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Natural Wonders of Sri Lanka
Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
- Search for abundant wildlife on a Yala National Park expedition, which boasts Asia’s largest concentration of leopards, along with Asian elephants, spotted deer, and over 200 species of birds.
- A hallmark of any Sri Lanka tour, discover the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Sigiriya, an ancient palace and fortress built atop a huge granite monolith; the monumental ruins in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka’s medieval capital; and the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a significant site of pilgrimage for Buddhists.
- Enjoy whale-watching cruises off the southern coast, one of the best places in the world to view blue whales.
- Explore Sinharaja, a vast tropical rain forest that is home to over half of Sri Lanka’s endemic species of flora and fauna.
- Stay in a variety of superb accommodations throughout your Sri Lanka adventure travels—from beach-side resorts and colonial-era mansions to world-class game lodges offering splendid vistas of the surrounding wilderness.
Short Description
Home to prolific birdlife, rich marine areas, dramatic landscapes, and a wide range of native species, to participate in Sri Lanka adventure travel is a nature lover’s dream. Travel in the company of wildlife expert, Mark Brazil, for over two weeks of in-depth exploration of this “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.” In addition to visiting a number of the country’s top natural areas, including Sinharaja Nature Reserve—where 95% of the endemic birds of Sri Lanka have been recorded—enjoy a Yala National Park tour, an important conservation area for Sri Lankan elephants and aquatic birds. Also enjoy top-notch accommodations and visits to the World Heritage Site of the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, on this Sri Lanka expedition.
Itinerary
Day 1-2: Depart USA / En Route
Board your independent flight to Sri Lanka.
Day 3: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Accommodation: Gateway Airport Garden Hotel
Arrive Colombo in the very early morning and transfer to The Gateway Airport Garden Hotel, your home for two nights. After a welcome lunch and briefing, spend the afternoon searching for indigenous fauna and flora in the woodlands and wetlands near the hotel.
Day 4: Colombo / Negombo
Accommodation: Gateway Airport Garden Hotel
This morning visit the fascinating fish and street markets of Negombo. In the afternoon explore nearby wetlands by boat to search for pheasant-tailed jacanas, blue-tailed bee-eaters, and stork-billed kingfishers.
Day 5: Colombo / Sigiriya
Accommodation: Sigiriya Village Hotel
After breakfast, depart overland to the heart of Sri Lanka’s “cultural triangle.” Here visit Sigiriya, or Lion Rock, a huge granite monolith rising out of the jungle. This stunning World Heritage Site features the ruins of a 5th-century fortress and palace, colorful murals, and the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and fountains. Dinner and overnight for the next two nights at the pleasant Sigiriya Village Hotel.
Day 6: Sigiriya / Polonnaruwa
Accommodation: Sigiriya Village Hotel
Today drive to the magnificent ruined city of Polonnaruwa for a full day tour. A former Buddhist kingdom, Polonnaruwa is famous for its intricately carved stonework, including a stunningly beautiful reclining Buddha. As you wander the archaeological sites watch for troops of endemic toque macaques and, with luck, Sri Lanka gray hornbills.
Day 7: Sigiriya / Kandy
Accommodation: Earl's Regency Hotel
After breakfast, depart for the highlands, stopping en route to visit a spice garden and batik factory. After lunch in Kandy, spend the afternoon in the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens before checking in to Earl’s Regency Hotel for dinner.
Day 8: Kandy
Accommodation: Earl's Regency Hotel
This morning visit Udawattakele Sanctuary to search for the endemic Layard’s parakeet, yellow-fronted barbet, and brown-capped babbler, among other species. Return to the hotel for lunch. This afternoon tour the Temple of the Tooth, said to house a tooth of Buddha. This World Heritage Site was originally part of the Royal Palace complex of the Kandyan Kingdom, and is one of the holiest places of worship and pilgrimage for Buddhists around the world.
Day 9: Kandy / Nuwara Eliya
Accommodation: St. Andrew's Hotel
We then climb higher into Sri Lanka’s “Hill Country” to learn about the crop that has become almost synonymous with the island—tea. Verdant plantations stretch out in every direction and you will have the opportunity to investigate one of the colonial-era tea factories, where we will have lunch. Continue on to Nuwara Eliya, known locally as “Little England,” a hill station that was home to over 200 British families. Dinner and overnight for two nights at the splendid St. Andrew’s Hotel.
Day 10: Nuwara Eliya / Horton Plains
Accommodation: St. Andrew's Hotel
Depart before dawn to appreciate the beauty of early morning at Horton Plains, a grassy highland plateau studded with rhododendrons and surrounded by cool, mossy forests. Wildlife found here includes sambar deer, grizzled giant squirrels, and the endemic purple-faced leaf monkey. Also keep an eye out for avian endemics such as the yellow-eared bulbul, Sri Lanka white-eye, and the Ceylon whistling-thrush. Return to Nuwara Eliya for lunch, then spend the afternoon in Victoria Park, a great place to spot wintering birds from the sub-continent.
Day 11: Nuwara Eliya / Sinharaja
Accommodation: Sinharaja Rainforest Edge Resort
A scenic drive with lunch along the way brings you to the fabled Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve. Sri Lanka’s single most important conservation area, Sinharaja protects the largest remaining area of tropical forest on the island. An incredible two-thirds of the plants in the forest are found nowhere else on earth, along with all but one of Sri Lanka’s bird endemics. Dinner and overnight for two nights at the Rainforest Edge Resort.
Day 12: Sinharaja
Accommodation: Sinharaja Rainforest Edge Resort
A full day walking tour of this scenic park may reveal such spectacular creatures as Sri Lanka junglefowl (the national bird), yellow-fronted barbet, bizarre red-faced malkoha, and the exquisite Sri Lanka blue magpie.
Day 13: Sinharaja / Yala National Park
Accommodation: Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel
Today, head east, descending into the lowlands of Yala, Sri Lanka’s most celebrated national park, with lunch en route. Arrive at Yala in the late afternoon, with time for a short nature walk, and check in to the Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel, your base for three nights.
Day 14: Yala National Park
Accommodation: Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel
Take morning and afternoon safaris into Yala; with over 100,000 hectares of thorn scrub and coastal wetlands, this park boasts the highest density of leopards in Asia. It is also home to healthy populations of wild water buffalo, Asian elephants, and spotted deer.
Day 15: Yala National Park / Tissa
Accommodation: Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel
Enjoy your last safari in Yala, before an afternoon visit to the wetlands of Tissa to seek out colorful wetland birds including storks, egrets, herons, and kingfishers.
Day 16: Yala National Park / Bundala National Park / Mirissa
Accommodation: Mirissa Mandara Resort
After breakfast drive to nearby Bundala National Park, famous for its concentrations of shorebirds and waterbirds. Resident painted storks and gray-headed fish eagles are joined by migrant shorebirds, terns, and ospreys, while the surrounding thorn bush supports chestnut-headed and green bee-eaters, and Sri Lanka woodshrikes. Make a stop for lunch in Tangalle then continue westward to Mirissa and check in to the beachside Mandara Resort.
Day 17: Mirissa
Accommodation: Mirissa Mandara Resort
Southern Sri Lanka is one of the very best places in the world to encounter blue whales. Enjoy a morning cruise to view these leviathans, along with the spinner dolphins that are often sighted here.
Day 18-19: Mirissa / Colombo / USA
Accommodation: Gateway Airport Garden Hotel
This morning enjoy a second whale-watching cruise. In the early afternoon drive to Colombo and check in to The Gateway Airport Garden Hotel for dinner and a chance to relax. Board your late evening flight, arriving in the USA the next day.
Availability
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14 Zegrahm Expeditions Travel Reviews & Ratings
Natural Wonders of Sri Lanka
Company Reviews
Highest Recommendation Possible
I recently returned from a 13-day Seychelles exploration and snorkel/dive adventure beginning in Zanzibar, visiting something like 9 Seychelles Atolls and islands for tons of daily snorkeling and diving, and finishing in Mahe where we departed from.
This was absolutely the best cruise/group experience I have ever had on either land or sea. Zegrahm charters the boats and I was lucky enough to be on the Ponant ship, Le Bougainville, which is very posh, with a friendly and polite staff, an amazing french chef, good food, a nice spa, you name it. My bedroom was like a small luxury hotel and each room had a balcony so you could enjoy seaside and ocean views from your bed or balcony whenever you'd like. It was lovely. I especially appreciated coming back to such a haven after long days of sunshine, beach and snorkeling.
Not only was the cruise ship and it's staff fantastic, but the Zegrahm staff were all wonderful. I sat and had dinner with many of them every day and they somehow remembered all our names (99 or so of us). They snorkeled and dove with us, pointing out fish and naming species, they went birding, they provided lectures in the mornings and evenings in their areas of expertise, because Zegrahm hires Marine Biologists, Anthropologists, and countless other individuals (with PhDs) to provide insight and lessons into the history and ecology of the places being visited and seen.
At the conclusion of the trip - I didn't want it to end. I had made several like-minded friends for travel, was invited on future trips and exchanged information with almost everyone. We were a family by the end, both staff and customers. Hugs all around as we celebrated all we had seen together and promised to keep in touch. Zegrahm fosters that type of environment when you travel with them - and it was welcoming and especially enjoyable for a solo traveler like myself.
These trips aren't cheap - but are worthwhile for all you see and do - most things you'd never be able to see on your own and certainly not with trained ecologists and marine science experts. I believe you get what you pay for. I was one of the youngest on board but there was a small group of about ten 30-40 year olds with the vast majority being probably 50-80.
This isn't a sit on the boat all day-type thing. You are going to be waking up early, going out 2-3x a day and really seeing and doing things. You almost never have down time and you are always learning, seeing, talking and doing. It's expeditionary, not sedentary. It's fun and really enriching.
The best way to know someone is doing a good job at this price point (think around $8-12k per person) is repeat customers and I met countless people who have done 6-12 of these expeditions with Zegrahm and knew the staff already. That's the absolute best recommendation you can get. I'll be booking with them again without any hesitation.
Thank you to Brad, Murph, LJ, Merel, Steven, George, George K., Robin, Pepper, Lisa, Shirley, Gemma, Chris, Boli, Marcel, and anyone else who I forgot from this amazing trip. You all did a great job and made me feel like family!
Quality staff and good itineraries.
Wonderfully planned trips with guides
That was a wonderful, unexpected addition
I couldn't recommend their company and their trips enough.
Superb
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
All internal ground transport
Group Size
Small Group - 24 max
Maximum Number of People in Group: 14
Trip ID#:
natwonzeg
What's excluded
- All air transportation
- Airport arrival and departure taxes
- Transfers for independent arrivals and departures
- Passport and/or visa fees
- Excess baggage charges
- Trip insurance
- Items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar charges, alcoholic beverages, e-mail/fax/telephone charges
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