Lynn, Thomas, Jo & Roger
England, January 2019
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
Loved the people and the diversity.
Enjoyed the animal parks and tours.
Liked that there is effort to be responsible.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Rubbish in rivers and sea.
The only BIG thing I can say we was extremely disappointed in (considering it was responsible travel) was the usage of plastic bottles, we took our water containers as advised to do but was given a plastic bottle of water except one which gave us glass bottles (cannot remember which stay it was).
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Each was different – all were very good.
Only comment about Wild Trails in Yala. Although the experience was overall very good and the staff were very accommodating and more than happy to help, there was a problem with the bathroom area. It was dingy and cleanliness not the best. Dirty towelling mats could be replaced with rubber mats in the bathroom and the taps etc. needed to be cleaned. The bedroom areas were, however, comfortable and clean and all the facilities provided were more than adequate.
The staff in all hotels were friendly and helpful. All food provided was very good, although some was cold when served.
All totally different, small and unique which was lovely, staff at all stays were friendly and helpful, I have only highlighted below a few things which stood out and I thought you should know.
Mud hut [The Mudhouse, Anamaduwa] blew us away it’s a fantastic place (even the experience of cold water outside) the staff were very helpful and attentive, we asked if we could have a fire by the lake to watch the stars at night, they asked us what time which we requested after dinner, not only did they light the fire but the staff brought a blanket to put the bean bags on which they also brought and to top it off they provided tea lights and lanterns, who could ask for more.- only comment which would be a help is to have little wooden signs and arrows showing where things are including the hut names or numbers… we got lost a few times and finally got the hang of it by the time we left.
The Other Corner (TOC) [Habarana] I thought the swimming pool to be wrongly located under trees which lead to the pool being full of dust and leaves and cold du to this I was not sure how often they maintained, we did not use the pool.
The tents [Wild Trails Yala] were not quite as expected probably due to our previous glamping experiences, the bathroom was not clean and the bath floor mats had long seen better days the where old and threadbare, the towels were clean but appeared a grey colour, 1 of the light bulbs was not working in the bathroom area we asked for it to be replaced but never was and we had to ask for a blanket a couple of times after the 1st night as we were cold, we were finally given an extra sheet as a blanket (which we thought strange) sheets also had a big tear/hole in one and the so called blanket smelled badly of moth balls. On saying all this, the food was lovely and the boys attentive (they did however hover over the tables while eating which we found to put us a bit on edge) the place needs a bit of TLC and a women’s touch.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
We could not have had a better chauffeur guide. Anura was very knowledgeable about wildlife and the island’s history. He did everything to make our stay both pleasurable and memorable. We were very sorry to say “goodbye” to both him and Sri Lanka.
Anura our driver [guide] was a lovely man who could not help you enough, he was a safe driver, very informative and knew his subjects well especially the birds, the only thing I can say about Anura and its not a bad comment at all but he was like a mother hen to us, we asked for some free time alone to shop and explore which he did but we felt at times that we were put in an awkward situation, at times as he didn’t seem to understand our request and said he would collect us or follow us around, we are seasoned travellers and like our bit of free time. Please don’t take it as a negative as its not he was lovely.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
All flights ran to time and were comfortable. [Emirates – Economy Class – London Heathrow]
Any other comments?
We bought some small mementoes in wood and bits for Christmas decorations.
Your itinerary was perfect for what we asked for and provided us with lovely memories.
We were, however, a little disappointed to find that bottled water was in plastic containers. We did not seem to have the option of filling our water bottles in most hotels, which would have been more in keeping with eco travel.
Yala safari was good we saw 3 leopards, 3 sloth bears only comment which you did prior warn us of was the amount of vehicles accumulating around an animal, luckily they did not seem bothered by us as the sighting were far enough away but if closer it would have been to stressing for the animal.
Once again I would like to say we did have a really nice time and many fantastic experiences.
I hope this helps John and we would definitely recommend Tikalanka to our friends.
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