Independent Tailor-made Holidays to Sri Lanka & Maldives

Geoff & Eileen

England, January/February 2014

What did you like most about Sri Lanka?

Friendliness of people.

Value.

What did you like least about Sri Lanka?

Tuk-tuks on main roads!

Any other comments?

Met our requirements and exceeded our expectations.

Some superb hotels (esp. [The] Fort Printers [Galle] and Buckingham Place [Tangalle]).

Excellent value holiday.

Overall we had an excellent holiday with far more high spots than low points.

The flights were OK. Outward was on a reasonably comfortable newish SriLankan A330 and managed to arrive slightly early despite a late departure from Heathrow. The return was on an older A330 where I found the seat extremely uncomfortable (although my wife said she was OK), and the entertainment system was playing up and, even after rebooting several time, left a large section of the economy cabin unable to use it effectively. We actually landed 30 minutes early but, in true Heathrow style, were then kept waiting for a gate.

Galle - [The] Fort Printers Hotel: a lovely relaxed hotel for our first night. Our room (Arts) was in the main building and was huge with a combination of period furnishing and modern plumbing. Several Trip Advisor reviews have complained about excessive street noise in the main building rooms but we did not find this to be a problem. Excellent and reasonably priced seafood in the courtyard restaurant - although tax and service are not included in the menu prices and mean that about 23% is added to the bill (see comment later re prices at Buckingham Place).

Sinharaja - Rainforest Eco Lodge: a rather strange place! The lodge comprises a massive glass and steel central complex surrounded by 16 rooms in a horseshoe formation - each made from one and a half shipping containers! The rooms are actually comfortable and well-equipped although we are told that they are very noisy when it rains. We had one of the rooms nearest the central area, which involved approx. 50 stairs and about 100 metres along an undulating and uneven path - some of the other rooms were considerably further away. The central complex is far bigger than currently needed, as the planned Study Centre (and Canopy Walkway) has not yet materialised. At between 25% and 40% occupancy while we were there, we rattled around the restaurant and lounge.

Staff claimed that, once the steelwork and recycled containers had been trucked form Colombo and up the mountain, the buildings were actually more sustainable than timber. We recognise the challenges with availability and sustainability of hardwood but were not convinced by the argument!

Activities focus on an early morning walk mainly along the access track to a temple where there are blue magpies (the guides claimed it was 2km but we measured it at about 3.5km each way in our vehicle).

Later in the morning there is a 2 hour walk along a very rough path through the rainforest. Although we did see some good butterflies and hear some interesting birds, like most rainforest walks this is more about the potential of what you might see, rather than what you actually see! Some keen - and fit - birders were also taken on a longer (and apparently more rugged) walk. Our pre-tour research suggested that there were some easier self-guided trails in the vicinity of the lodge which my wife could tackle, but these did not exist.

The guides and service staff were always friendly and helpful and the food was very good (despite a tendency to run out of things, including beer).

Whist the scenery is excellent and the drives through the tea plantations very interesting, this destination is really only for the fit and dedicated birdwatchers!

Mirissa - Number One Mirissa: a small beach resort popular with surfers and sunbathers, Mirissa is also the centre of the south coast whale-watching industry. The hotel is jammed into a small site on the cliff at the side of the bay overlooking the surfing area, making excellent use of the limited space with terraces for the small pool and sunbathing area. The hotel describes itself as "luxurious" which is probably an exaggeration but it is certainly very comfortable. There are about 10 rooms, the ground floor ones having a patio and hammock, and the first floor rooms (where we were) having large balconies with comfortable chairs overlooking the sea. The rooms were spacious and well furnished. If I had a complaint, it would be that the noise of the surf was too loud!!!! The restaurant served simple well cooked meals with the emphasis on seafood. We were on half board and were offered a full choice from the a la carte menu on our first night (from which we had an excellent "catch of the day" - a 1kg mullet between us): on the second night we were told we should have only been offered a limited choice - excluding jumbo prawns and lobster, which did however both feature on the seafood platted which we could (and did) have!

We had 2 whale-watching trips: although we saw only spinner and bottlenose dolphins on the first day, we saw a blue whale on the second trip. It's difficult to see just how big these creatures are as it never fully breached, but it was an impressive sight. The sea was definitely "choppy" but the only people who were sick were those who had wolfed down their hotel packed breakfasts as the boat left the harbour!

Uda Walawe - Kalu's Hideaway: this national park is renowned for its elephant population and we certainly saw a lot - ranging from solitary males to large herds. In the morning they were typically feeding, whilst bathing and drinking were their priority in the afternoon. There were also plenty of birds and other wildlife to see.

I had high expectations of Kalu's Hideaway, if only because of the owners "celebrity" status as a former Sri Lankan test cricketer. It did not live up to those expectations.

Because of my wife's mobility challenges, we had one of 4 rooms off the main reception area: the room was small and fairly basically furnished, and quite dark with only a small window onto a small internal courtyard. The rooms in the seemingly newer block would presumably have been lighter but would have involved at least one flight of external stairs. The grounds are pleasant, with a small pool, a number of loungers and chairs, and views down to a small river with birds and livestock.

The restaurant was disappointing and was the poorest of all the places we stayed. Only 2 or 3 options were available for each course, and were usually overcooked and served cool (not even tepid): an indifferent curry was served with a soggy poppadum. Bearing in mind that a number of guests were taking morning game drives, there was a seeming reluctance to maintain the breakfast buffet on their return. We found that the hospitality tray in our room had instant coffee but no tea: after I asked at Reception, 3 teabags were brought to the room (an odd number for 2 people!) but were not replenished the next day. When we went on our morning game drive at 5.30am (along with a number of other guests), there was no tea or coffee available, the whole public are was in total darkness, no staff members were around, and we had to work out how to unlock the front door to be able to find our drivers - but this must surely be a daily activity for a hotel in this location! The staff seemed generally indifferent to their guests. The owner apparently lives in Colombo - perhaps he should spend more time at his hotel. Certainly, if we were to return to Uda Walawe, we would stay elsewhere.

Yala - Cinnamon Wild: Yala is Sri Lanka's largest and best known park, particularly for its leopard population. This can result in a high number of visitors and vehicles which, if there are rumours of a leopard, all descend rapidly on the same tree! This can lead to congestions, engine noise and fumes and, occasionally, heated tempers among the drivers jostling for position (similar situations are common with tiger sightings in India and also with "big 5" sightings in some parts of Kenya!). Our driver, apart from having excellent eyesight to be able to pick out the animals in a leafy tree, was very adept at anticipating the direction in which the animals would move, in several cases resulting in us heading in the opposite direction to most vehicles and ending up in the prime position for the next sighting. We saw 5 leopards and, perhaps more significantly, 3 sloth bears in our 2 days, as well as a wide variety of other animals and birds.

Cinnamon Wild was by some distance the largest hotel we stayed at but is the nearest hotel to Yala, this minimising transfer times for game drives. In addition to individual travellers, it also hosts large touring parties (both Titan and Saga use it) including a lot of oriental groups. However the rooms are spread over a large area, so it does not seem to busy - our room was a large and very comfortable newish "rondavel" approx. 100m from the central area (just about the nearest room) and almost adjacent to the safari pick-up point. The main restaurant was a large buffet offering a wide range of European, oriental and Indian/Sri Lankan dishes. The food was excellent and the staff very friendly and helpful. The only time we felt that the hotel seemed crowded was one evening when there were a number of large groups which meant the restaurant was full about 15 minutes after opening and late arrivals had to wait for tables to be turned round. Also, if you were behind a group of Orientals waiting for tempura seafood at one of the cooking stations, you would be there a long time - they were grabbing the food from the servery as soon as it was available! However our overall view was that the Cinnamon Wild worked extremely well despite its size. One contract with Kalu's Hideaway - the restaurant theoretically closed at 10.00 after breakfast service, but was always kept open for people coming back late from morning game drives.

Tangalle - Buckingham Place: en route from Yala to Rekawa we stopped at the Bundala reserve which a small and (compared with Yala) quiet reserve with the emphasis on local and visiting birds. A very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. We had the same driver as in Yala although, as he admitted that he knew leopards but not birds, we also had one of the reserve's "spotters".

And on to Buckingham Place. This is an absolute gem! A small simple but luxurious hotel tucked away between the sea and Rekawa Lagoon about 15km from Tangalle. The 12 rooms are large, light and very comfortable with views over the lagoon. The restaurant serves high-quality local and international fusion food, and the staff are friendly and efficient and always very keen to help (on one evening, we had been turtle watching on the nearby beach and returned to the hotel at about 11pm when the restaurant and bar area were in darkness - however one of the waiters had stayed up to see if we wanted any tea or coffee on our return). The emphasis is on doing very little, although for the masochists there are cycles available and kayaks for the lagoon. There is a glorious deserted beach 200m away (although swimming is not advised because of the currents) and walks to the nearby village. Tangalle can be reached by tuk-tuk and trips can be arranged to places such as Bundala (recommended) or Yala (a long way for a day but, if you want to see a leopard…….).We spent virtually all of our 5 days doing very little around the pool - just about the most strenuous thing we did was to drink our daily coconut (the staff brought everybody around the pool a coconut each at midday each day). Overall this was a superb way if chilling out after an intensive tour.

Buckingham Place's rack rates and menu prices for food and drink may seem expensive compared with other hotels but it is worth pointing out that they include both tax and service - whereas many establishments omit one or both of these making their prices seem over 20% cheaper. Also the "multi-buy" offers, such as "pay for 4 nights and get 1 more free" reduce the average nightly cost.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, so it seems churlish to raise issues. However we have 2 comments that other people have also raised previously on Trip Advisor:

• there is insufficient shade in the pool area when the hotel is nearly full. On quieter days we were able to move between trees to follow the shade, but this was sometimes not possible. The owner has previously replied that he is aware of the issue but is unwilling to create a forest of sun umbrellas.
• there are no hospitality trays in the rooms. The owner has said that he is happy to provide a room service option but does not want an in-room facility if it is not to the same standard as the select teas and coffee he provides from the restaurant of which is rightly proud.

The owner, Nick Buckingham, is currently seriously ill (we were told he has bone cancer). The good news is that his staff are very capable of running a superb hotel in his absence but it would be a major disappointment if, only 3 years after opening, he was unable to resume active involvement.

In summary: the itinerary was well structured and paced and more than met our requirements (eventually you get used to getting up at 4.45 and being bounced around in jeep for 8 hours a day!). With hindsight, we would have had an additional night at the Fort Printer's, have omitted Sinharaja and perhaps had 3 more nights at Buckingham Place (on their "pay for 6 and get 2 more free" offer).

Your pricing was also extremely keen. It is always difficult to compare prices for tailor made tours but we have looked at an itinerary from a specialist operator (Wildlife Worldwide) which is broadly similar in the wildlife aspects (albeit with some differences such as longer in Mirissa and less time in Yala) and their pricing is 10%-20% higher with fewer meals included.

The future: we have already discussed returning to Buckingham Place next year - perhaps 8 nights there with 2 nights at the Fort Printer's and possibly 2-3 nights further north (if there's somewhere around, say, Negombo which wouldn't be a total anti-climax after Buckingham Place). However my wife may need major knee surgery towards the end of this year, so we are unable to make any firm plans at present.

One final comment on Tikalanka's service - which, as we have experienced the same situation elsewhere in the subcontinent, may be a "cultural" issue rather than a company-specific matter. Oscar was our driver [guide] for the first week, leaving us on arrival at Yala. When he left us, he gave us the phone number of the driver who would take us to Buckingham Place but was not able to tell us the pick-up time (which, as were due to be in Bundala for 7.00, we expected to be about 5.30). We did not receive confirmation of the time, but the driver turned up at about 5.30.

We were not given contact details for the driver who would take us from Buckingham Place to Colombo Airport but were told that we would be notified of the pickup time (which as our flight was at 13.00 and the drive estimated at 4-6 hours, we expected to be between 5.00 and 6.00am). Having not heard anything on the day before departure, we contacted Pathi [Tikalanka's local manager] who said the pickup would be at 6.00am. Later that evening, the hotel manager told us that the driver was already there and wanted to depart at 5.30am.

I stress that in all cases, both here with Tikalanka, and with similar situations in India when there has been a new driver, the actual arrangements were firmly in place and we were in no danger of being stranded. The issue is solely that we, the travellers, were not given the information - which, as I'm sure you understand, can create some nervousness!

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