Sri Lanka uncovered with Wild Life, Nature, Adventure and Culture

Customer Reviews

• S

  Shannon

  · November 24th, 2024
  So good in 2016, we've just arrived home from our second tour of Sri Lanka with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. 3 generations of my family (my mum, daughter, 11 years old at the time, and I), plus my partner, were lucky enough to spend two weeks in 2016 getting to know a little about Sri Lankan history, culture, her people, wildlife and unforgettable cuisine. We were our own (small) group of 4, and had an incredible experience. Our amazing guide (and this fantastic company's CEO), Amara, and our driver (whose name I sadly can't remember) were very in tune with what would interest us (experienced traveller 70 yr old who'd visited Sri Lanka previously, 11 year old on first overseas trip, and two well- traveled adults. We did a 'loop' of Sri Lanka, by very comfortable, modern, impeccably clean and maintained, air conditioned van, starting at Negombo, heading through Dambulla and Habarana, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala, Galle, and home to Australia from Colombo. Driving to anywhere rarely passed without Amara pointing out, and sharing with us, fascinating history of the area, significant sites (cultural, historical, and archaeological), identifying wildlife of all varieties, telling us about the trees, vegetation, farming, food and family traditions we saw as we traveled. All accompanied by the treat of tastes of local foods and fruits from roadside stalls, on occasion, people's gardens (with their consent) and (again with the agreement, and sometimes assistance, of site's guides and guards) samples of fruits that we hadn't tried or seen elsewhere. When, early in the tour, we expressed an interest in simply eating the local street foods for lunches and snacks (our tour accommodation included 1/2 board- breakfast and dinners at the amazing buffets at our hotels) Amara and our driver took us under their wings, stopping to check the foods on offer (lifting lids of pots, and checking ingredients/ spice levels, talking with the cook) to make sure that what they had would be suitable for us. Amara's style of interaction was very engaging, inviting conversation and discussion about what we were doing and experiencing. He was also very interested in hearing our insights, knowledge, thoughts and perspectives into what we were taking part in, and this meant we all learned from each other. Amara was incredibly generous with his knowledge, while being very humble and down to earth about it. The inclusions in our tour were fantastic, a great combination of cultural and heritage sites and visits, hands on experiences with local people cooking traditional Sri Lankan food and working on their crafts, wildlife encounters and safaris, informative and interesting visits to various wildlife sanctuaries, and opportunities for seeing up close, and learning about key Sri Lankan manufacturing and resource development. Optional outings and experiences were bountiful and varied, with absolutely no pressure to take part, which made them all the more enjoyable. This petite, incredible tour company shone brightly many times during this first tour with them, and never more so than when, in the last place we stayed before our return home. We learned in person through Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours' Priyantha, not long after checking in, that we had to move out of the hotel, because a large wedding group had booked in, and for reasons unknown wanted more rooms than they'd initially expected. Priyantha's excellent customer relations skills, teamed with his local knowledge and connections, meant that we were seamlessly, and without fuss, (& checking suitability of the solution with us along the way) transferred to a most beautiful, boutique hotel, not far from where we had been initially booked to stay, with our meals and most gracious welcome (despite our late, and unexpected, until that evening's arrival) included, as per our original itinerary. That was our first visit. Over the years, our family has reminisced about our 2016 visit so much, that I decided we'd really better do it all again, and booked to visit again. Our small, family, group has evolved a little (my daughter now 19), as has our love of Sri Lanka, thanks to our most recent tour. Our previous experience of Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours, with Amara as our guide made it an obvious and easy choice for us to travel with them again. As he was the consummate tour guide, hospitality expert, and wildlife, nature and cultural heritage guru (who was also personable, engaging and passionate about sharing his island home), we very much hoped to tour with him again this trip. We were absolutely delighted to be greeted by him at Colombo airport, and to learn he would be our guide again. We stayed at most of the hotels in which we'd previously stayed (at our request, so many fabulous memories and stories attached to them), and really enjoyed staying at a few hotels/ resorts new to us as well. Understanding our reasons for asking to stay in the same hotels as our previous visit, Priya worked hard in the lead up to, and during our tour, to secure our accommodation of choice, and succeeded tremendously in doing so. Our driver for this trip, Ruwan, was incredible. Despite the traffic situation being very different to what we're used to at home (in Tasmania), we always felt very safe with him at the wheel. There were some moments that had us holding our collective breath, 'exciting' terrain, ever-narrowing rural and town roads, and drenching, street-flooding monsoonal downpours coming into Kandy, but Ruwan always got us to our destinations with the van, us, and our senses of humour (and safety) intact. Ruwan is also a great canoe paddler and wrangler, expert intermediary between Amara's safari animal-spotting and safari jeep driver (tapping the driver to ask him to stop, so we could see whatever animal, plant, geological feature Amara had spotted), as well as being an excellent spotter himself. Ruwan was also highly attuned to the comfort of, and questions posed by those of us travelling in rows 2 and 3 of the van. With Amara and Ruwan's excellent spotting, and knowledge of the environment and their surroundings (and different season visits), we saw wildlife, plants and natural and made features we hadn't seen previously. We were lucky enough to spend some time close to a very large herd of elephants as they moved around and ate near us during our safari, learning more about them and their complex behaviour and society as Amara quietly and calmly talked about them, just a few metres away at times. We tried (and became fans of some) foods we'd not been introduced to (or hadn't been game enough to try) during our first visit, took part in experiences we'd not been involved in before, stayed in beautiful accommodation we'd not stayed in previously, and connected more deeply with the culture and people than was possible during our first tour. We were very pleased to remake the acquaintance of some hotel staff we'd met first time around, and made new friends and connections where we spent time. Each of us on the tour particularly enjoyed the warm interactions that followed our use of our (very minimal) Sinhalese greetings. Amara and Ruwan were both incredible in their determination to make our trip memorable and meaningful, and went out of their way to incorporate our requests to add to, or deviate from our itinerary... (surfing, need to hire a board, 'we're about as far from surf as we could be, but when we get to the coast in a few days time, if there's surf to be had, we'll get you there, with a board, you've realised on the last day that your favourite dress is still where we were a week ago, and your attempts to fix it today haven't worked, let's get your dress back to you, you've just learned your near to midnight flight home has been delayed by 1 1/2 hours, we can work with that, and "now" it looks as though your flight is going at the original time, let's scramble, several calls later by our incredible guide, your airline says the delayed time is correct, and here we are at the airport, laughing at the situation... Priya was guiding a larger Australian group at the same time as we were delighting in our Sri Lanka 2.0, and we bumped into him and his group at various times during our trip. It was great to be able to enjoy his company this trip. We really enjoyed getting to know him better, to get more of an insight into his world, and through these, an opportunity to understand the driving forces, and guiding principles of Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. With a slightly different role within the company than that held by Amara, Priya was always available to Amara to help iron out any (nearly inevitable) niggles that happen with travel, and which required an 'elevated' response. It appeared to be highly effective, having our guide on the spot to advocate for us face to face, and Priya behind the scenes, to advocate from an arm's length. Being the professionals Amara and Priya are, our awareness of issues was minimal, with satisfactory results achieved, without becoming a concern for us. Ruwan, Amara and Priya are each the most wonderful guides to and advocates for Sri Lanka, her past, present, and future (including her incredible culture and biodiversity, and that of our shared environments). Their generous hearts and quiet, demonstrated passion for what they do and believe in, (sustainable and responsible tourism) shows- every day, every action (whether aware they were being observed, or not) and during every interaction (with whomever they engaged with). I'm already planning Sri Lanka visit 3, hopefully for next year, in the dry season, and with some time spent being introduced to and exploring new areas. The East Coast sounds like an incredible place to get to know, and there's more still to investigate around the Habarana/ Sigiriya. And again, it's an easy decision for who I'll choose to travel with and be guided by, it will be with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. I would absolutely recommend to anyone considering travel to Sri Lanka, and especially those who want to connect with the country, culture and people they're visiting, to travel with this wonderful business, Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. You might just find yourself coming back to them for versions 2, & 3...
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  Trip date: November 2024
• S

  Shannon

  · November 24th, 2024
  So good in 2016, we've just arrived home from our second tour of Sri Lanka with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. 3 generations of my family (my mum, daughter, 11 years old at the time, and I), plus my partner, were lucky enough to spend two weeks in 2016 getting to know a little about Sri Lankan history, culture, her people, wildlife and unforgettable cuisine. We were our own (small) group of 4, and had an incredible experience. Our amazing guide (and this fantastic company's CEO), Amara, and our driver (whose name I sadly can't remember) were very in tune with what would interest us (experienced traveller 70 yr old who'd visited Sri Lanka previously, 11 year old on first overseas trip, and two well- traveled adults. We did a 'loop' of Sri Lanka, by very comfortable, modern, impeccably clean and maintained, air conditioned van, starting at Negombo, heading through Dambulla and Habarana, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala, Galle, and home to Australia from Colombo. Driving to anywhere rarely passed without Amara pointing out, and sharing with us, fascinating history of the area, significant sites (cultural, historical, and archaeological), identifying wildlife of all varieties, telling us about the trees, vegetation, farming, food and family traditions we saw as we traveled. All accompanied by the treat of tastes of local foods and fruits from roadside stalls, on occasion, people's gardens (with their consent) and (again with the agreement, and sometimes assistance, of site's guides and guards) samples of fruits that we hadn't tried or seen elsewhere. When, early in the tour, we expressed an interest in simply eating the local street foods for lunches and snacks (our tour accommodation included 1/2 board- breakfast and dinners at the amazing buffets at our hotels) Amara and our driver took us under their wings, stopping to check the foods on offer (lifting lids of pots, and checking ingredients/ spice levels, talking with the cook) to make sure that what they had would be suitable for us. Amara's style of interaction was very engaging, inviting conversation and discussion about what we were doing and experiencing. He was also very interested in hearing our insights, knowledge, thoughts and perspectives into what we were taking part in, and this meant we all learned from each other. Amara was incredibly generous with his knowledge, while being very humble and down to earth about it. The inclusions in our tour were fantastic, a great combination of cultural and heritage sites and visits, hands on experiences with local people cooking traditional Sri Lankan food and working on their crafts, wildlife encounters and safaris, informative and interesting visits to various wildlife sanctuaries, and opportunities for seeing up close, and learning about key Sri Lankan manufacturing and resource development. Optional outings and experiences were bountiful and varied, with absolutely no pressure to take part, which made them all the more enjoyable. This petite, incredible tour company shone brightly many times during this first tour with them, and never more so than when, in the last place we stayed before our return home. We learned in person through Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours' Priyantha, not long after checking in, that we had to move out of the hotel, because a large wedding group had booked in, and for reasons unknown wanted more rooms than they'd initially expected. Priyantha's excellent customer relations skills, teamed with his local knowledge and connections, meant that we were seamlessly, and without fuss, (& checking suitability of the solution with us along the way) transferred to a most beautiful, boutique hotel, not far from where we had been initially booked to stay, with our meals and most gracious welcome (despite our late, and unexpected, until that evening's arrival) included, as per our original itinerary. That was our first visit. Over the years, our family has reminisced about our 2016 visit so much, that I decided we'd really better do it all again, and booked to visit again. Our small, family, group has evolved a little (my daughter now 19), as has our love of Sri Lanka, thanks to our most recent tour. Our previous experience of Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours, with Amara as our guide made it an obvious and easy choice for us to travel with them again. As he was the consummate tour guide, hospitality expert, and wildlife, nature and cultural heritage guru (who was also personable, engaging and passionate about sharing his island home), we very much hoped to tour with him again this trip. We were absolutely delighted to be greeted by him at Colombo airport, and to learn he would be our guide again. We stayed at most of the hotels in which we'd previously stayed (at our request, so many fabulous memories and stories attached to them), and really enjoyed staying at a few hotels/ resorts new to us as well. Understanding our reasons for asking to stay in the same hotels as our previous visit, Priya worked hard in the lead up to, and during our tour, to secure our accommodation of choice, and succeeded tremendously in doing so. Our driver for this trip, Ruwan, was incredible. Despite the traffic situation being very different to what we're used to at home (in Tasmania), we always felt very safe with him at the wheel. There were some moments that had us holding our collective breath, 'exciting' terrain, ever-narrowing rural and town roads, and drenching, street-flooding monsoonal downpours coming into Kandy, but Ruwan always got us to our destinations with the van, us, and our senses of humour (and safety) intact. Ruwan is also a great canoe paddler and wrangler, expert intermediary between Amara's safari animal-spotting and safari jeep driver (tapping the driver to ask him to stop, so we could see whatever animal, plant, geological feature Amara had spotted), as well as being an excellent spotter himself. Ruwan was also highly attuned to the comfort of, and questions posed by those of us travelling in rows 2 and 3 of the van. With Amara and Ruwan's excellent spotting, and knowledge of the environment and their surroundings (and different season visits), we saw wildlife, plants and natural and made features we hadn't seen previously. We were lucky enough to spend some time close to a very large herd of elephants as they moved around and ate near us during our safari, learning more about them and their complex behaviour and society as Amara quietly and calmly talked about them, just a few metres away at times. We tried (and became fans of some) foods we'd not been introduced to (or hadn't been game enough to try) during our first visit, took part in experiences we'd not been involved in before, stayed in beautiful accommodation we'd not stayed in previously, and connected more deeply with the culture and people than was possible during our first tour. We were very pleased to remake the acquaintance of some hotel staff we'd met first time around, and made new friends and connections where we spent time. Each of us on the tour particularly enjoyed the warm interactions that followed our use of our (very minimal) Sinhalese greetings. Amara and Ruwan were both incredible in their determination to make our trip memorable and meaningful, and went out of their way to incorporate our requests to add to, or deviate from our itinerary... (surfing, need to hire a board, 'we're about as far from surf as we could be, but when we get to the coast in a few days time, if there's surf to be had, we'll get you there, with a board, you've realised on the last day that your favourite dress is still where we were a week ago, and your attempts to fix it today haven't worked, let's get your dress back to you, you've just learned your near to midnight flight home has been delayed by 1 1/2 hours, we can work with that, and "now" it looks as though your flight is going at the original time, let's scramble, several calls later by our incredible guide, your airline says the delayed time is correct, and here we are at the airport, laughing at the situation... Priya was guiding a larger Australian group at the same time as we were delighting in our Sri Lanka 2.0, and we bumped into him and his group at various times during our trip. It was great to be able to enjoy his company this trip. We really enjoyed getting to know him better, to get more of an insight into his world, and through these, an opportunity to understand the driving forces, and guiding principles of Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. With a slightly different role within the company than that held by Amara, Priya was always available to Amara to help iron out any (nearly inevitable) niggles that happen with travel, and which required an 'elevated' response. It appeared to be highly effective, having our guide on the spot to advocate for us face to face, and Priya behind the scenes, to advocate from an arm's length. Being the professionals Amara and Priya are, our awareness of issues was minimal, with satisfactory results achieved, without becoming a concern for us. Ruwan, Amara and Priya are each the most wonderful guides to and advocates for Sri Lanka, her past, present, and future (including her incredible culture and biodiversity, and that of our shared environments). Their generous hearts and quiet, demonstrated passion for what they do and believe in, (sustainable and responsible tourism) shows- every day, every action (whether aware they were being observed, or not) and during every interaction (with whomever they engaged with). I'm already planning Sri Lanka visit 3, hopefully for next year, in the dry season, and with some time spent being introduced to and exploring new areas. The East Coast sounds like an incredible place to get to know, and there's more still to investigate around the Habarana/ Sigiriya. And again, it's an easy decision for who I'll choose to travel with and be guided by, it will be with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. I would absolutely recommend to anyone considering travel to Sri Lanka, and especially those who want to connect with the country, culture and people they're visiting, to travel with this wonderful business, Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours.
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  Trip date: November 2024
• DN

  Diana

  · April 15th, 2024
  Sri Lanka uncovered with Wild Life, Nature, Adventure and Culture - March/April. After a bit of a misunderstanding with going in a group (who dropped out and did a private trip) - I ended up travelling solo with just the guide. I was a bit unsure about this but it turned out fine as my guide, Mohan, was excellent. He was so knowledgeable on the history of Sri Lanka, flora and fauna and all animals that the whole trip was amazing. He was very accommodating and we discussed the best planning to make sure I could do everything on the agenda in a relaxed manner. I completed the whole itinery (except the whale watching as apparently there was pretty good chance I'd not see any, and the cycling round an archeological site in 36°C -- Mohan said it would be best to drive and stop - he was right!) and I saw 7 out of the 8 national parks. I think the highlight was achieving the 6km and 5700 steps up to the top of Adam's peak to watch the sunrise, and down again -- definitely a good level of fitness is required for this. The 3 safaris were great, although the 3rd one did not reveal much wildlife at all. Another highlight was the "baby" elephant sanctuary where I watched the herd come in and be bottle fed. And the drive up to Knuckles for a shortish hike was beautiful. The trip is "full on" with 2 to 3 things to do each day -- which of course you can skip if you wish. My guide took me to lots of local places for light lunches and several cups of tea. The only thing that was a bit of a let down was the quality of the accommodation in some areas -- no wifi in some at all, very bad reception in others, some pretty indescribable food in others and a very rural stay in the middle of literally no where. Don't be thinking you will be out in town "shopping/dancing" in any of the accommodation locations, the towns I stayed in were very "local" - or my accommodation was too far a distance from the main town to walk to - and there is not much to do in the evenings apart from eat and early nights to compensate for the early starts. I opted for 2 massages at about €35 each - both were excellent. If you like a glass of wine in the evenings, it is best to go to the Wine stores and buy it by the bottle -- BUT send in your guide to buy it as the price is doubled for tourists. BUT, I did not go for a riveting nightlife - I went to see Sri Lanka and experience exactly what the description says "Sri Lanka uncovered with Wild Life, Nature, Adventure and Culture". I would totally recommend this trip for a real insight into the country and what it has to offer. Every aspect of what the country has to offer is covered from land to mountains to sea to the people. The whole trip was about 1500km in the car, but with several stops on the way (for snacks and tea) to destinations and things to do on the itinery, it was actually nice to relax in a car for a while to go to the next destination. Tipping is very much expected from hotel porters to snack bars to local guides and restaurants. Travelling solo as a 58 year old woman was no issue, I felt safe wherever I went and Mohan made my trip really very special.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Ms. Diana Notley, Thank you very much for your positive and encouraging feedback. Warm Regards, Christopher
  
  Trip date: March 2024
• 

  Daniel

  · February 20th, 2024
  We had a wonderful trip and we would highly recommend the tour to anyone interested in seeing the natural side of Sri Lanka. We were very lucky because we saw two very rare animals -- a bear and a leopard at two different national parks, plus some outstanding birds. We had a terrific driver named Nuang who was very helpful in every way. Everything was well organized and we were always comfortable.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Daniel Byrne, Thank you very much for your positive and encouraging feedback. Warm Regards, Christopher
  Trip date: January 2024
• 

  Robin

  · February 10th, 2024
  I recently was fortunate enough to go on a 16 day tour of Sri Lanka with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours. I booked directly with Sunrise, ( Sri Lanka uncovered with Wildlife, Nature, Adventure and Culture) and dealt with Christopher. He was a delight to deal with from the start. As a solo female traveler, I had many questions over the course of the many months (I booked very early on) which he promptly and graciously replied to. As I was able to pick the start date to suit me, he then opened it up to others to join and we had a great tour with 5 like minded individuals. The van was in good condition, A/C worked well and our driver Ruwan was excellent at navigating the crazy roads in the country…aways with a smile on his face. He also acted as guide on the occasional hike or safari. He is quiet by nature, but has a good sense of humour. Our guide was Prisanth, with over 30 yrs experience. He was extremely knowledgeable and usually had a ‘joke of the day’ to start the day with. Initially there was a bit of confusion about the itinerary and accommodation as there seemed to be several versions, but once we got that sorted out, the trip went along well. Just as the tour name describes, we saw wildlife, culture, nature and some adventure. It was a superb mix of all that Sri Lanka has to offer…which is alot! I enjoyed the trip immensely and would not hesitate to recommend Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours to anyone looking to explore this incredibly friendly and diverse country. I hope to go back again someday. Thankyou Christopher, Prisanth and Ruwan for a very memorable trip.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Ms. Robin, Thank you very much for your positive and encouraging feedback. Warm Regards, Christopher
  Trip date: January 2024
• AG

  Anja

  · April 1st, 2023
  Automatically translated. View in EnglishRate this translation
  Automatic translation available in English. View in English
  Diese Tour bietet sehr viele facettenreiche Aktivitäten um das Land bestmöglich und von allen Seiten kennenzulernen. Einziger Kritikpunkt ist, dass meiner Meinung nach für diesen Preis bessere Unterkünfte gewählt werden könnten.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Ms. Anja Gmeiner, Thank you for your encouraging comments and your constructive feed back....
  
  Trip date: March 2023
• EH

  Emily

  · February 22nd, 2023
  The tour itself was great. The guides were very knowledgeable and helpful. Sri Lanka is an amazing country and I can’t recommend it enough. The downside of my experience was I signed up for a group tour, as I travel solo. When I signed up, the site indicated there was 4 other people on the tour. Something changed with the other 4 travellers, and when I arrived I was told I would be the only person on the tour. This wasn’t the experience I wanted and was disappointed that the tour company didn’t inform me of this change prior to my arrival. That being said, after sharing my disappointment, the company did work with me to change up some of my itinerary to help with some of my feelings of isolation. I did really appreciate their flexibility and support. I wouldn’t hesitate to book another tour with this company. They do want you to have the best experience possible.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Ms. Emily Holland, Thank you for your encouraging comment and your constructive feedback....
  
  Trip date: January 2023
• CC

  Celine

  · August 29th, 2022
  We had an amazing time in Sri Lanka! A mix of culture, ancient history, nature, wildlife and beach stay made our stay so great.
  

  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Thank you very much for your genuinely comment .
  
  Trip date: August 2022
• JT

  Jim

  · July 13th, 2022
  Thank you Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels & Tours for showing us the very best of your beautiful country. We could not be happier with the intinerary which showcased Sri Lanka’s culture, nature & people. It’s a beautiful country with amazing wildlife and cultural & natural sights. Our private tour with Amara made our trip very special & he was great company who answered any question we had for two weeks. We we’re able to make changes as we went & the owner Christopher & Amara were very flexible with all our needs. We couldn’t be happier with Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours & we recommend taking a tour with them to see the very best Sri Lanka has to offer.
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  Sunrise Sri Lanka Travels and Tours commented on this review

  Dear Sir, Madam, Thank you very much for your generous review . Kind Regards Christopher
  
  Trip date: June 2022