Wild Sri Lanka in Style

A 14-day holiday in search of the rich culture of Sri Lanka, Leopards of Yala National Park, Blue Whales off Sri Lanka’s south coast, and wildlife of the Horton Plains (Sri Lanka’s highest and most isolated plateau), all enjoyed in the utmost comfort and style, plus an optional extension to Sinharaja Forest.

This deluxe tour combines the opportunity to enjoy wildlife-viewing in Sri Lanka’s finest national park, with a quest to see Blue Whales and visits to some of the country’s great archaeological sites. We have timed the tour to coincide with the large numbers of birds which visit the island during the winter, including waders from Siberia and passerines from the Himalayan region. We use some of Sri Lanka’s very best hotels and lodges for this tour, so you can swap the cold of a British winter for wildlife-watching based in luxurious accommodation on this beautiful tropical island.

We begin with a glimpse of the island’s past at Sigiriya, famous for its towering rock fortress and ancient wall frescoes; and there’s an impressive panorama for those energetic enough to reach the summit. On the following day we visit the remains of the ancient capital of Polonnaruwa, where we may be lucky enough to find one of the resident Brown Fish Owls. We’ll be based for two nights at the luxurious Heritage Kandalama Hotel designed by Sri Lanka's famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa who conceived it `as an austere jungle palace'. Kandalama is luxurious and widely adored. The minimalist interiors and the building itself are cleverly designed to blend into the landscape without interfering with the tranquil surroundings. Bawa's design allows magnificent views of the ancient Sigiriya Rock, the surrounding mountains and the Kandalama Tank (reservoir). We’ll explore the forests surrounding Sigiriya’s famous rock fortress in search of some of the more retiring bird species and endemics. In particular we will hope to see the magnificent white-phase of the male Paradise Flycatcher, their tails like white streamers as they fly from perch to perch.

Travelling south through the island’s main spice-growing region we continue to Kandy for a 2-night stay at Cinnamon Citadel Hotel overlooking the Mahaweli River. Once the capital of an autonomous kingdom until captured by the British in 1815, Kandy marks our ascent into the picturesque Hill Country, and is surrounded by forests in which we should find such endemic birds as the charming Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot and Layard’s Parakeet. We’ll then penetrate deeper into the hills to stay for two nights in colonial splendour at the Heritance Tea Factory Hotel near Nuwara Eliya, a favourite hill station of the British. This area is the heart of the island’s tea industry and we will visit one of the many estates en route from Kandy. Yet more endemic birds occur at this increased elevation, amongst them Yellow-eared Bulbul and Hill White-eye, plus such winter visitors as Blyth’s Reed Warbler and Pied Ground Thrush. We will spend one day exploring the wild expanses of the Horton Plains which epitomise the uniqueness of the Hill Country with its strange forests of stunted trees festooned in bromeliads, and stretches of moorland leading to the aptly named World’s End where a sheer escarpment drops to the plains far below. This is the haunt of the handsome highland race of the Purple-faced Langur and a great diversity of plants and birds including the endemic Arrenga, Blue Magpie and Sri Lanka Woodpigeon.

Descending to the arid south of the island we next visit a number of freshwater ‘tanks’ or lakes, crowded with birds, before reaching the endless palm-fringed beaches which characterise the Indian Ocean coastline. Our next destination is Yala National Park where in recent years diurnal Leopards have been a regular attraction, and we’ll make early morning and afternoon game drives in search of these iconic cats and the wealth of other mammals and birds that the park supports. Wildlife abounds in Yala and each drive is likely to produce sightings of Asian Elephant, Wild Boar, Spotted Deer, Sambar, mongooses, crocodiles and lizards as well as a stunning profusion of colourful birdlife. During our three days at Yala we will be staying at the very comfortable and luxurious Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel just outside the park; with no fences to constrain the inhabitants it is by no means unusual to see a Wild Boar wander through the grounds or even to find an Asian Elephant browsing in the garden!

After many memorable experiences in Yala we next transfer to the comfortable Light House Hotel in Galle for a 2-night stay. From here we will enjoy two morning whale-watching cruises from a nearby port. Blue Whales will be our main target here, but we may also see Bryde’s and Short-finned Pilot Whales, plus Bottlenose, Pantropical Spotted, Striped and Spinner Dolphins which should provide a fitting finale to our Sri Lankan holiday. For those who wish to stay longer on this beguiling island, we recommend a post-tour extension to Sinharaja Forest. Over 80% of the island’s endemic bird species occur in the forest and resident species include the spectacular Blue Magpie, Red-faced Malkoha and Orange-billed Babbler; 60% of the trees are found nowhere else in the world, and most of the other flora and fauna has a similarly high level of endemism.