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  • 15 Days
  • 8-22 October 2025
  • Availability: 10 (min. 8)
  • Comfort

Sri Lanka, Resplendent Isle

Bird-watching along the lakes and mountains of the Pearl

The Pearl of the Indian Ocean, India’s Teardrop, Serendip, the Resplendent Isle, the Island of Dharma. Sri Lanka goes by many names and monikers, but let’s add one more nonetheless: a veritable bird-watching paradise. From the hustle and bustle of Colombo to the lakes of Wilpattu. Up into the misty hills and plains of Horton Plains National Park, or down into the dry-zone jungles of Yala National Park, and on to the rainforest of Sinharaja. We’ll take you all along this magical island to fill your head (and memory cards) with the most stunning, unique birds.

Please note that while the general itinerary is set, hotels and daily activities may slightly differ depending on circumstances.

Included
  • 14 hotel nights.
  • All meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 15.
  • All in-country ground transport.
  • Airport pick-up on day 1 and drop-off on day 15.
  • All guiding fees for tour leaders and local guides.
  • All entrance fees to sites mentioned in the itinerary.
  • All activities as described in the itinerary.
Excluded
  • International flights (to and from COL).
  • Alcoholic drinks.
  • Camera and video permits.
  • Personal purchases such as (but not limited to) laundry, room service, phone calls, souvenirs, etc.
  • Insurance. We strongly recommend participants get travel, cancelation, and medical insurance in their home country.
  • Any tips you would like to offer tour leaders, guides, drivers, porters, wait staff, housekeeping, etc. for outstanding service.
  • Any other items not explicitly included.

Itinerary

  • Day 1: Arrival in Colombo

    We'll collect you from the airport and take you to your hotel. There, we'll get together in the evening to introduce ourselves and go over the particulars of the trip. Colombo is the heart of the island where all the commercial activity of the country happens. Hustling and bustling as the city may be, it has hidden pockets of urban wildlife. This includes a host of bird species as well as rare and elusive mammal species such as fishing cats and jackals.

  • Day 2: Colombo to Wilpattu National Park

    After a casual breakfast, we hop on our transport and head inland towards Wilpattu National Park. After checking in and a quick lunch at the hotel, we head over to the park entrance for an evening safari. Wilpattu National Park is one of Sri Lanka's oldest and largest protected areas. The name translates to English as 'the land of the lakes', due to the presence of natural water bodies which are actually lime stone depressions in the land that hold water. The Park is home to a host of wildlife such as the Sri Lankan Leopard, Sloth Bear, Spotted Deer and elephants. It is also home to a wide variety of birds including Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill (endemic), Malabar Trogon, Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot, Loten's Sunbird, and a host of waterbirds and shorebirds.

  • Day 3: Wilpattu

    We take an early morning start to catch the cool morning climate when the animals are more active. Breakfast will be served within the park at a designated stopping location. The safari vehicles will be packed with everything we require to spend the entire day in the park, from sunrise to sunset.

  • Day 4: Wilpattu

    Another full day safari within the jungles of Wilpattu National Park. Being the largest National Park in the island, it deserves our maximum time! This gives us ample time to cover a majority of the park and its many inhabitants. Lunch and breakfast will be served within the park.

  • Day 5: Wilpattu to Kandy

    We drive three hours from Wilpattu to Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. We'll enjoy an afternoon birding session in and around Kandy.

  • Day 6: Kandy to Nuwara Eliya

    Today, we'll drive from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, where we'll spend the late afternoon and evening doing some urban birding. Which doesn't mean there won't be any good birds around: the city parks are excellent birding hotspots, and yield some very interesting birds, such as the Pied Thrush, which breeds up in the Himalayas, but winters mainly (probably exclusively) in Sri Lanka.

  • Day 7: Horton Plains National Park and Haggala Botanical Gardens

    Early in the morning, we head to the montane grasslands and cloud forests of Horton Plains National park. We take packed breakfast with us so we can roam around until lunch time. The park is home to a wide variety of animals, including endemic birds such as the Yellow-eared Bulbul, Sri Lanka White-eye, Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Sri Lanka Whistling-Thrush, and migrants such as the Indian Pitta and Indian Blue Robin. We head back to the hotel for a hearty lunch and short siesta. In the evening, we visit the Haggala Botanical Gardens. Even though the emphasis of the garden is on the flora, it offers excellent habitat for various birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and other critters. We head back to the hotel for a well-deserved dinner and a good night's sleep.

  • Day 8: Horton Plains to Gal Oya National Park

    After breakfast we make our way down from the misty hills of Horton Plains to Gal Oya National Park. We check in at our lodge, have lunch, and spend the evening doing some light birding in the vicinity of the lodge. Gal Oya National Park was created to protect and serve as the main catchment area for the Senanayake Samudraya, a large man-made reservoir. The park also hosts a variety of birds: Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon, Painted Francolin, Sirkeer Malkoha, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Sri Lanka Spurfowl, and more. Gal Oya is also known for its swimming elephants that traverse the reservoir in search of lush grass.

  • Day 9: Gal Oya National Park and Senanayaka Samudraya

    Early in the morning we explore the Senanayaka Samudraya reservoir by boat, looking for birds such as Small Pratincole, Great Thick-knee, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Richard's and Paddyfield pipit, Whiskered Tern, etc. We then head back to the lodge for lunch and some afternoon downtime before we make our way back to Gal Oya National Park for late afternoon birding.

  • Day 10: Gal Oya to Yala National Park

    From the wilds of Gal Oya we drive to the dry-zone jungles of Yala National Park. Yala is primarily known for its high density of Sri Lanka Leopard, but it also a great place to tick off a wide variety of dry-zone bird species such as Asian Green and Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, a number of endemics such as Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, and Sri Lanka Woodshrike. Plus a whole host of waterfowl and shorebirds. After checking in to our hotel and a delicious lunch, we'll have time for afternoon birding in the park.

  • Day 11: Yala and Bundala National Park

    We'll enjoy a last morning in Gal Oya before we make our way to Bundala National Park. This park is a RAMSAR-site and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a crucial site for many wintering species and a stopover site for various migratory birds. But it also hosts many resident wetland and dry-zone species. After birding we head back to the hotel for dinner and cocktails, and a well-deserved rest.

  • Day 12: Sinharaja Rainforest

    Our birding adventure is about to get even more exciting as we leave the dry-zone jungles of Yala and head over to the magical Sinharaja Rainforest, a true bird-watchers' paradise. We have by now covered most of the island in search of birds, visited several habitats, yet our final stop may be the best of them all. Located in the South-West of the island, Sinharaja is one of the last remaining stretches of viable primary rainforest left in the country. More than 60% of the plants and 50% of the mammals and butterflies found in the area are endemic. Out of the 34 species of endemic birds of Sri Lanka, 25 can be found here. After checking in to our hotel, we enjoy a delicious lunch, and then we head out to look for more birds, looking for the endemic Red-faced Malkoha, Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie, Ashy-headed Laughingthrush, and Sri Lanka Spurfowl. We may also go out on a short night walk around the lodge today, in search of owls, nightjars, other small nocturnal animals.

  • Day 13: Sinharaja Rainforest

    One more full day of birding in the area! We'll venture into the forest reserve for the true primary rainforest experience!

  • Day 14: Sinharaja Rainforest to Negombo

    We are almost at the end of our Sri Lanka birding adventure, but not before we go out one last time into the rainforest, and look for any species we may have missed. Our final afternoon and night will be spent in the coastal town of Negombo, where we can bird along the beach and the Negombo Lagoon.

  • Day 15: Fly home

    We say our goodbyes to the island and our fellow travelers, and take a flight back home. After a fortnight of roaming the wilds of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, you will have seen an amazing variety of birds and other wildlife, and we're confident you will go home with many fond memories of this magical place.

$5,999

/ person sharing
single supp. $1,199

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