Adventure and Trekking Trip Notes

		Day 1 Our Airport representative will meet you at the Airport and transfer you to the hotel in Negombo which is on the beach. It would take only 20 minutes to get to our hotel. You can lie by the pool or beach for the rest of the day.
		Day 2 Drive to Kitulgala which is surrounded by thick rainforest type vegetation. This is a little village untouched by tourism next to the Keleni River where Bridge Over the River Kwai was filmed in 1956. We stay at the Rest house which is next to the river. Though it has been classified as a Rest house, you even have your own private patio and lawn. After lunch, we do a walk taking about 3 hours through thick rainforest type vegetation to the village. At the end of the walk, we take the local ferry across the river and finish near the hotel.
		Day 3 In the morning, we do white water rafting on Grade 1 or Grade 3 rapids. Then we drive to Ratnapura which is known as the City of Gems. You will get to see a gem pit which is the traditional way of mining gems. Overnight at Ratnapura*.
		Day 4 Drive to Sinharaja Rainforest which takes approx 2 hrs. Sinharaja has recently been named as the first Travel and Tourism Earth Lung. Due to its high bio-diversity and ecological importance, it has been declared as a National Heritage Wilderness Area and it is the only natural World Heritage Site (declared by UNESCO) in the country. Sinharaja is one of the few virgin forests left in the world and covers an area of approx. 11,000 hectares. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. 95% of all the endemic birds of Sri Lanka are found in Sinharaja. The forest has a series of mountains and ridges rising abruptly from 90m to 1170m above mean sea level. Sinharaja means Lion King in Sinhala and there is a popular legend that the Sinhala people come from the union between the Lion King who lived in the forest and a princess. There are two walks here, Mulawella and the Largest Tree, the Nawada. The walk to Mulawella will take you up a mountain rising to approx 760m. From the top, the views are truly amazing and you can see the whole of Sinharaja spread out beneath you. From here you will walk to The Largest Tree, the Nawada (Shorea Stipularis) which is endemic to Sri Lanka. It rises to a height of 43m and has a girth of over 6m.Throughout both walks, you will be walking through either Tropical Lowland Rainforest or Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest and you will experience how diverse the species are in Sinharaja.
		Day 5 Fairly early start to day. Drive to Uda Walawe elephant transit camp run by the Born Free Foundation. There are over 35 little orphan elephants that will be fed with milk while you watch. Eventually, these elephants will be released into Uda Walawe National Park. Then we drive to Uda Walawe National Park to see over 50 elephants. Apart from elephants you get to see crocodiles, water buffalo, deer, lizards and a lot of birds. We drive in jeeps with open tops in the park. After lunch we drive to Ella Gap. Ella Gap has amazing views of the coastal plain nearly 1,000 metres below. Almost all the whole of the southern part of the island can be seen on a clear day. If you are lucky, you will see the sea which is about 100 miles away. After tea, we take a short walk up Small Adams Peak (about an hour and a half).Then it is a short drive to your hotel which has the most fantastic views of the southern part of the Island. Overnight at Ella Gap.
		Day 6 After breakfast it's a short drive to a tea factory. We do a guided tour around the factory and you will see how tea is produced. Then, we trek about 1 km to get to the St.Catherine's viewpoint. Then it is a 4 km trek through the tea plantations to the panoramic Lipton Seat viewpoint. We have lunch here and then trek 5 km to meet up with the bus. Overnight at Ella Gap.
		Day 7 Take the train to Horton Plains. This is claimed to be the most picturesque train journey in the country which lasts about an hour and a half. Horton Plains is a large plateau of over 2,300 metres above sea level. We walk through sub-montane vegetation for about three hours. On the way, we see the World's End and the Baker's Waterfall. World's End is one of the most spectacular sights in Sri Lanka where the ground drops about 1,000 metres to the plains below. There is unusual wildlife such as Sambur deer, purple monkey, horned lizard etc. After the walk, we drive to Nuwara Eliya described as a misplaced English village. You have a free late afternoon to explore the colonial buildings, racecourse, a tea factory, golf course etc. The altitude is about 2,000 metres so the climate is much cooler. Overnight at Nuwara Eliya.
		Day 8 Drive to Kandy through tea plantations. You have some free time in Kandy to go shopping, visit the Botanical Gardens or lie by the pool in the hotel. Kandy is the best place to buy gems, batiks, silk, handicrafts etc. Kandy was the last indigenous capital of Sri Lanka and it nestles in the hills beside a small lake. It is one of the most picturesque towns in Sri Lanka. In the late afternoon, we visit the Temple of the Tooth. It is the most sacred Temple of the Buddhists which houses the tooth relic of Lord Buddha. We visit the Temple during the ceremony and you will get to see the Casket of the Tooth. The tooth of Buddha was taken from the funeral pyre in the 5th century b.c. and thousands of worshippers visit the temple every day to pay homage. Overnight at Kandy*. There are lots of little restaurants in town to have dinner.
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