| Bird
Watching and Culture Tour |
| Duration: 21
days/20 nights |
Tour Code:
ECOSLK-07 |
|
Day 1: Waikkala
On arrival, our representative will meet you at the airport and then
you will be transferred to Ranweli Holiday Village in Waikakala -
the hotel which offers you a cozy ambiance with its magnificent
landscapes of beach and lagoon. The rest of the day, you will be
offered the optional tours of bird watching or canoeing. The two
optional tours provide you an opportunity to explore the abundance
of flora and fauna of Waikkala with its 50-60 varieties of birds and
other creatures such as brackish water fish, shrimps, crabs,
molasses, and so on. The interesting highlight here is the rare and
only palm, Nypa Fruticans "Gin Pol" which grows in water.
Dinner and overnight stay at Ranweli Holiday Village.
Day 2: Waikkala
Enjoy your breakfast, today you are free for your own activities.
Alternatively, we offer you bird watching and canoeing as optional
Bird watching: is
about wild birds and the sport of birding. It is for everyone who is
interested in bird watching and enjoying nature. We hop you will
find some good ideas here you have fun watching birds. It is your
lifetime ticket to the theater of nature.
Canoeing: is one of
the most popular program, exploring the hidden and untouchable
underwater caves.
Day 3: Sigiriya via
Muthurajawela
After breakfast, proceed to Anawilundawa in Muthurajawela where you
can enjoy all day watching a wide variety of birds and its rich
bio-diversity of indigenous floras and faunas. After that, check in
at Sigiriya Hotel and enjoy your dinner and leisure in the evening
at the hotel.
Day 4: Sigiriya
Today, you will have a chance to turn back time to the exuberant
past of Sigiriya Ancient City while visiting the Sigiriya Fortress.
The Fortress is elegantly set on the massive rock outcrop, jutting
from the flat land and surrounded by the a few adjoining hills. The
Ancient City of Sigiriya is designated to be a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO in 1982. Dinner and overnight at Sigiriya Hotel.
Day 5: Sigiriya
Today, you are offered a full-day-bird watching around Sigiriya.
Covering 51,099 ha., Sigiriya Sanctuary is within the Polonnaruwa
District. A great archeological importance it has, the sanctuary was
recognized as the World Heritage Site. Apart from its historical and
archeological significance, Sigiriya also endows a large population
of migratory elephants and various species of endemic birds. There
are about 150 species of birds found in this area, for example,
Oriental Sharma, Pompador Green Pigeon, Shanian falcon, Crested Hawk
Eagle, Rufus bellied hawk Eagle and Greater. Dinner and overnight
stay at Hotel Sigiriya.
Day 6: Kandy via Wasgamuwa
After breakfast, you will leave for Wasgomuwa National Park which,
situated in the Central Province. Apart from its rich biodiversity,
the Park is also one of the important historical sites as it covers
many ancient tanks and several other ruins and religious sites. Of
the interest sites is the famous Yudanganapitiya, the site where the
armies of the Kings Dutugemunu and Elara (2nd century B.C.) camped
during the battles.
On the trail, you will also have a
chance to admire a large flock of birds, a big herd of dear and
buffaloes grazing around many water sources within the Park. A
glimpse of beautiful peacocks roaming around the park and bears is
not an uncommon sight. Elephants, numbering about 150 also within
the park. After bird watching, proceed to Kandy. The last capital of
the Sri Lankan kings, Kandy is recognized as the World Heritage
Site. The town, and the countryside around it, is lush and green and
there are many pleasant walks both from the town to farther afield.
The town centre, close to Kandy's picturesque lake stet in a bowl of
hills, is a delightful jumble of old shops, antique and gemstone
specialists, a bustling market. In the evening, you are welcomed to
witness Kandy Culture and the Kandyan Home garden system, which is
the emphasis of the day. Dinner and overnight stay at Queens Hotel.
Day 7: Kandy - Hanthana &
Dalada
After breakfast, we drive you through the hillside, where you can
absorb the breathtaking mountain with a panoramic view of blue sky
kissing lush Green Mountain. Enjoy yourself what's more the view of
the illuminated city of Kandy, experience the peace, tranquility and
serenity while you overwhelm in the fresh air blowing across the
mountain.
In the evening, we start exploring
the last kingdom of Sri Lanka "Kandy" - where the famous
Dalada Maligawa another world heritage site - is, is a very
important place to visit. The Dalada Maligawa also called the Temple
of the Tooth and known to house the Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha.
In the evening, you are welcomed to witness Kandy Culture and the
Kandyan Home garden system, which is the emphasis of the day. Dinner
and stay overnight at Queens Hotel or similar. Dinner and overnight
at Queens Hotel.
Day 8: Kandy - Botanical Gardens
After breakfast, we depart for Peradeniya Botanical Garden, 6 km out
of Kandy towards to Colombo. Today it is the largest botanic garden
in Sri Lanka, covering 60 hectares and bounded on three sides buy a
loop of the Mahaweli Ganga. It is beautiful and well worth a visit -
there is a fine collection of orchids and a stately avenue of royal
palms plants in 1950. A major attraction is the giant Javan fig tree
on the great lawn; it covers 1600 sq metres In addition, the spice
garden allows you to see nut meg, cinnamon, cloves and more without
the hassle of a salesperson breathing down your neck. The snack
creeper close by is also well worth seeing. Then there are the giant
bamboo and Assam rubber trees, and who could resist wanting to hunt
down the sausage tree? Unquestionably, you can easily spend a whole
day wandering around the gardens.
Day 9: Pinnawela Elephant
Orphanage
You begin the day of your expedition after having breakfast, we will
drive you to see the government-run Pinnawela Elephant orphanage
near Kegalle, which was set up to save abandoned or orphaned wild
elephants, is the most popular jumbo attraction in Sri Lanka - you
are likely to se many elephants at close quarters. They are
controlled by their keepers, who ensure they feed at the right times
and do not endanger anyone, but otherwise the elephants roam freely
around the sanctuary area.
There are 63 young elephants and
some are surprisingly small; this must be one of the few places
where elephant can step on your foot and you might walk away with a
smile! We will return to Kandy. Dinner and overnight stay at Queens
Hotel.
Day 10: Ratnapura - Adam's Peak
After breakfast serving in the early morning, we will leave for bird
watching in Peak Wilderness (Gilimale or Adam's Peak). We will pass
by Ratnapura, where ids reputed to be the best place for views of
Adam's Peak - a very large strip of wet zone rainforest with an
extent of 22,379.9ha. lying within the Ratnapura District this
sanctuary ranks among the few areas with highest biodiversity in the
country. This is the only wet zone rainforest with an elephant
population. Another very important factor is that world famous Sri
Pada mountain lies within this sanctuary. You can find a wide
variety of bird in the area; Ashy Headed laughing Thrush, Yellow
Fronted Barbet, Blue Magpie White-faced Starling, SL Wood Pigeon
Black Throated Munia. Dinner and overnight at Rathnaloka Hotel in
Ratnapura.
Day 11: Sinharaja
After breakfast, we depart for Singharaja Rain Forest with an extent
of 11,250 ha. is the only patch of virgin rainforest left in Sri
Lanka. This forest was declared a world heritage site in 1989,
having the highest number of endemic flora and fauna species in the
island and a very high biodiversity. Apart from these sites, you
would be visiting the village of Kudawa, experience yourself with
staying overnight at the forestry-dormitory with all services
provided or in an Eco-Lodge, which is built and operated by a person
in the forest.
We spend the whole day with bird
watching, 95% of the endemic birds of Sri Lanka have been recorded
un Sinharaja, where is the best location to observe thee flock
behavior of bird, such as SL Spur fowl, SL Jungle fowl, Green-billed
Coucal, Red-faced Malkoha, Blue Magpie, Spot-winged Thrush. Dinner
and overnight at Rathnaloka Hotel in Ratnapura.
Day 12: Belihuloya
After breakfast, you will be picked up and driven to Belihuloya, a
pretty hillside region worth passing through on the way to/from hill
country - it is 57km from Ratnapura. From here you can walk up to
Horton Plains, a very strenuous undertaking. This region is a
climatically transitional area linking the wet & dry zones and
the hill country& the low country. This very important location
ha made it one of the places in the country with the highest
bio-diversity.
Upon arrival Belihuloiya, if the
time permits, we love you to have experience of river bathing and
bird watching trek in the natural rock pool - this is a unique place
where two streams namely "Belihuloya" and "Galagamaoya"
meet together creating a natural nothing area with clear unpolluted
water that flows down from "Horton Plains", 2200 metre
above the sea level. Dinner and stay overnight at River Garden
Hotel.
Day 13: Horton Plains
After breakfast we begin trekking to Horton Plains, the most
certainly one of the world's best nature reserves, which consist of
famous "World's End", "Bakers Fall", Chiminini
Pool" etc. Beside Elk, Deer, Giant Squirrel, Wild Boar, Wild
Hair, Percupine, and a variety of Migratory birds haunt Horton
Plains nature Reserve, which is only one of its kind to this region.
As said by counting, there are 16 Leopards in Horton Plains. If you
are lucky you may get a glimpse of a Leopard during your break in
the Horton Plains. A sheer drop of 3,700ft, World's End offers one a
fantastic and awesome view. Down below, one is greeted, by the
beautiful view of sprawling tea estate laved with gravel roads and
line rooms, and if one looks beyond, by breathtaking panoramic view
of the southern part of the island down to the coast. We will be
passing the evening to see Elk coming out before return to
Belihouloya. The dinner will be served in late evening today. Dinner
and stay overnight at Belihuloya River garden Resort
(cottage/campsite/Eco lodge).
Day 14: Udawalawe
After enjoy your breakfast, we will leave for Udawalawe National
Park. This 30,281 hectares dry zone game park was declared as a
protected national park in 1972. It has as annual rainfall of 1,524
millimeters and an average temperature of 29.4C. This park is world
renowned for its elephants. You will see the herds of them bathing
and playing in the water, making a pleasant sight.
After lunch, you will set off on
safari tour in the park. The Udawalawe National Park is an ideal
place for bird watching as it endows a wide variety of birds. The
parkland is an excellent habitat of many endemic species such as the
Red-faced Malkoha, Serpent Eagles, Hawk Eagles, White-Bellied Sea
Eagles, Black Eagles, Black Capped Bulbuls, Racket-tailed Drongos,
Malabar Pied Horn Bills, White-necked Storks, Open Bills, Ibis,
Shama (the forest Nightingale), Strol-Billed Kingfishers, and
peacocks. The migrant birds can also be found here such as the
forest wagtails, Indian Pitta, Whiskered Terns, Osprey sand Pipers
and Terns. Dinner and overnight stay in a campsite in the park.
Day 15: Yala National Park
After breakfast, we travel overland to Yala National Park, lies 24km
northeast of Tissamaharama and 290km from Colombo on the southeast
coast of Sri Lanka and spans Southern and Uva provinces. The park
consists of 97,878 ha. The attitude is 90m from sea level. The
vegetation in this park comprises secondary forest, possibly a few
hundred years old at the most. It is predominantly semi-arid
thorny-scrub, interspersed with pockets of fairly den forest and
small patches of mangrove vegetation occur along the costal lagoons.
Yala is renowned for the variety of its wildlife and its fine
coastline and associated coral reefs. A large number of important
ruins bear testimony to earlier civilizations and indicate that,
much of the area was populated and well developed. We return to Yala
Safari Lodge for dinner and stay overnight.
Day 16: Bundala - Yala
After early breakfast serving, we depart for Tangalla via Bundala
for bird watching.
Bundala: Bird Watching
The high species richness of birds associated with the Bundala
lagoons resulted in it being declared a Sri Lanka's first Ramsar
site - a wetland of international importance for migratory
waterfowl, in 1990. The park consists mainly of dry thorny scrubland
and lagoons. The highlight of Bundala is the migratory Greater
Flamingo, which visits in large flocks of over 1000 individuals,
from Rann of Kutch-India.
In the evening, you are free for
you own activities or pick the turtle watch at Rakawa as an optional
tour.
Optional: Turtle Watch at
Rakawa
Find out of 7 species of marine turtles come ashore to nest in Sri
Lanka. The turtle watch program is a nature tourism initiative
developed by the TCP (Turtle Conversation Project). "Rekawa",which
is one of Sri Lanka's most important marine turtle nesting where all
5 species come to the nest throughout the year. The peak season
takes place between February and July. Nevertheless we cannot reckon
on the coming along of the marine turtle every night but we can
guarantee that you will have an exciting nighttime adventure on one
of the world's most beaches. Dinner and overnight at Tangalle nature
Resort.
Day 17 - 20 Tangalle
After breakfast, we go to Tangalle for your excitement and
adventure. It is four days of marine exploration by your own self,
is one of the nicest spots along the coast, particularly if you just
want somewhere to laze and soak up the sun. Dinner and overnight at
Tagalle Nature Resort.
Day 21: Departure
After breakfast, we will be transferred to the airport for your next
destination flight.

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