Tom & Alice
England, July 2017
Feedback
We felt that the itinerary worked well – a good combination of driving and sights and rest. Four nights was enough at Nilaveli – although blissful it was a bit boring for us. In retrospect, another night at Horathapola might have been a better alternative. There were two long driving days – from Nilaveli to Gal Oya and from Ella to Colombo. Arguably better to break the journey somewhere.
Niroshan was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable, pleasant company, patient and obliging with wheelchair, and a safe driver. He sometimes hurried us on, when we would have rather stopped longer – for example, at Gal Vihara, Polonnaruwa. On the long journeys, he preferred to keep going than take breaks (except for comfort breaks).
Horathapola [Estate, Airport] was a perfect place to start – blissful – we would have loved to have spent longer here. Very nice food and welcoming, unobtrusive people. A highlight of the trip.
Palm Garden Village Hotel [Anuradhapura] was slightly odd – work was being done. Nice pool and food.
Wilpattu [National Park] game drives were great fun, saw a [sloth] bear and a few elephants and lots of birds, and wild boar, and crocodiles, and water buffalo, and mongoose etc, but no leopard. Nice that there were fewer jeeps here than was reported to us of Yala.
Hotel Sigiriya [Sigiriya] was very good, lovely pool and nice food, friendly staff.
Nilaveli Beach Hotel [Nilaveli] was a lovely situation, great breakfasts, nice pool. We felt that the two eating options – the buffet or the beach café – were both rather expensive by local standards. Having been forewarned by my brother, we took tuk-tuk to Uppuveli and ate dinner at a cheaper place there (Rs 800 instead of Rs 2400).
Gal Oya Eco Lodge [Gal Oya] was a pleasant place, very welcoming, good food, nice staff. However, we were disappointed that the morning boat safari entailed us seeing hardly any animals although many birds. The Tikalanka write-up had suggested herds of elephants, swimming elephants etc. In the event, we saw just one elephant, some distance away, and a few deer and buffalo. Guide told us that he rarely saw elephants in the morning, and that the afternoon boat safari was a better bet. Had we known this in advance, obviously we would have opted for the afternoon outing. Indeed, an afternoon boat safari while we were at Gal Oya ended up seeing 40+ elephants at the water’s edge. We think Tikalanka should consider arranging afternoon safari and toning down the client expectations of swimming elephants!
[The] Secret Ella [Ella] was very nice, quiet, secluded. We took the complementary tuk-tuk to the 98 Acres Resort, and used their pool. But we were delighted to return to the peace and quiet of Secret Ella bungalow. They are currently constructing their own pool, and some other accommodation. Hoping that this does not spoil it! Overall, though we were happy to see Ella and the scenery around it – and to visit a tea factory – we felt Ella had been spoiled by tourism and particularly back packers.
Havelock Place Bungalow [Colombo] was delightful. Wonderfully restful, nice pool, friendly staff – Seema in particular made calls for us and gave advice. Very nice breakfasts and dinners also. A real highlight of the trip.
Accessibility
Horathapola was mainly one level – a few steps down to the pool – but easily managed.
Palm Garden Village Hotel involved some scrambling up steps at the entrance, and then the rooms had a flight of steps up to them. Not ideal for people with mobility difficulties, and impossible for someone who could not take any steps.
Sigirya Hotel: mainly on one level, but there were a couple of steps down to go to the rooms. These could easily have been ramped, and suggest feedback to the hotel: if they made simple changes, could advertise as suitable for disabled guests.
Nilaveli Beach Hotel: excellent – all on one level – good concrete paths to each unit. Space in unit, bathroom. Suggest that the hotel could invest in a beach wheelchair to enable guests with low mobility to access the beach.
Havelock Place Bungalow: one step up to the dining room, off which the bedrooms. Otherwise, easily negotiated, everything proximal, would suit someone with reduced mobility but not someone unable to walk or weight-bear at all.
None of the hotels had adapted bathrooms although some had level access showers. Noting that building work was under way at Palm Garden Village, it occurs to me that larger hotels could fairly easily create one bedroom with more space in the bathroom, wider doorways, level access showers and perhaps bars to support transfer to the toilet. This would not be a big investment, and would have huge benefit for older or disabled visitors. It is now routine to find hotels adapted in UK and Europe, and obligatory in North America.
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