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From £800 per person
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Hill Country Hike

Highlights

  • Explore remote villages, small family farms, jungles and waterfalls
  • Help prepare and enjoy a local lunch
  • See which animals you can spot on a Safari
From £800 per person
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What you'll do

Overview

Sri Lanka’s hill country is truly beautiful. It has a variety of different ecosystems co-existing. From tea plantations, forests and spice plantations. On this trip we setup base at a beautiful colonial bungalow in the hills. From here we go on some guided walks and an amazing safari.

Hike to Riverstone

Our hike starts from the remote Gammaduwa village. We start climbing uphill through pine forests and get onto the only trail to the extremely remote Kargastene village.

This remote village is completely isolated and supports only a small farming family. From here the scenery completely changes and we hike across a large grass land for a few kilometres before heading back into the jungle.

Our route crosses small reservoirs and streams before we reach the village of Puwakpitiya where we stop for lunch. A lunch that you will need to help cook! A nearby waterfall is a great place to go for a small swim before the next stretch of our arduous journey.

From the village we need to climb through the forests to reach Riverston. Our path takes us through dense jungles that sometimes host elephants. We come out of the jungle in front of the famous Mini World’s End. The last stretch is on jeep trails up until the main road..

Accommodation:

Sir John’s Bungalow

Meals:

Packed lunch. Dinner at the Hotel.

Manigala Hike

Today from our base at Riverstone we head to famed Manigala Rock. We start of on the village bus road before turning of onto smaller village back roads. We pass through bright green paddy fields.

It is interesting to see paddy grown using the step farming or “Helmalu” method necessary in hilly areas. Our climb then takes us through the forests with a lot of small streams to cross. We then begin our climb to the top of Manigala Rock.

From the top we can see the mighty Knuckles range which we will tackle the next day. After spending some time on the peak we begin our hike down back to our comfortable bungalow.

Accommodation:

Sir John’s Bungalow

Meals:

Packed lunch. Breakfast and Dinner at the Hotel.

Safari at Wasgamuwa

Today we head to the famed Wasgamuwa National Park for a Safari. Around 150 – 250 Elephants are found in the Park, Wild Buffalo, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar, Sambhar, Crocodiles, Leopard, Sloth Bear and other animals of the 23 species of Mammals recorded.

143 species of birds (8 endemic), 17 species of reptiles (5 endemic), 17 species of Fishes (2 endemic), 50 species of Butterflies (9 endemic) are recorded at Wasgamuwa National Park.

Accommodation:

Sir John’s Bungalow

Meals: 

Breakfast and Dinner

What's included

Included

  • 3 Nights Accommodation on DBL sharing basis on Half Board Basis
  • All transfers in AC vehicle with an English speaking guide
  • Site entrance fees
  • Guided fees
Your local host

Prateeque

Hi! My name is Prateeque, your host. I grew up in India, in Bangalore and after completing an engineering degree, I decided to not actually follow this path and chose to follow my passion of travel. I quickly got a job as an actual tour guide in the wonderful southern region of Kerala, India, for a few months and ended up staying for 2 years.

An opportunity opened up to go to Sri Lanka to become manager for the country, so when I was offered it, I jumped at the chance. During my time working in travel, I’ve travelled the majority of both India and Sri Lanka and discovered almost place you could possibly explore in these crazy, yet amazing countries.

I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and exploring, even as a kid. ... Read All

Hi! My name is Prateeque, your host. I grew up in India, in Bangalore and after completing an engineering degree, I decided to not actually follow this path and chose to follow my passion of travel. I quickly got a job as an actual tour guide in the wonderful southern region of Kerala, India, for a few months and ended up staying for 2 years.

An opportunity opened up to go to Sri Lanka to become manager for the country, so when I was offered it, I jumped at the chance. During my time working in travel, I’ve travelled the majority of both India and Sri Lanka and discovered almost place you could possibly explore in these crazy, yet amazing countries.

I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and exploring, even as a kid. I would go out on my bike and get lost and then try to find my way back. I grew up in an urban setting, so any chance I could get I was out exploring. The feeling of release you get from the outdoors, is completely different to anything you can feel.

The one thing that inspired me to work in travel and pursue it as a long term career, is the feeling of pure amazement when discovering something new or seeing something spectacular for the first time. It’s an indescribable feeling, but you’re just totally immersed in this place and you just forget about everything else for a while.

And seeing this look on people’s faces and being with them when they’re doing this, is something I found out very quickly when I was tour guide I absolutely loved and just had to pursue this further.

Another thing is, you always learn in travel, there’s always something new that comes up, whether it be an experience, untapped location, or new people, you’re always learning and this pushes me to find new things to do.

It’s fair to say that Sri Lanka is oversaturated, there are plenty of companies here offering the same tours to the same places. We however, like to go off the beaten track. It’s unbelievable how much there is to see in this wonderful country away from the main sights. For example, the busy national parks e.g. Udawalawe National Park can have up to 600 jeeps a day on it’s roads. But if you go just 2 hours away at Gal Oya national park, it’s much less busy and you can get much closer to the wildlife.

Prateeque image

What Sustainability Efforts are we Taking?

Location

Your adventure takes place in central Sri Lanka, where you’ll explore the incredible landscapes of Riverstone, the mighty mountain ranges of the Knuckles Forest Reserve, and the beautiful wildlife in Wasgamuwa National Park.

Your base for the duration will be a stunning little colonial bungalow in the hills, the perfect spot to feel truly off the beaten track.

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