Sri Lanka tour – My adventure around this beautiful island!

Last April I had an amazing holiday in beautiful Sri Lanka.  I wanted to tell you all about it as more and more cruises are stopping there and I’m sure packages will follow so this is definitely a country to add to the to do list for those who haven’t already been!

With less than 14 nights available to us and with so much to see we decided to book a tour of the island.  Our driver picked us up from the airport and following a relaxing night staying in Bentota in a beautiful beach-front hotel we were picked up to really start our adventure!  On day 2 we took a boat ride down the Madu river where we saw some beautiful birds, visited a monastery and had a very tickly fish pedicure!  We then were driven to a turtle sanctuary to visit some of the turtles who needed rehabilitating before going back into the sea (we even got to hold some!).  We then arrived at our second hotel and WOW!  We were in a rainforest lodge which we needed a tuk tuk ride to get to and it felt like we were in something out of a Flintstones film.  The views of the rainforest were amazing, freshwater pool very refreshing and we had the most amazing selection of curries delivered to our table.  My eyes were bigger than my belly!

 The following morning, we went on a trek in the Sinharaja rainforest where we saw so much wildlife from snakes to monkeys!  We then went to our third hotel, a safari hotel in Udawalele where there were so many more monkeys!  The next morning, we went on our first safari.  The highlight was an elephant coming right up to our jeep!  Following this we went to our next accommodation, glamping in Yala!  We didn’t know what to expect and were driven up to a tiny site with only 3 tents, a hut and a camp fire.  Our tent was amazingly well furnished and we even had an outdoor shower!  We unpacked and went on our second safari of the day in Yala National park where we were very lucky to spot a leopard!  Back at our camp site that evening we were treated to a candlelit BBQ under the stars.  The staff at the hotel even looked out for local wildlife for us and beckoned us over to see! 

The next day we set off to Ella.  I was really excited about this place as the views looked amazing in the pictures and in reality they really didn’t disappoint!  We enjoyed our day there and the next morning climbed Little Adams peak for more spectacular views.  After this we set off to Nuwara Eliya (known as little Britain) and enjoyed some time relaxing by the river.  We really needed it for our 5am start the next morning.  We were taken to see the sunrise over the Horton plains and went on a trek to worlds end (this was one of my highlights!)  What better way to relax after this than with white water rafting in Kitugala!?  Ok.. so not so relaxing but lots of fun!  We then had to leave our comfortable car to be driven in a tuk tuk 10km through a plantation up to the plantation owner’s villa.  The settings were amazing with a beautiful fresh water swimming pool set next to a waterfall.  I will admit there were bugs here though and I did scream a bit!! 

After this amazing tour we were very glad to have booked for a 4-night stay in an all-inclusive hotel in Wadduwa where we could relax and reflect on our trip.  To sum up Sri Lanka:  Beautiful scenery, amazing people and service, great food and so many experiences (we didn’t get to see half of what we would have wanted).  Truly recommended for a trip of a lifetime!