Day 1:
Guests arrived about 11.30 today. Guests got a warm welcome by staff with King Coconut drinks. After my introduction to our lodge staff, I have given a brief introduction of their itinerary & lodge operations. Hereafter we let them freshen up in their chalets until lunch. Guests had their lunch by 1pm and immediately went on our first safari in the Wilpattu National Park around 2pm.
There we had a beautiful start with a herd of deer and gray languor Monkeys. Since guests were interested about every little animal, we got a good time in the park. Around 5 pm rain was starting but we were lucky to see a young Leopard just before we turned back from park. Also, we watched lots of birds such a as hornbill, Kingfisher, Peacock etc... and few Crocodiles. We came back to lodge about 6.40pm for the guests to have their dinner around 7pm.
Day 2:
The tour to Sigiriya (world heritage site 5 AD) started at 6.15 in the morning. Breakfast was provided during the journey. We arrived there about 8.40am and started climbing Sigiriya. The weather was clear and the guests were able to see the all three gardens and all amazing creations. There was a slight breeze at the top of the rock and it was not a hindrance. The tour of Sigiriya ended 11.30 pm and we went to Dambulla Tropical Village Hotel for lunch.
The Minneriya safari did not take place due to the light rain in the afternoon and we arrived to Polonnaruwa Deer Park Hotel where we were prepared to stay overnight. In the evening we went to the Monkey research center for a night Safari to see Loris. Two Loris were spotted during tour today. They are quite inactive due to the rain during the day.
After Loris tour we arrived at the hotel and served dinner.
Day 3:
After the breakfast we went to the ancient city of Anuradapura around 8.15 am. Our main objective was to see three species of Monkeys. It was a day with clear skies and we found our first troupe of monkeys (Toque Monkey) short distance inside the ancient city. The troupe of about 30 monkeys was very busy eating their breakfast. We were able to easily approach them and observe their behavior and take pictures. At the same time we were able to see the other two species of monkeys (Gray Langer/Leaf Monkey) in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. We also visited the Monkey Kingdom film locations and Gal Viharaya ancient Buddhist temple.
After monkey kingdom, we arrived at Deer Park Hotel again for Lunch. After lunch arrived to Habarana Eco park around 2.30 and started our second safari. There we were lucky enough to see a heard of about 10 Elephants. We spent about 15 minutes there. Another herd of Elephants was seen crossing the road with their calves. There a young Elephant tried to attack our vehicle for the protection of his herd it was able to have a thrilling experience. After the Eco Park safari we headed out to the lodge. Arrived at the Lodge around 7pm and had dinner at 7.30pm. After dinner we talked about Sri Lanka on the various topics and they enjoyed a drink of Sri Lanka liquor until about 11pm.
Day 4:
The day started around 8.30 in the morning, after breakfast we walk around the lodge to watch Birds. We spent around an hour and half there, photographed most of the birds. While walking we saw a Cobra about 3 feet long. Guests watch Monkey kingdom movie before lunch today and had their lunch around 1pm.
At around 3pm we took the guests for a walk in the village, where we spent about an hour in the swimming pool. Today was a relax day and guests had their dinner around 6.30pm.
Day 5:
Today we were ready to go on a safari to Wilpattu N.P again had given up the idea and go to Anuradapura ancient city due to the rain that fell in the morning. There we visited Sri Maha Bodiya, Ruwanweli Maha seya, Jethwana Aramaya, Thuparamaya etc…in the kingdom of Anuradapura belonging to the 3rd century BC. The guests were then taken for a PCR test. After lunch we went back to Wilpattu National Park.
There was a small shortage of animals because of morning rain but we saw large numbers of Crocodiles, Samber deer, Spotted Deer, Wild boar, wild Buffalos, Mongoose and a large selection of birds such a as Brown fish owl, painted storks also. After completing the Wilpattu safari we returned to the lodge at around 5.40pm upon guests request. Guest had there dinner 7.pm.
Day 6:
While one of the tourist staying at the lodge, we left again this morning for an extra safari. We saw a leopard in our first safari but could not take a picture. About an hour later we manage to find a Leopard. Everyone was happy to see a leopard, an adult male was lying on the sandy road in the morning sunlight and everyone took pictures. He was there about 15/20 minutes. we went deeper in the park saw another species of Barking Deer and we also saw fruits Bat, hundreds of them hanging down from trees before we returned to the lodge about 11am.
This afternoon guests were relaxed, stayed by the swimming pool, upon guest request we did a presentation about Bird of Sri Lanka. Guests had their dinner around 6pm.
