Five fabulous activities to do in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a tropical holiday destination with its own rights. From relaxing beach tour on the pristine beaches to safari in a national park to spying leopards, elephants, bear and many other exotic creatures, here are five fabulous activities to do in Sri Lanka and enjoy this truly unique island.
Forget Hollywood fripperies, the tropical island Sri Lanka is a holiday destination in the tropics with its own rights. As a reputed local tour operator in Sri Lanka, Seerendipity tours organize Sri Lanka trips to foreign travellers, we have picked below mentioned 5 activities to do in this truly unique place.
What are the five fabulous activities for your Sri Lanka trip?
- Trek the Sinharaja rainforest
- Sampling Sri Lankan beverages
- Spotting leopard in Yala wildlife tour
- Meet Mother Nature’s big boy
- Madu River boat tour
Activities to do in Sri Lanka-Trekking through Sinharaja rainforest
Sinharaja rainforest known for its high biodiversity and hundreds of bird species as well as many dozens other animals. Head on to Sinharaja at dawn on a guided walk in search of beautiful birds. Sinharaja is a primaeval rainforest and one of the oldest patches of forests in the world. Many travellers visit the forest due to its richness of fauna and flora. The rainforest is located only 2 hours’ drive from Colombo and from most beach resorts on the west and southern coast means the Sri Lanka day trip to Sinharaja is very easy to do from most places in Sri Lanka.
There are many streams flows through the forest and some of them make beautiful waterfalls. You will encounter a few waterholes with crystal clear water in some parts of the gushing river, where you can have a swim. Once submerged in the warm water, you will relax instantly. If you wish to stay overnight in a nearby hotel, there are plenty of opportunities with a wide range of luxury hotels to affordable accommodation such as dormitories and rent rooms.
Activities to do in Sri Lanka-tasting delicious Sri Lankan beverages
Sri Lanka was under 3 colonial rulers Portuguese, Dutch and English and these colonial rulers left a lasting impression as they were controlling the island’s affairs. The foreign influence is visible in Sri Lankan food, architecture, languages, religions, music, dance and all other aspects of Sri Lankan life.
The tea, which is one of the most prominent beverages in Sri Lanka, which also is a very important foreign exchange to the island is served every nook of the island. The tea plantations were established by the British planters as later expanded to all over the island. Tea is one of the most served beverages in Sri Lanka. It is served by every hawker stall, wayside eateries to a super luxurious hotel in Colombo.
The tea is served mixed with a bit of sugar, then it is called plain tea and when the tea is served with condensed milk it is called milk tea.
The wine stores, which are selling a wide range of alcoholic drinks is one of the most controversial introductions to the Sri Lankan society by the British colonial rulers. However, today the locally manufactured coconut arrack is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks among the people of Sri Lanka. It is served in most important events such as wedding, parties and celebrations.
Activities to do in Sri Lanka- spotting leopards in Yala safari
There are 2 dozen national parks in Sri Lanka, but don’t think you hear the eerie call of the leopard in every national park. Because leopard is concentrated into few national parks such as Yala, Wilpattu, peak wilderness and out these patches of forests Yala is the best spot to encounter leopards. Same times keep your eye on the surrounding areas because the leopard can be occurring on huge boulders, granite caves, as well as on the ground.
At Yala national park, you are travelling in a 4-wheel drive jeep on labyrinthine of gravel roads in search of the largest carnivore on the island, the leopard. You drive through the forest and look up to find a leopard on treetops
Yala rank among the best places to spot leopards in the world, due to the high concentration of these big cats. If you book a full day safari at Yala it is highly unlikely that you miss the opportunity to see a leopard.
However, if you are short of time and not able to find for a full day safari, at least take a regular half-day Yala safari you may still stand a chance of seeing a leopard along with many other wild creatures like Elephant, crocodile, jackal, wild buffaloes, lizards, bear and many other creatures.
Activities to do in Sri Lanka-Meet Mother Nature’s big boy
The sea off southern Sri Lanka is coming under the international whaling commission, and therefore the Indian ocean off Sri Lanka is safe for giant blue whales. The sea off Sri Lanka’s southern coast has become a hot spot for whale watching in Asia.
Off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, the winter period of March to October is rush hour on the “blue whale highway”, as many thousands of blue whales migrate to Sri Lanka’s southern sea from the Arabian sea. The sea off southern Sri Lanka is home to a large number of whale and there is a large number of resident whales among them. These resident whales living off the coast of Sri Lanka throughout the year, therefore, most Sri Lanka tour operators such as Seerendipity tours offer daily whale watching trips from Colombo and beach hotels throughout the year.
The period from March to October is exceptionally good for whale watching as the number of whales in the sea increases by many hundreds due to the migrated whales from the Arabian sea in search of breeding grounds. Winter season is the best time of the year to witness large pods of blue whales, and some of these pods are consisting of many dozens of animals.
On a Sri Lanka whale watching trip from Bentota and other places, the travellers can have a short but enchanting encounter with these giant creatures, which can grow up to 18m long and weigh 45 tons. The whales, including mothers and their newborns, can also be spotted as they make the long trip back to the waters of Arabian sea between October and November.
During the summer (January, February, March and April), it may be difficult to witness blue whale as migrated whales return to the Arabian sea on a 10000 km long journey. However, whale watching trip organizers able to trace a couple of blue whales during the trip, and you never miss a chance to take a glimpse into this fascinating creature.
The duration of the whale watching trip usually very high during the summer and it can be as much as 5 hours. The duration of the whale watching trip is only about 2 hours during the winter monsoon, as it is easy to spot whales during this period.
Explore the nature with Madu River boat tour
Madu River Estuary, which is the second biggest wetland on the island and which is also a Ramsar wetland in Sri Lanka is a popular place for boating on the west coast. At Balapitiya you can glide through the biggest wetland on the west coast in a motorboat in search of monkey, crocodile, lizards and a large number of bird species.
The boat tour lasts between 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours and can be undertaken at any time during the day. You guide takes you into 2 mangrove lagoons and the boat is stopped in 2 small islands. The Madu Riverboat trip can be booked as a standalone trip from Colombo or beach resorts on the western and southern coast. However, most travellers combine the Madu River boat trip to southern Sri Lanka tour as enables them to see many interesting places on the trip alone with the boat tour. E.g Galle one day tour from Colombo includes Madu River boat tour, Galle fort, Hikkaduwa beach, Bentota beach, Mask museum and many other places.