed map of the area before they go - or maybe Adventure Travel could provide one. Take some travel sickness tablets for children for the coach journeys.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
At the time I was a little unsure about this - for example I felt that we maybe did not spend enough of our money - particularly our spending on meals - with small scale local providers. I think that Manoj was keen to protect us from tummy bugs and I am glad of that, but how to square the requirement to stay healthy enough to enjoy the trip with the aim to spend as much money as possible with small scale local providers is the biggest dilemma. Hard to judge environmental impacts - the whole notion of long haul travel is suspect - but I have signed up with a carbon zero website and am choosing an offset project to make up for our air flight carbon.
4. Any other comments?
I would give it four stars going on five - not reborn, but it was a really memorable introduction to south Indian culture, and I have already recommended it to two other people.
| Reviewed 23 Aug 2006 by Susan Simnett | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The exhilaration and excitement on my daughter's face after going over the first rapid when white water rafting. Falling asleep on the bus in the middle of a tropical rainforest storm and waking up an hour later in bright sunshine and the desert scrubland of a national park!
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Travel light, take a good camera (with lots of memory if it's digital), take Malarone malaria tablets rather than the standard cheaper ones, enjoy every minute as it happens, the experiences come fast and furious...
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes.
| Reviewed 9 Aug 2006 by Judith Kirk | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The whole experience was great but probably the best bits were those where the 13 people in the group participated together in an activity e.g. cycle riding in a Sri Lankan village, white water rafting. at Giritale, watching the Kandy Esala Perahera.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be aware there is a lot of travelling by bus. The distances look small, the time taken to travel them is long. Check out the accommodation configuration. It was OK for us, a family of 4 with two rooms, but the families of 3 were not impressed by their kids being put on camp beds in one shared room.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes, we injected alot of money directly to businesses in the local economy. Sri Lanka desperately needs the tourists to return. Continuing press reports of Tamil Tiger violence is stopping people from visiting this beautiful, friendly, exciting, but impoverished country, but people who want to visit should go ahead without any qualms.
4. Any other comments?
Four stars. It was great, but there is always room for improvement, e.g. in accommodation location.
| Reviewed 10 Aug 2005 by Alison Ovens | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
There were too many memorable moments to mention them all, but one of my personal favourites was feeding the baby elephants and watching the elephants bathe while we ate lunch overlooking the river at the elephant orphanage.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Our top tip would be to take suitable gifts for the local children they are really excited and appreciative of biros colouring pencils etc. Our top practical tip is to take antiseptic no water hand wash - this came in very handy!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
We felt the local people were delighted we had come as tourism has been badly affected by the Tsunami even in land. People were very appreciative of the custom we bought and we felt that it was defiantly going to local businesses.
4. Any other comments?
We had a fantastic holiday as a family and really enjoyed the company of our co travellers and on the last night we had a holiday awards moment where nearly everything was nominated by at least one person! Finally I would rate the holiday **** we had a fantastic range of experiences. The only criticism we had was that our guide, although a very nice well meaning and knowledgeable man, was possibly not the most suited to a group like ours. We will certainly use the responsible tourism web site to source other holidays.
| Reviewed 1 Jan 2005 by Marion Houghton | |
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Elephant ride and Sigyria rock, but all very good.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Pack light!
3. Any areas for improvement?
If possible, try to cut down travelling, or at least balance it out. One day we had lots of exercise, followed by 2 full days in the bus.