Tailormade tour Wildlife of Sri Lanka tour Sri Lanka

You will be met on arrival and driven by your English-speaking chauffeur guide who will accompany you throughout your tour of Sri Lanka. You will be driven to your hotel in in Colombo, approximately 1.5 hours' away.

After breakfast, head south along the coast road to Galle (approximately 3 hours). Take a walk around the Dutch Fort (UNESCO world heritage site) with its myriad narrow streets within the city walls. Then continue to on Weligama Bay, a small fishing town with a beautiful bay. Weligama Bay stretches all the way from Weligama to Mirissa, and is blessed with incredibly soft, sandy beaches. There are both good waves for surfing and more sheltered waters for snorkelling, and scuba divers can even discover some old shipwrecks offshore. The nearby Dondra lighthouse is Sri Lanka’s most southerly point. You will be driven to your hotel for a 3-night stay.

In the mornings, drive with your naturalist to Mirissa and embark on a sea journey in a spacious and comfortable boat.

Mirissa is the main point for deep sea fishing and whale watching trips between December and April. Look out for blue whales, spinner dolphins and sperm whales! In the afternoons, relax by the beach or enjoy a dip in the swimming pool.

After breakfast, head eastwards to Yala and stay in a luxury tented camp or in a hotel for 3 nights (approximately 3.5 hours). Yala National Park covers an area of 965 sq. kilometres and was declared a Game Park in 1938. According to research the park has one of the highest densities of leopards in the world and therefore offers one of the best chances throughout Asia to see these animals. You may also see elephant, sloth bear, sambhur, spotted deer, wild boar, stipenecked, brown and ruddy mongooses, black-naped hare and several species of civet. In the waterholes you may see mugger crocodile, painted stork, lesser whistling teal, black-headed Ibis, Eurasian spoonbill, egrets and the rare Black-necked stork.

Enjoy morning and afternoon jeep safaris in Yala National Park. You will see that Sri Lanka is blessed to have the opportunity to showcase a huge amount of fascinating wildlife, all of which you will experience during your safaris. Because of the high density of leopards in Yala, the lack of other carnivores means that the leopard is the top predator, so adults and cubs can be remarkably relaxed during the day. Young males seem to have no fear of the jeep which can lead to some excellent photographic opportunities.

Yala is also the best place in Asia for sighting the shy and usually nocturnal sloth bear. It is usually cooler in the early mornings and late afternoons, just in time for your safaris!

After breakfast, leave to travel along the coast to Lake Koggala (approximately 4 to 5 hours) for 1 night at TRI.

Depart for Negombo (approximately 4 hours’ drive) for a relaxing afternoon and evening at your hotel. Negombo is an important fishing town with Portuguese and Dutch colonial heritage. The Dutch legacy is seen in the remains of the grand Dutch Fort and the Dutch canal (now called Hamilton Canal) which runs from Colombo to Chilaw via Negombo. The canal is being revived and you can see galley-painted boats using it as a waterway. The beaches at Negombo are wide and good for beach walking. It is fascinating to see how the fishing industry dominates life in coastal Negombo - the fish market, the auctions, the stalls along the beach. As a tourist resort, Negombo caters to a wide spectrum of holidaymakers on a range of budgets. It’s lively at night and has tourist shops and restaurants.

Transfer to the airport for your departure (approximately 20 minutes’ drive).