Sandwich Bird Tours

Sri Lanka: Bespoke Tours Itineraries

2007/2008 - Birdwatching & Wildlife Holiday

A 14-day holiday focused on birdwatching & wildlife in Southern Sri Lanka

Outline Itinerary
Day 01 Arrive in Sri Lanka and transfer to Kithulgala. 2 nights at Kithulgala Resthouse, Kithulgala.
Day 02 Full day birding in Kithulgala for lowland endemics & specialties.
Day 03 Drive to Sinharaja Rainforest for endemics. 2 nights at Blue Magpie Lodge, Sinharaja.
Day 04 Full day birding in Sinharaja for lowland endemics/mixed species bird flocks.
Day 05 Drive to Udawalawe for dry zone specialties. 1 night at Safari Village Hotel, Udawalawe.
Day 06 Drive to Tissamaharama for wetland birds. 1 night at Priyankara Hotel.
Day 07 Bundala National Park for shorebirds & Yala for Leopards. 3 nights at Yala Village Hotel.
Day 08 Morning and afternoon visit Yala National Park with a midday break.
Day 09 Morning and afternoon visit Yala National Park with a midday break.
Day 10 Drive to Nuwara Eliya for montane endemics & specialties. 2 nights at Alpine Hotel
Day 11 Horton Plains National Park for montane endemics & specialties. Afternoon local birding.
Day 12 Drive down to Kandy. Royal Botanical Gardens. 1 night at Suisse Hotel, Kandy
Day 13 Drive to Katunayake. 1 night at Taj Airport Garden Hotel
Day 14 Departure.

Costs (Valid until 30 Oct, 2008). Land based.
7-12 persons cost per person based on double/twin occupancy (with a foreign leader) £1,490
Single Supplement: £230

2 persons: cost per person based on double occupancy (without a foreign leader) £1,590
3-6 persons small group supplement per person (without foreign leader) £1680

Flight guide for British clients is £400

Prices include: Accommodation based on double/twin sharing basis with private facilities, transportation in a comfortable A/C vehicle (car for 2 persons, Micro Van for 3-6 persons & a mini bus for 7-10 persons), all meals (Breakfast, lunch & dinner), Local guiding by Amila Salgado, jeeps, Sri Lanka bird and natural history checklist, entrance tickets & taxes.

Prices exclude: Flights, insurance, tips & other personal expenses.

This exciting holiday has equal focus on birding and wildlife. In birding we will focus on the country’s 33 plus endemics, sub-continental specialties & migrants (ok, that is everything). This tour is operated during the best period for birding (Nov-March) when the northern winter migrants supplement the island’s resident birds and is most likely to produce good numbers and great birding. Our main focus on Wildlife will be on Sri Lanka’s big three: Leopard, Elephant & Sloth Bear. With 5 game drives to Yala, we are confident that we will be able to get good views of the Leopard as we did in our Jan, 2006 trip to Sri Lanka.  In addition to these there will be plenty of opportunity to see and enjoy all forms of natural history such as Dragonflies and Damselflies, Butterflies, Reptiles & Botany. Therefore this tour is ideal for birders with broader interests/non birding spouses joining in.

The group size is kept to a maximum of 12 persons and a minimum of 7 persons. The tour will go ahead even for 2-6 clients at a small group supplement.

The itinerary covers a variety of habitat types, which include lowland rainforests, well-wooded gardens, lily-covered inland reservoirs, dry-country big game parks, grasslands, scrublands, monsoon forests, coastal mudflats, imposing riverine forests & misty cloud forests. As such the tour combines a variety of local avi-faunal zones and ensures highly profitable birding. There will be plenty of walking in this holiday particularly in the lowland rainforests where we will look for the endemics and mixed-species bird flocks during the initial period of the holiday.

Our walks will be slower paced to enable better opportunity to spot & enjoy birds. Typical birding day will include pre-breakfast birding to catch the early morning activity, breakfast, longer walk before lunch, midday break for lunch & to ‘recharge the batteries' followed by an afternoon walk when it is less warm, which will almost always continue till dusk to include some crepuscular birding. Some owling will be done on certain evenings. In order to save birding time, a variety of accommodation is used close to the birding sites . These include a colonial rest-house, a guest house, a star-class game lodge & several 3-5 star hotels.

It should be stressed that the number of days of this holiday which is advertised as 14 are the ‘actual land days’ you spend in Sri Lanka and therefore it is not inclusive of your air travel time.

Click Here for Detailed Itinerary (pdf - 126kb - will open in new window)