Sri Lanka’s Natural History Highlights in comfort

Arrive Colombo and pick up by your private English-speaking driver cum guide. Transfer north to Ulagalla, close to the ancient Buddhist city of Anuradhapura. Free afternoon to settle into your 850 square foot private chalet, take a dip in your private pool, enjoy a luxury spa treatment or explore the 58 acres of gardens and paddy fields.

A free day to relax and explore (your private driver will remain at your disposal throughout your stay). Perhaps visit the ancient capital of Anuradhapura by bicycle or visit some of the other sites of the Cultural Triangle such as Sigiriya, Dambulla or Polonnaruwa. Of wildlife interest is Wilpattu National Park with its healthy leopard population plus Minneriya where there is an annual gathering of hundreds of elephants. Let us know if you wish to visit any of these optional locations.

Another day to relax and explore.

Drive south through the Cultural Triangle and visit a spice plantation en route to the pleasant colonial town of Kandy. Check-in to your beautiful boutique hotel overlooking the city.

Morning guided tour of Kandy including the famous Temple of the Tooth Relic and Peradeniya Botanical Gardens: 146 acres of spice plants, palms, orchids and giant tropical trees, totalling 4000 species. Continue into Sri Lanka’s hill country with many stops for views and photographs along the way. Arrive at Nuwara Eliya, the highest town in Sri Lankan and the home of vast tea estates. The English-style buildings, old clubs with their panelled billiards rooms and dining rooms, the cool climate and the misty glens reminded past colonials of Britain. Settle-in to your luxury hotel built in a converted tea factory.

Early morning visit to Horton Plains National Park on Sri Lanka's highest plateau, over 2100m above sea level. Enjoy spectacular views from the aptly-named Worlds End and look for the distinctive flora (with a high level of endemism), colourful butterflies, many rare endemic, resident or migratory birds and several species of mammal.

Continue driving south through Sri Lanka’s wonderful hill country and down to the southwest coast next to Yala National Park.

Enjoy two thrilling days of morning and afternoon private game drives in Yala National Park. Yala has some of the highest leopard densities in the world and the animals are particularly habituated to people meaning that this is one of the world’s best parks for spotting and photographing these magnificent cats. One may also see elephant, sloth bear, sambar, spotted deer, wild boar, stripe-necked mongoose, black-naped hare and several civet species. In the water holes you may see mugger crocodile, painted stork, lesser whistling teal, black-headed Ibis, Eurasian spoonbill and the rare black-necked stork. Palu trees dominate the monsoon forest vegetation of the park, while Manilkara hexandra and thorny bushes dominate the thick undergrowth.

Another day to explore Yala National Park.

Drive along Sri Lanka’s beautiful southern coast , stopping to see iconic fishermen perched on stilts over the water, before arriving at your fine beach hotel located on a beautiful white sand beach in the idyllic Weligama Bay.

Within season (December to April) you can enjoy a morning’s whale watching to see blue whales, Bryde's whales and large pods of spinner dolphins.

Explore the colonial city of Galle to see the Dutch fort and other historical buildings.

An early start as you drive back to Colombo and check in for your flight home.