Overview
This awesome trekking adventure takes you to some of the unique and less popular trekking spots in Sri Lanka, where you will get 4 days to experience nature, culture and trekking adventure in Big Island. It may be a memorable experience in your life.
The nature setting in Belihuloya makes a perfect location for hiking and adventure trekking plus paddling in the calm waters of Samanalawewa Reservior. You will start your adventure with a canoe ride in Samanalawewa Reservior on your first day and then to explore the jungle with an overnght camping expedition in the jungle. A trek to cascading Duwili Ella falls will be done on day 3 from where you will be transfered to the border of Udawalawe National Park for a glamping experience. A morning jeep safari in Udawalawe National Park will reward you with herds of elephants and avifuana in the park, paying a visit to Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe will conclude your 4 days Trekking and wilderness expedition.
Highlights at a glance
- Spend a day in Belihuloya with a canoeing expedition in the calm waters of Samanalawewa Reservior.
- Jungle Trekking through both wetzone and dryzone forests with overnight camping in the jungle
- Trek to fascinating Duwili Ella falls followed by a hearty Sri Lankan meal near waterfall
- Meet the giants of the forests - the Sri Lankan elephants - as you explore Udawalawe National Park.
- Stay at Tented Safari Camps bordering Udawalawe National Park and experience guided safaris, candlelight dinners under the stars, night walks and delicious BBQ served by roaring campfires.
- Visit the Elephant Transit Home, where orphaned baby elephants are nurtured and injured elephants are nursed back to health.
Itinerary
- Arrival at Belihuloya.
- Check in to Kichigune Adventure Camp overlooking Samanalawewa Reservoir.
- Canoëig at Samalawewa in the afternoon.
- Dinner and overnight stay at the campsite (HB).
Nestled amidst the beautiful hill country, Belihuloya is a picturesque little town located in Sabaragamuwa province, 616 metres above sea level. The beautiful hillside location is a climatically transitional area, linking both the dry and wet zones and the hill and low country and making it one of the richest bio-diversity spots in Sri Lanka – and an ideal location for nature lovers! Belihuloya is perfectly in tune with nature and provides a gorgeous setting for all sorts of adventures from climbing to canoeing and trekking. Here, you can enjoy the scenic waterfalls, historic sites, and nature trails.
Surrounded by rugged mountain sceneries, the still calm waters of the Samanalawewa reservoir offer an idyllic location for canoëing. Whether you want to go for a relaxed little paddle for a couple of hours, venture out to the mouth of the Belihuloya River or spend an entire day exploring the perimeter of the reservoir, you are sure to have an unforgettable experience. A well-experienced guide will provide you with the right technics, safety instructions and modern life jacket.
Kinchigune Adventure Camp
- Start the trail from Kinchigune village at 6.00 am.
- Lunch in a suitable location along the trail.
- Dinner and overnight stay at a participatory campsite by a river.
TREKKING DISTANCE: 12 km starting from Kinchigune
DURATION: 7 – 8 hrs
GRADING: Moderate / Hard
The trail starts in the small village of Kinchigune, overlooking the Samanalawewa Reservoir. You will venture through paddy fields and vegetable gardens to a narrow gravel road that takes you to a small village school and local blacksmith’s workshop. From there, you will continue to a tarred road, surrounded by typical shrub vegetations (consisting mainly of ‘Maliththa’ – Woodfordia fruticosa). After a couple of kilometers, you will arrive in a Buddhist Temple. This 350-year-old wooden temple is well worth a visit, and the local monks will happily answer to your questions about it’s history.
The trail will then take you through uninhabited forests to Walawe River and to the rocky lands across it. Apart from some small groups of local gem miners, it is rare to meet any people in this desolate area that is home to many animals and birds – such as sambhur deer, Indian munjak, flying and giant squirrels, changeable hawk eagle, brown fish owl, stork-billed kingfisher, gray hornbill, and various species of lizards and butterflies. Sometimes, even the migratory elephant can be spotted here.
The campsite will be set by the river, where you can have lunch and enjoy a refreshing dip in cool water. The dinner will be cooked by the campfire, in the most beautiful setting under the stars! And your guides, taking care of the lookout duty, will assure you a peaceful sleep throughout the night.
Jungle Camp set near a water tream in the jungle
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Early breakfast at the campsite.
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Continue the trail to Duwili Ella.
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Lunch at Duwili Ella and vehicle transfer to tented safari camp boardering Udawalawe National Park
- Free Evening. Dinner and overnight stay
TREKKING DISTANCE: 8 km ending by Duwili Ella Waterfall
DURATION: 3 – 4 hours
GRADING: Soft / Moderate
After decamping in the morning, the trek will continue in the cool shade of riverine forests to ‘Thunkinda’ where the river divides into three streams that rejoin after about 300 metres. The 100 kms trail will end by the majestic Duwili Ella, also known as the ‘Walawe Ganga Falls’. It plunges a dramatic 25 meters into a large deep pool creating a misty cloud. Hence the name ‘Duwili Ella’ – in Sinhalese ‘Duwili’ means ‘dust’ and ‘Ella’ is ‘waterfall’).
These impressive sceneries offer a perfect setting for a delicious lunch, brought fresh from our River Garden Restaurant in Belihuloya. Before the departure, you can enjoy an invigorating river bath too.
You will be transfered to Big Game Camp in Udawalawe in a safari jeep after lunch. You will be free in the evening exploring the surroundings. A hearty BBQ meal will await for you followed by a night walk in the camp to witness the nocturnal life of the animals.
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Early Morning Jeep Safari in Udawalawe National Park with a packed breakfast
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Back to the park entrance and drive to Elephant Transit Home
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Visit bottle feeding of milk to elephant calves and continue your journey to your next location
Go for an early morning jeep safari in Udawalawe National Park with a packed breakfast. You will have a private jeep to explore the park at your own pace.
UDAWALAWE NATIONAL PARK
Located on the boundary of Sri Lanka’s wet and dry zones, Udawalawe National Park, is one of the best places in the world to see wild elephants. With approximately 400 elephants residing within the area of 31,000 hectares, it is not unusual to see big herds gathering to feed and bath by the waterholes.
In addition to this main attraction, Udawalawe is home to many water buffalo, water monitor lizards, sambar deer and monkeys. The bird enthusiasts shall be in their own winged paradise with not only the variety, but the quantity of bird species in the park.
Udawalawe, with its fascinating wildlife, history and culture, offers an array of historical sites and natural wonders, guaranteed to satisfy even the most seasoned traveler.
Once the safari is finished, back at the park entrance and drive to Udawalawe National Park to witness the bottle feeding of milk to elephant calves at 10.30am.
ELEPHANT TRANSIT HOME
Udawalawe Transit Home is a place; where closer to 52 baby elephants are being taken care of with minimum human interaction as they are separated from their mothers. Mothers of these babies are either killed or lost due to non ending Elephant –human conflict in Sri Lanka. The transit home provides food, medical care, everything a baby elephant needs. When the elephants are big and strong enough, they are released into the wilderness and start living a “normal” elephant life. A few times a day, visitors can enjoy the feeding hour, when the small elephants rush to drink milk and play with their mates. As any other babies, elephants like showing off, especially when spectators are around.
It’s time to depart, your experience will over with the bottle feeding. You can either continue to your next location or can extend your experience to Yala National Park or exploring Sinharaja Rainforest as an option
Includes/Excludes
Our Services Include
- 03 nights accommodation on sharing basis
- Participatory camping on day 02 with sleeping in sleeping bags
- All meals starting from Dinner on day 01 till breakfast on day 4. (including packed meals and basic meals in the jungle camp)
- Well Experienced local trekking guides for the jungle trekking on day 02 & 03
- Canoeing in Samanalawewa reservoir on day 01 with safety equipment
- Transportation in a Safari jeep from Duwili Ella to Tented Safari Camp in Udawalawe and from there to Elephant Transit Home in a Safari jeep
- Jeep Safari in Udawalawe National Park in private Jeeps including the entry permit costs & government tracker fees.
- Service charges at the hotels & current applicable taxes by the Sri Lankan Government.
Our Services do not Include
- Transportation up to Belihuloya and from Udawalawe
- Any additional beverage or food.
- Early Check-in or Late Checkout Charges at Hotels.
- Any tips to the staff.
- Any expense of personal requirements telephone, laundry, hotel extra bills etc.)
- Any additional expenses , other than mentioned in the inclusions list above.
When it comes to the accommodation, all the reservations are subject to availability at the time of confirmation, and as soon as we have received the payment, our Tour Operations Team will take in charge of your tour and proceed with the reservations. In case a hotel mentioned in your itinerary has no availability, we will find you an alternative. No changes will be done without your approval!
We will make a rough day-by-day schedule for your tour, but won’t set you exact timings for each and every activity – unless there is a an activity which start at a specific time. Since you will be traveling by private vehicle, with a knowledgeable driver-guide, we want you to have your part in decision making. With the help from him, you may tune the schedule to your rhythm.
Along the destinations included in your itinerary, you are free to take as many stops as you want to. When it comes to additional visits and destinations that are located out of the original route, the extra kilometers will be taken in consideration. For your journey, we will calculate a total mileage that is sufficient for the whole tour and mentioned in your itinerary. If this limit is exceeded, we will charge a supplement according the extra mileage.
We’ll do our best to accommodate the programme in your needs and wishes, if something urgent occurs during your tour. In a situation that requires changing the accommodation, the cancellation policies of the hotels concerned are to be taken on account.
Since the 1st of January 2012, all travelers must be in possession of a visa when arriving in Sri Lanka. Citizens from Singapore and The Maldives are the only exempt. Visitors can apply for the online VISA via https://www.srilankaevisa.lk/ or upon arrival at the airport. There is a fee to pay, and you must have at least six months left on your passport at the time of travel to obtain one.
MasterCard and Visa are widely used and accepted by many local shops, restaurants and hotels, but it’s always better to double check. Other major cards such as AmEx and DinersClub are accepted often also.
The important stuff
- Accommodation on double/twin sharing basis at all campsites.
- Personal effects for Warm/Windy/Rainy conditions should be carried by clients.
- Insect repellent, Sunburn lotion etc are recommended.
- The accommodation in the jungle would be in basic dome tents with sleeping bags. The meals would be basis meals during the jungle camp stay
- Clients are to carry their own personal effects as the staff is carrying all supplies. A hardy spacious back pack, correctly positioned on the back is a must.
Star Rating – 5
Review Title – Wonderful Birding Experience
Review Date – 16 March 2024
Review – My husband and I had a wonderful week of birding with Experiential Journeys! Our driver, Soloman, is well-versed in the bird species we saw and provided us with information about their behaviour. When we visited national parks and rainforests, we were given a birding guidebook and binoculars. It had a good choice of hotels, including a stay in a glamping site. Nothing to complain about; everything was perfectly organized. We had a great time on our brief birding tour.
Name – Adriana
Trip – Sri Lanka Birding, Short spell – 7 Days (Private Tour)
Date of Experience – 22 February 2024
Country – Canada
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