Sri Lanka
Itinerary:
Day 1 – Airport Pick Up / Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage / Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic / Gem Gallery / Cultural Show / Kandy
Pinnawala is situated in the Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka close to Kegalle town. An orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants is located at this village remarkably known as ‘Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage’. The orphanage has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world and visited daily by many local and foreign tourists. The main attraction is clearly to observe the elephants bathing and feeding which is quite an experience. The orphanage was launched to provide a lifeline to the orphaned baby elephants and adult elephants lost in the wilderness.
The golden-roofed Temple of the Sacred Tooth houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. During puja (offerings or prayers), the heavily guarded room housing the tooth is open to devotees and tourists. However, you don’t see the tooth. It’s kept in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba (stupa), which contains a series of six dagoba caskets of diminishing size.
As well as the revered main temple, the complex includes a series of smaller temples, shrines and museums.
Day 2 – Kandy / Royal Botanical Gardens / Ramboda Falls / Hanumanji Temple / Tea Factory & Plantation / Gregory Lake / Victoria Park / Nuwara Eliya
Ramboda Water fall and Tea Factory and plantation. Nuwara Eliya is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. The city is one of the most important locations for tea cultivation and well known for its cool climate being the coolest area in Sri Lanka. Many of the buildings have still preserved features from the colonial period. Many private homes have also maintained their old English-style lawns and gardens. The town wakes up with many activities in April for the Sinhalese and Tamil New year. Main allure during April season include the motor and horse racing events
Day 3 – Nuwara Eliya / Seeta Amman Temple / Bentota / Free Leisure by the Beach / Bentota
Day 4 – Bentota / Optional – Water Sports at Bentota River / Madhu River Boat Ride / Turtle Hatchery / Colombo
MADU RIVER – 915-hectare Madu Ganga Estuary is connected by two narrow channels to the Randombe Lake, forming a complex wetland system encompassing 64 mangrove islets. In the year 2000, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) undertook a detailed biodiversity survey of the region & revealed the existence of no less than 10 major wetland vegetation types supporting over 300 plant species & 248 species of vertebrates. This remarkable diversity has led to its being classified under RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands in 2003
TURTLE HATCHERY – Where you can see five species of turtles-Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta), Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) and Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). The eggs collected by the Villagers and Fishermen are purchased by the Kosgoda Hatchery and kept in sandy pens until they are hatched. The newly hatched ones are kept in seawater tanks and released to the sea in the night. This Hatchery alone has released more than 1,750,000 young turtles to the sea. An endowment by the Hasselblad Estate was responsible for the establishment of this hatchery
Day 5 – Colombo / City Tour & Shopping / Airport Drop
The busiest place in Sri Lanka is Colombo, the commercial capital of the country. Colombo is a beautiful city with modern high-rise buildings amidst old colonial ones making it a picturesque place. Colombo offers a lot for the tourists including the National Museum and the Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala which are worth a visit. Galle Face Green in Colombo, the favorite hangout spot for locals and tourists alike overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean and surrounded by tall beautiful buildings. Viharamaha Devi Park with tall flowering trees which bloom during April is a quiet serene place in the middle of the busy city. Colombo is also a shopper’s paradise with posh shopping malls and the famous