A 10-Day Hiking & Wildlife Journey Across Sri Lanka’s Wild Heart
A 10-Day Hiking & Wildlife Journey Across Sri Lanka’s Wild Heart
Your journey begins on arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport, where you are warmly welcomed by your Jetwing Eco Holidays chauffeur-guide. Depart Colombo and travel north-west through changing rural landscapes where roadside fruit stalls, quiet villages, and open plains gradually giving way to forest corridors.
By afternoon, you arrive at Wilpattu, Sri Lanka’s largest national park and one of its most atmospheric wildernesses, shaped by ancient villus (natural lakes) and dry monsoon forest. Claughton Wild Wilpattu sits gently within this landscape. Dragonflies skim over still water, palu trees sway in the breeze, and birdsong fills the air.
As the day cools, you venture into Wilpattu National Park for your first evening safari. Golden light glints across villus where spotted deer, sambar, and wild boar gather to drink. Mugger crocodiles lie motionless on muddy banks while painted storks, pelicans, and peacocks animate the wetlands. As dusk deepens, Wilpattu’s most elusive resident, the Sri Lankan leopard may emerge silently along sandy tracks, its rosetted coat catching the last light of day.
Return to the lodge after sunset for dinner beneath a star-filled sky, accompanied by the nocturnal rhythms of the forest.
At dawn, Wilpattu awakens beneath a veil of mist. Villus glow like mirrors framed by wild grass, and the forest hums softly with life. Early morning is prime time for predators, and your safari begins as leopards often move along open sandy tracks before the heat of the day.
As you explore deeper into the park, the terrain shifts between open lakes and dense forest corridors. Sloth bears may be seen shuffling through the undergrowth in search of fallen fruits or termite mounds, while herds of sambar and spotted deer pause mid-graze, alert to every sound. Overhead, crested serpent eagles circle on rising thermals.
After lunch and rest at the lodge, you return to the park in the afternoon as the landscape glows amber. Crocodiles break the water’s surface, birds settle into evening roosts, and the forest grows increasingly still, a quiet intensity that defines Wilpattu’s wild character.
Leaving Wilpattu behind, you begin a steady ascent into Sri Lanka’s central highlands. The landscape transforms gradually with dry plains softening into rolling hills, palms giving way to eucalyptus, and warm air cools into crisp mountain breezes.
By afternoon, you arrive in Nuwara Eliya, a historic highland city shaped by tea estates, cool-climate forests, and colonial-era architecture. At Jetwing St. Andrew’s, timber floors, period furnishings, and manicured lawns reflect the city’s layered past.
The remainder of the day is at leisure, stroll through mist-softened gardens, enjoy a warm drink indoors, or simply take in the quieter rhythm of this elevated city.
Your hike begins in Tawalantenne, where early light spills across tea gardens and village plots. The trail descends toward the Ramboda Oya, crossing stone bridges over clear mountain water.
Climbing the opposite bank, you pass homesteads scented with pepper and jackfruit. Higher still, tea fields stretch across slopes like green velvet, alive with sunbirds and the distant calls of purple-faced langurs. Waterfalls tumble through forest glades before the trail opens to sweeping valley views near Pundalu Oya.
Today’s hike begins in Kandapola, where eucalyptus groves and tea estates rise gently into the clouds. The trail winds through terraced slopes and mist-laced paths, accompanied by birdsong and the rhythmic work of tea pluckers.
At Pedro Estate, step inside a working tea factory to follow the journey of Ceylon tea, from leaf to cup before sampling freshly brewed high-grown teas shaped by altitude and climate.
Descending from the highlands, the air grows warmer and heavier as the landscape deepens into rich shades of green. Cinnamon, rubber, and clove plantations line the road en route to Sinharaja Rainforest.
Arrive at this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in time to explore the forest edge, where birdlife and insect activity intensify as dusk approaches.
Enter the heart of Sinharaja beneath towering dipterocarp trees. Guided by a naturalist, follow shaded forest paths in search of the rainforest’s famed mixed-species bird flocks.
Look for flashes of colour from the Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Red-faced Malkoha, orange-billed babblers, and ashy-headed laughingthrush. Streams weave between boulders, sheltering amphibians and butterflies beneath the canopy.
Begin the day with Sinharaja’s dawn chorus as racket-tailed drongos, woodpeckers, bulbuls, and flycatchers animate the forest. Sunlight filters through emerald layers as butterflies rise with each step.
Later, visit a nearby village home for a hands-on cooking experience, preparing traditional Sri Lankan dishes before enjoying lunch served on banana leaves. The afternoon is reserved for rest and quiet immersion.
Travel west toward Sri Lanka’s coastline, where coconut groves and lagoons replace rainforest. At Jetwing Sea, the Indian Ocean stretches endlessly before you.
Spend the evening unwinding by the beach, swimming in the sea, or enjoying fresh seafood as the sun sets over the water.
Enjoy a final morning before your private transfer to Bandaranaike International Airport, departing with memories of tea-clad highlands, leopard-shadowed forests, emerald rainforests, and sunlit shores.
