This 10 day Echo Holiday Tour package was design to take the discerning traveler off the beaten track. Visitors to Sri Lanka can explore the diverse natural heritage of Sri Lanka and witness the stark variation in climate, flora, fauna and animals habitats alike. Trek through many of the undiscovered wilderness, explore the wildlife and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Sri Lanka in this action packed 10 day tour package.

Day 01

Our Ranfer Travels Sri Lanka tour guide will await your arrival at the Colombo International Airport (Flight at your own arrangement). Depending on your time of arrival, enjoy a tour of Negombo to discover the Negombo fishing village and other places of interests.
Dinner and overnight stay at Paradise Beach Hotel or similar.

Day 02

After breakfast travel to Kitulgala. The Kelani River (the broadest river in Sri Lanka) flowing through Kitulgala and was the main location where the Oscar winning movie ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ was filmed on the hill above this town, a prehistoric cave was recently discovered containing large middens of shells from some unknown civilization. We will stop for lunch at this scenic region and enjoy a thrilling White Water Rafting Tour. White Water Rafting in the Kelani River (grade 2-3 rapids) is simply a thrilling and exciting adventure. We will later walk through the Kelani Valley Forest Reserve which is a lowland rainforest by crossing the Kelani River in a dugout canoe. This exciting ride takes 10 minutes, which takes you to Parawalatanne village.
We will continue our travel to Nuwara Eliya.
Dinner and overnight stay at the Galway Forest Lodge, Nuwara Eliya or similar

Day 03

After Breakfast, we will travel south to the renowned Horton Plains National Reserve. Horton Plains National Park is the only National Park in Sri Lanka where visitors are allowed to walk freely. It is situated 2200 m above the sea in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, approximately 20 km south of Nuwara Eliya and covers 3162 hectares in extent. The climate here is a wet Montane climate with an average annual temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. The vegetation in Horton Plains is defined as Montane Rainforests or Cloud Forests which shows gnarled and stunted growth not exceeding 15 meters in height. The montane flora here looks spectacular with their crowns appearing vividly in red, orange and purple colours. The flora is unusually dominated by Rhododendron (of which the nearest relative is in the Himalayas), Calophyllum (mainly one species), and Syzygium (several species).

In addition to Cloud Forests there are also open grasslands in the lower slopes, which serve as feeding grounds for herbivores such as Sambhur. In the forest patches bird watchers can expect to find the endemic Bear Monkey and Dusky Squirrel. Other species travelers can expect to see on montane endemics Yellow-eared Bulbul, Sri Lanka Bush Warbler, Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon, Sri Lanka White Eye, Dull Blue Flycatcher and if lucky the scarce montane endemic, Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush. Also look for Indian Blue Robin, Zitting Cisticola, Pacific Swallow, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Crested Goshawk and Indian Pied Bush Chat. Horton Plains is also famous for World’s End, a stunning viewpoint, which is a sheer drop of 870 meters hidden in clouds.

We will however, focus on the well known bird rich areas, away from the popular walks to the viewpoint. The Park harbors a diversity of endemic montane lizards such as Rhino-horned Lizard, which was featured in Charles Darwin’ monumental work on evolution, ‘Ascent of Man’, Black-lipped Lizard and Dwarf Chameleon. Enjoy a picnic lunch and the park.
Dinner and overnight stay at the Galway Forest Lodge, Nuwara Eliya or similar

Day 04

After breakfast at the hotel travel to Ella. We will check into Ella Adventure Park (Log cabins) for two nights. To reach the eco lodges and adventure center you need to trek 45 minutes downhill with your luggage’s (clothes for two nights). We will first meet the tracker who will guide us to the campsite. The terrain is a mostly downhill you will require a backpack to carry your belongings down. The ancient method of transporting goods locally known as “Thawalama” will be demonstrated by two men who will carry the goods downhill. Reach the ‘Aerial Rope Point’. First you will be briefed by the tracker of the safety procedures. Slide on the ‘Aerial Rope’ 150 feet above and arrive at the camping site across the river. Those who do not want to do Aerial Rope could either take the suspension bridge or for a change, take the manila ropes of toddy tappers, which would be demonstrated in advance.

Enjoy the surrounding region at Elle Adventure Park. Your hosts at the Park will assist you with all the trekking and other activities around the area. Dinner and overnight at the Ella Adventure Park

Day 05

After breakfast you will be briefed on how to climb up from the Ella Adventure Park camp site. We will travel south to Thissamarama and towards Yala National Park.

Enjoy an evening 4X4 Jeep safari at the Yala National Park. This is one of the island’s most prominent wild life reserves. It’s a heaven for Leopard, Sloth Bear, Wild Elephants, Sambar, Deer, Wild Boar and other indigenous wild animals. It is also a great place to spot some of Sri Lanka endemic and migrant Birds. With many water holes inside the park visitors can experience the wild unfolding before their very eyes as the animals and birds are drawn to them towards the late evening or early morning. Here are thousands of Flamingoes, Assemblies of spotted Billed Pelicans, Spoonbills, Cormorants and various species of Herons. Pheasants, Pea Fowl, Peacocks and the Wild Fowl are found in hundreds.
Dinner & overnight stay in The Safari, Yala or similar

Day 06

Early morning (approx 5.00am) travel to Udawalawa National Park for a thrilling Safari Tour with packed breakfast. The Udawalawe National Reserve is over 30,000 hectares of wild nature reserve that is bordering the dry zone of Sri Lanka and was declared as a national park in 1972. The area records a higher rainfall than it’s neighboring park Yala and has an average temperature of 29.4 degrees Celsius. The main attraction at the park is its wild elephants. The park is home to many herds of elephants of varied sizes as well as the fearsome ‘lone elephant’. For bird watchers the park is home many endemic and migratory birds and is once again a popular destination for bird watching in Sri Lanka.
In the evening travel to Bundala National Park for yet another thrilling Safari adventure.

Bundala is a 6,216 hectare scenic park that boarders a coastal lagoon and is a popular huant for migratory birds. It is also the only National Park in Sri Lanka, where visitors get to observe both species of crocodiles that live in the country. A vast concentration of estuarine crocodiles live in the lagoon areas and in the estuary of the Kirindi Oya river , while the mugger or the freshwater crocodile thrive in the small freshwater lakes and in the upper regions of the Kirindi Oya(river). The best time to visit the park is from May through to September.
Dinner and overnight stay at The Safari Thissamaharama or similar

Day 07

After Breakfast travel towards Ratnapura and visit Sinharaja Rain forest trekking tour. On arrival to the region you will check in to your jungle retreat and then proceed to explore the mesmerizing Sinhraja Forest. Sinharaja Rainforest is an 18,899 hectare region of virgin rain forest and is a UNESCO world heritage. Today sadly this is the largest remaining rainforest reserve in Sri Lanka. Visitors can trek through this refreshing tropical lowland rainforest and expect to discover Sambar, Leopards, Purple-faced Langurs, Barking Deer and over 147 recoded bird species. The best time to visit the Sinharaja Forest Reserve is from August to September and January to March. The former logging roads provide the best access for prime birding in Sinharaja where a mixed species bird flock and give you with a mouthwatering selection which include Orange-billed Babbler, Crested Drongo, Red-faced Malkoha, Ashy-headed Laughing Thrush, Green-billed Coucal, Lesser Yellownape, Orange Minivet, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Black-naped Monarch, Yellow-fronted Barbet, White-faced Starling, Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Bronze-winged Pigeon, Spot-winged Thrush, Sri Lanka Myna, Legge’s Flowerpecker, Brown-backed Needletail, Green Imperial Pigeon, Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Scaly Thrush, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Black-throated Munia, Layard’s Parakeet, Black Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Dark-fronted Babbler and Velvut-fronted Nuthatch. As the dusk falls we look for the sub-continental endemic Sri Lanka Frogmouth.
Dinner and Overnight stay at The Blue Magpie Camp Lodge near the forest

Day 08

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and trek the region on your own.
In the afternoon we will tour the gem mines and factories of Sri Lanka in Ratnapure. Ratnapure City is the closest main town to the Sinharaja Rainforest and is the gem Capital of Sri Lanka. All of Sri Lanka’s precious rubies & Ceylon blue Sapphires and other semi-precious gem stone are found here.

Optional – Climb Adam’s peak. Adam’s Peak Mountain is also a stone’s throw from Sinharaja forest. With an additional nights extension to the tour in the region we can trek up the renowned pilgrim mountain in the night to witness a stunning sunrise over the island at dawn. This is a truly breath taking sight and words cannot describe the beauty that unfolds a top this holy mountain.

Day 09

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and travel to Colombo

Colombo like many capital cities in developing countries is fast changing its face. Almost overnight, skyscrapers arise from where old buildings once stood. Yet in some parts, the old world charm is retained. For example, there is a 100-year-old clock tower and several British built colonial buildings. Other places of interest are the Pettah bazaar – where one can shop for bargains, a Hindu and a Buddhist temple, residential areas where you find the stately homes of the affluent, the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. (BMICH)- An outright gift to Sri Lanka from the People’s Republic of China.

In the afternoon enjoy a Shopping Tour by visiting some of Colombo’s most popular shopping destinations.

Dinner and overnight stay at Grand Oriental Hotel Colombo

Day 10

Checkout of your hotel and transfer to Colombo International airport. Your tour of Sri Lanka ends here. Have a nice flight and we forward to seeing you again soon.

Note: Hotel stipulates checkout is before 12:00hrs noon time. Late Checkout between 12:00-18:00 requires half of the room rate. Any checkout after 18:00 will cost one extra night room rate.

PRICE INCLUDES

• 9 Nights accommodation on Half Board basis (Breakfast and Dinner).
• Transfers in an excellent Air Conditioned vehicle accompanied with a fluent English Speaking Chauffer Guide. (Multi-lingual Guides can be organized on request)charges.
• All Entrance Ticket charges for the mentioned visits.
• All local and government Taxes for services mentioned.

PRICE EXCLUDES

• Transportation, entrance & other Charges for optional visits & activities.
• Tips for Hotel & Guide / Driver.
• All additional expenses not mentioned on the package.
• Video charges.