Alan & Linda
England, January/February 2017
First Visit to Sri Lanka?
Yes.
Why did you choose Sri Lanka for your holiday this year?
New destination for us.
We have long wanted to visit.
How did you first hear about Tikalanka?
Diana Syrett from Kerala Connections recommended you when I asked her if they offered tours to Sri Lanka. We like the way they operate and she said that you were a similar organisation.
When would you return to Sri Lanka?
We were asked this several times whilst there and find it difficult to answer. We have a list of places that we would like to visit/revisit and have no firm plans at the moment. If we go back we would want to do different things and visit different areas. We did, though, have a great time and a memorable trip.
Would you recommend Sri Lanka as a holiday destination to family and friends?
Yes, to those who would enjoy the wildlife, food, way of life and people. Not all would.
Would you recommend Tikalanka to family and friends?
This, again is difficult to answer. We appreciated the advice you gave about destinations – Wilpattu, for instance, was a much better experience than others had in Yala, just as you suggested. It was quieter and had an amazing array of wildlife. Fellow guests at some hotels had been less than impressed with some of their accommodation elsewhere so we were heartened that, generally, this was not the case for us.
Three things disappointed us, though, and they would make us think very carefully before using you again or recommending you. Firstly, when Emirates initially gave us impossible connections after they were forced to change their timetables we found it impossible to contact you for some time. In fact, I found the reasons from an internet forum before I heard from you. [Official confirmation that Colombo airport would be closed for maintenance work was issued in September 2016 despite earlier suggestions posted on internet forums. We always follow official advice and notifications rather than unofficial channels and opinions posted on informal internet forums.] You were then reluctant to press Emirates to change the bookings to something more suitable. Because the reservation was made by you we had no way to contact them. [Airlines have their own procedures and restrictions on flights schedule changes which we, as an independent tour operator, are unable to influence or control. We changed the flights to suitable flights, as requested.]
You seemed similarly reluctant to be proactive with Jetwing when they bumped us out of Warwick Gardens. Two afternoons and a morning in the grounds there should have been a high point of the trip. Even though they tried to make things up to us at St Andrews, it was a totally different experience, and one that was quite at odds with the rest of our holiday. We neither asked for nor particularly wanted the various upgrades that were offered, nor did we ask for the refund that, I understand, is on its way via you. Your suggestion that we accept this as part of the Sri Lanka experience was particularly unwelcome: we expect you and the hotels you book to deliver (approximately) what is advertised. This did not happen and I wonder why it was a Tikalanka customer that was chosen to be inconvenienced. [Overbooking by accommodation providers is unacceptable but not uncommon during the high season, an unfortunate situation found worldwide and not solely in Sri Lanka. We have no control over the bookings at hotels and we exhausted all channels before accepting that a change of accommodation would be the only solution. We are disappointed that the change of accommodation occurred and hoped that the offer of upgraded room, facilities and services would have been acceptable considering the circumstances.]
Finally, we wondered if you had personal experience of some of the places we stayed as some descriptions were not particularly accurate. Amba Estate was much more than you or its website said. In Wilpattu the “en suite” facilities consisted of a separate, though adjoining, WC tent (complete with ants on the lavatory seat and squadrons of bugs at night) and the shower tent was quite a bit further away and totally without a roof. Generally this would have been no problem but the late-running monsoon arrived as we did so showers were cold rather than hot and any towels and clothes taken in to the shower (necessary because of the walk there) were soaked during the shower. None of this mattered as we really enjoyed our time there. My point is merely about the description.
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
The wildlife;
The range of habitats we saw;
The people we met;
The food in many of the places we stayed.
The Perehera in Colombo. Thank you for suggesting it and arranging good tickets.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Whale watching in Mirissa was, in many ways, a disappointment. We saw blue whales and also a Bryde’s whale, which was excellent. We also saw many boats of all sizes. Each time a whale surfaced it was surrounded. Everywhere else we have been to watch whales, and in other places we know of, boats must not approach within 100m of an animal. Here the rule, apparently, is 25 metres. There is also an etiquette that one boat does not cut between another and the whale. This was totally ignored. I understand that this is a new industry for Sri Lanka and that everyone wants to be his own boss but there were far too many boats, large and small, some with very few passengers, who were rushing everywhere. Each time we saw a whale several boats, including some small speedboats would appear in front of us.
This is not good for the welfare of the animals or for the long-term good of the industry. Had we known what to expect we would have stayed away, even though there was an almost guaranteed chance of seeing whales. The whales are likely to be driven away, as are the tourists if word of these practices gets around. [We are very concerned by the report of inappropriate behaviour by the whale-watching boat providers and we will contact our own boat provider to highlight our concerns.]
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Horathapola Estate [Airport]: brilliant and a great introduction to the country. The food was excellent and the staff attentive and friendly. A fellow guest, at the end of a holiday travelling with Audley, said it was the best place he had stayed in. Cookery class, bullock cart ride and village walk were all enjoyable and included in the price.
Noel Rodrigo’s Leopard Safaris camp [Wilpattu]: a memorable experience. Loads of wildlife in the camp as well as in the National Park and some of the best food we ate in Sri Lanka. We were amazed that the young men could prepare food of that quality in a field kitchen and deliver it to the dining tent through mud and driving rain. Dannu was a very good guide and very helpful with photography; I learned a lot. Moving around the site is difficult in very wet weather and, we suspect, the tents would be very hot in better weather. We think “luxury tents” is pushing it a bit – compared to Madulkelle or some places we stayed in India. Despite these comments, we had a great time and have no regrets about our stay.
Hanthana House [Kandy]: just as described. An excellent, comfortable place to stay with generous hosts and great food. We’d love to go back.
Madulkelle [Tea & Eco Lodge, Knuckles]: A wonderful setting with great staff and plenty to do. We enjoyed a bird-watching walk and Linda made use of the very nice spa. You might like to stress to future visitors some of the (really comfortable) tents are quite some distance from the central facilities – ours was almost the furthest away. The food choice for evening meals was disappointing: European and, a problem for someone we met, with no vegetarian option. Sri Lankan food was available at lunch time and was much better.
Jetwing Warwick Gardens [Nuwara Eliya]: Didn’t happen. You know our view about this. Jetwing St Andrews was just what we wanted to avoid. Meals were buffets with plenty of choice but uninspiring quality.
Amba Estate [Ella]: We loved everything about it and wished we could have stayed longer. Wonderful home-cooked food prepared for the four people staying in the house. Other houses also had their own cooks. A couple we met on our travels had been and told us how good it was, so our expectations were high. They were quite right.
Kithala Resort [Tissamaharama]: A fairly large resort hotel. We had a comfortable room but some of the facilities looked in need of refurbishment. Again, the food was a rather uninteresting buffet. The grounds and surroundings were good.
Kalu’s Hideaway [Uda Walawe]: Just as described. We had a comfortable room. We enjoyed time in the grounds watching birds. Meals served as a buffet but better than others. A good place to stay and close to the park.
The Fort Printers [Galle]: An excellent place to stay in a great position. We are glad you recommended it. The quality of the food and service was second to none. A friendly place with high standards all round: a difficult balance to strike.
Havelock Place Bungalow [Colombo]: Comfortable but, we felt, somewhat oversold both by you and on its website. The range of food available was limited but was good. It is difficult to walk elsewhere to eat. The owners were not in evidence, though the staff were friendly and helpful.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Anura was wonderful. He was knowledgeable, had a great sense of humour and was able to communicate well with us. He was always punctual (as we were!), attentive and took great care of us. We were impressed with his driving – it was much better than that around us most of the time. By sharing details of his life, he really added to our experience in his country. We were disappointed to hear, late in our trip, that he would be leaving us as soon as we reached Colombo to collect another party; we had been told that he would be with us to the end.
His replacement, Saman, had a hard act to follow. He is soft-spoken and I found him difficult to hear and understand. This often happens to me as I have a hearing problem. Linda, though, does not, and she had the same difficulty.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
They were standard Emirates business class flights [from Manchester]: very comfortable. We spent rather longer than we would have liked at the airport in Colombo. I would not have liked this had we not had access to the Emirates lounge.
What products did you buy in Sri Lanka?
Tea, batik, coffee, spices, soap and a woven cotton bag.
Any other comments?
One thing we missed, compared with, say, Kerala Connections or Geodyssey, with whom we have travelled to South and Central America, is a fact sheet about each of the hotels we stayed in. They help to make plans in advance. They answer questions such as: are credit cards accepted? Is there an ATM nearby? Does the hotel have a tip box for staff? Is a laundry service available? Other traveller we met told us that Amba Estate was a good place to have a load of washing done. They wash it and return it dry but not ironed. Just what we needed near the middle of the trip. We would have been annoyed to pay elsewhere item by item and then find this the next day.
We had a really good holiday – I hope that the comments above do not disguise that – and now have about 3,000 photographs to sort out.
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