Jackie & Neil
England, February 2026
Just back from our trip and wanted to thank you for a wonderful adventure.
We were so well looked after by Anura. His knowledge about place, history and birds was immense. He was so considerate, polite, very punctual and informative. We would thoroughly recommend him.
The 7 hotels you picked for us were all excellent and provided a great variety which was good. It would be so difficult to single out any of them as a favourite. The food is each and every one was fantastic, so much fresh produce, well cooked and presented. The views at Lake Lodge [Kandalama, Dambulla], Theva [Residency, Kandy] and 98 Acres [Resort & Spa, Ella] were stunning. I know The Sun House in Galle was a second choice after The Merchants [Galle Fort] but we found it extremely comfortable with a lovely atmosphere and still only a 15 minute walk to the old fort, so probably a better choice in the end for us. One comment about the Flameback [Eco Lodge] resort [Weerawila] is that their grounds are very small so the idea of spending time walking and bird watching wasn’t really an option within it. We solved this by going outside the resort and actually the large car park next door provided a wealth of birds! I did check and the website doesn’t give a size of grounds. Still, it was different. [We appreciate your feedback on the size of the surroundings at Flameback Eco Lodge and will bear this in mind for future guests, particularly birders like you.]
The combination of activities and downtime was just right covering the cultural triangle for history, many temples, the train ride, the hikes around Horton Plains and Little Adams Peak. And of course the highlight of the walk up Lions Rock at Sigiriya – what an amazing place.
The safaris were good too both for wildlife, birds and the experience. We were a little disappointed by the vast number of jeeps surrounding elephants in the Hurulu Eco Park and likewise the chase for leopards in Yala as there didn’t seem to be any management or control of this. [Yala has become far too popular and poorly managed over the past few years, which has definitely had a detrimental impact on wildlife viewing. We are now recommending Block 5 rather than Block 1 for safaris.]
Of the three boat safaris the one at Kalametiya was by far the best, so peaceful and beautiful – certainly would recommend this one. [We are pleased that the boat safari around Kalametiya Sanctuary came up trumps for you though!]
Sri Lanka was a wonderful place to visit, everyone we met was charming and friendly.
We would not hesitate to recommend Tikalanka to others should the opportunity arise.
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