2011

Nick & Carol King and Michael & Judy Bates toured with Walk With Jith in 2011. This is Nick's e-mail comment and comprehensive tour feedback.

Prasanjith n Colin Schaverien in front of Sigiriya

A great vacation thanks to Jith’s organisational skills. Before the beginning of the trip, having read the “Rough Guide to Sri Lanka” I was concerned about mosquito-borne diseases, the chaotic driving and possible stomach trouble from bacteria in water and food. None of these was an issue at all. There were very few mosquitoes; Mr Silva drove calmly and safely and the speeds anyway are low, and we were given plentiful bottled water to drink/brush our teeth with, so no stomach upsets either. In general, the more rural/isolated the lodge or accommodation is, the better the food. High point was at Mr Martin’s. In retrospect, it was also good not to have stayed in busy Colombo...

We travelled down to London on the train. Quite an entertaining journey thanks to the lady (?) who objected to being asked to turn off her mobile phone as she was in the Quiet Zone. Much muttering, glaring, reports to the train manager ….. We then caught the tube to Heathrow and can recommend the little shop just past the platform for snacks etc. Much cheaper than at the terminal! Check-in etc went smoothly so off we went to explore the shops......

This is a brief report of a trip to Sri Lanka arranged with Prasanjith Caldera (Jith) of Walk With Jith.

We met Jith at the Bird Fair and were impressed with his set up and arranged a trip. This was based on one of Jiths standard itineraries with some adjustments by us. It included birding and cultural sites.

We arranged our own flights with Etihad Airways....

December 2011

Sri Lanka is a tropical island of 430km long and 230 km wide at its widest, situated just north of the Equator. Most coastal and northern areas are low lying, with the centre of the island being very mountainous.
The ‘wet zone’ of the south-west and hills area has monsoon season in May-September, while the eastern and northern ‘dry zone’ has rain from November to February.
With over 400 bird species and 33 endemics, plus large numbers of mammals and reptiles, it is a fabulous, bio-diverse, small and easy destination for wildlife viewing.

After picking up a brochure at the British Birdfair from a small company called ‘Walk with Jith’, and hearing some great stories about birding in Sri Lanka, we took on an 11 day ‘Birding and Wildlife Budget Tour’.   www.walkwithjith.com      walkwithjith@hotmail.comMuch discussion with Prasanjith (Jith) Caldera, the owner, by both email and phone made us very confident that the tour would suit our needs.
At £900pp for 11 days – transport, driver and guide, dinner, bed and breakfast, all jeep safaris and park entries – the tour is excellent value and as a private tour (2 pax) had the flexibility we wanted.