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 report summarize our 15 days trip to Sri Lanka with notes on sites visited and a list of the species of birds and mammals seen.
As our first visit to South East Asia we chose Sri Lanka because of the country’s rich nature with a great biodiversity within a rather small geographic area.
The tour was planned after contact to some of Sri Lanka’s tour operators specializing in birding and wildlife tours. We chose WalkWithJith and agreed on a program staying only in 4 different lodges/hotels in order to make the tour easy without too much driving. The driver Senarath Bulathsinhala not only took us safely from place to place (from day 5), but he was also a very knowledgeable and helpful birding and wildlife guide. In some of the national parks local guides accompanied us, and they were helpful too. During the first days in Sinharaja Forest Reserve Sandun was our guide and he introduced us to many new species as well as cultural matters.
The tour introduced us to some of the main habitats of Sri Lanka: The rain forest in the south-west lowland wet zone (Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Hiyare Forest), the central highlands with montane grassland and cloud forest (Horton Plains National Park), highland tea country (e.g. Ella), freshwater wetlands (Tissamaharama tanks and paddy-fields, Yala National Park), coastal lagoons/saltpans (Bundala National Park, Yala National Park) and finally the ocean to the south with marine mammals.
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....
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.comwalkwithjith@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.
My partner and I were guided by our guide for a period of 3 weeks in November 2012.
Our tour cover eight important areas of Sri Lanka with an emphasis on Birdwatching, but also including general elements of the natural world as well as important cultural sites.
Our guide has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the birds of Sri Lanka and an ability to spot different species accurately at some distance. He is patient with his quests and always takes considerable trouble to ensure that they are able to see and identify whichever bird or animal is in view. He clearly has a passion for ornithology and a deep desire to see the environment of Sri Lankan cared for and protected.
Throughout our trip he was courteous and discreet. He was never critical when we showed tiredness or lack of interest, but would always do his utmost to ensure our safety and comfort at all times. He drove us for many miles, but always with care and consideration for our comfort, we both considered his driving to be safe despite many different road and traffic conditions. He always knew where he was and which road to take to get us to our destination.
Our experience in Sri Lanka was of the highest quality, largely due to the expert care and attention of our guide.
We used the services of Walk With Jith. This is one of the lesser known companies than for example Bauer or Jetwing. Walk With Jith charged us $500 less than Bauers, namely $1550/1180Euros. We managed to see all 33 endemics and more. This was mainly thanks to our excellent guide. He is a free-lance guide who also works for Bauers and other companies and his skills and determination in the field are excellent. He worked hard to show us all the required species and we actually only missed seeing one much sought-after species, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher.
Very many thanks, Jith for a wonderful two weeks which surpassed our expectations in all respects; also many thanks to Dilan for his good company & careful driving which has a big significance on the enjoyment of a holiday like this –we all felt safe with him 100% of the time.
With the exception of a sloth bear which we didn't set eyes upon. I think we had good sightings of all the animals we thought we might see; also many species of wonderfully colored butterflies and such a wide variety too of botanical interest Last but not least, the birds of which we saw around 190 species & many of which provided excellent scope – and /or binocular – felling sightings. The hotels were all five, even if varying somewhat in quality, but the main thing was the fascinatingly wide variety variety of character they offered from the fine colonial Hotel Suisse in Kandy to the relatively primitive but highly characterful & peaceful Martin's Lodge (No traffic and associated noise – only the sound of waterbirds) in the heart of Sinharaja Rain Forest. Food was fine too throughout – a plethora of cuisines which is what we expected & enjoy. Finally another BIG THANK YOU to Jith – his arrangement & planning worked seamlessly & he is the ideal guide – not overbearing but always humorous, eagle-eyed &, not least, knowledgeable – an excellent ambassador for Sri Lanka! The local guides in in various places were very good too. All-in-all a truly memorable experience! We will recommend you to our trading native-loving friends without hesitation.
A keen birder of over 50 years & wife Anne, a non-birder...
"For me, this was one of the best holidays we have ever had. After the initial deep reluctance & reservations on Anne`s part, having read on the inter-net the horror stories as regards the many potential safety hazzards, she enjoyed the whole experience immensely & I`m sure would not have missed it for the world. The people were lovely & friendly without exception. The flights with Emirates were first class as was the hotel accommodation [with one big exception – Martin`s Lodge!] The food was on the whole good, often really good. The travel company “Walks with Jith” under the umbrella organisation of “Responsible Travel”, could not be faulted. We were well looked after at every step of the way & their initial organisation was first rate without a single glitch. Our driver/guide ...
Keith Pigdon, Nancye Pigdon and Margaret Wilson, from Melbourne, Australia
Three retired adults were met at the airport on arrival in Sri Lanka and driven to our hotel in the wee small hours of the morning by our careful and very pleasant trip driver Manju. A great way to start a visit to a new country! We had been well prepared for the visit through numerous email contacts with Jith and the detailed information he provided on currency, tipping, food, health, clothing etc.
We met our very knowledgeable and friendly guide Upali on the first day and were each presented with a great little package containing an excellent map of Sri Lanka, a pocket bird book and a tally list to keep records of what we were to see. All of these were of great use to us throughout the trip. Nice touch Jith. Our vehicle was a new A/C comfortable van. Given the problems we had had with a poor quality vehicle on a previous trip to Africa we were well pleased with the van.....
