10-Day Sri Lanka Highlights Tour with Yala Safari and Galle Fort

• Meet your tour guide upon arrival in Sri Lanka and transfer to Negombo. Negombo is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon in the Western Province, 38 km (24 mi) from Colombo via the Colombo - Katunayake Expressway. It is one of the country's major commercial hubs and the administrative centre of Negombo Division. Negombo has a population of about 142,136 within its divisional secretariat division, and its municipal boundary extends throughout this area. The city is known for its long sandy beaches and centuries-old fishing industry, and it has a large bilingual (Sinhala/Tamil) population with a clear Roman Catholic majority.
• Go on a city tour and see:
  • Main fish market, where fishers take their outrigger canoes out each day in search of the fish for which Negombo is famous
  • Negombo beach
  • Hamilton Canal
  • Fish market
  • Dutch Fort
  • Negombo beach park
  • Angurukaramulla Temple
  • St Mary's Church

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. En route to your destination, visit one of the most important tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Volunteers and caretakers provide shelter and care for orphaned, abandoned, and injured elephants within the park. You can watch the caretakers feed, bathe, and help these gentle giants. You can also walk with the herd to the nearby river to watch the elephants bathe and play in the water.
• You can also visit the famous Spice and Herbal Gardens.
• Watch a cultural dance show in Kandy.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Lying amidst the hills, Kandy was the last capital of the ancient kings of Sri Lanka. While it is the second-largest city in Sri Lanka, it is also famous for its immense beauty and is named one of the seven UNESCO-declared World Heritage Sites in the country. With its luxuriant prairie, picturesque lake, longest river in the country, and misty mountains, Kandy unsurprisingly mesmerizes every visitor.
• Visit one of the world's heritage sites as well as a sacred place for Buddhists all over the world, the Temple of the Tooth Relic.
• See the other sites:
  • Kandy Viewpoint
  • Royal Botanical
  • World-famous Gem Museum
  • Wood carving workshop
  • Sri Lankan Batik Centre

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. En route to your destination, see beautiful tea estates, Ramboda Waterfall, and a tea factory. Nuwara Eliya, the "City of Lights," is blessed with a salubrious climate and breathtaking views of valleys, meadows, mountains, and greenery. Surrounded by hills and tea plantations, the town enjoys spring-like weather throughout the year. It is also known as "Little England," as it was the favourite hill station of the British, who tried to create Nuwara Eliya as a typical English village. The old brick Post Office, the country house-like Hill Club with its hunting pictures, trophies, and strict formal dinner attire, the 18-hole golf course, and the horse race course all remind you of "England".
• Visit the town's main attractions, including:
  • Golf Course
  • Trout streams
  • Victoria Park
  • Lake Gregory (boating or fishing)
  • Tea factory, where the slow-growing tea bushes of this highland region produce some of the world's finest Orange Pekoe tea

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Ella is a small town in the Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) east of Colombo and is situated at an elevation of 1,041 metres (3,415 ft.) above sea level. The area has a rich biodiversity and is dense with numerous varieties of flora and fauna. Ella is surrounded by hills covered with cloud forests and tea plantations. The town has a cooler climate than the surrounding lowlands due to its elevation. The Ella Gap allows views across the southern plains of Sri Lanka. Located on the Colombo-Badulla railway line and the A16 highway (Beragala-Hali Ela), Ella railway station is the 75th station on the main line and is located 271.03 km (168.41 mi) from Colombo. The station has one platform, and all trains running on the main line stop there. The station opened in July 1918.
• En route to your destination, see:
  • Seetha Amman Kovil
  • Little Adam's Peak
  • Nine Arches Bridge
  • Ella Rock
  • Ravana Ella Falls

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel and go on a safari. Yala National Park is the most visited and second-largest national park in Sri Lanka, bordering the Indian Ocean. The park consists of five blocks, two of which are now open to the public, along with adjoining parks. It covers 979 square kilometres (378 sq. mi) and is located about 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Colombo. Yala was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1900, and along with Wilpattu, it was one of the first two national parks in Sri Lanka, having been designated in 1938. The park is best known for its variety of wild animals and is important for the conservation of Sri Lankan elephants, Sri Lankan leopards, and aquatic birds.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Today, you will enjoy whale watching.
  • Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. It is mostly a recreational activity, although it can also serve scientific and educational purposes. A study prepared for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2009 estimated that 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008. Whale watching generates $2.1 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide and employs around 13,000 workers. The size and rapid growth of the industry have led to complex and continuing debates within the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource.
• Head to Galle Fort in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. It was first built in 1588 by the Portuguese and then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. It is a historical, archaeological, and architectural heritage monument which, even after more than 432 years, maintains a polished appearance due to extensive reconstruction work carried out by the Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. The fort has a colourful history and today has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. The Sri Lankan government and many Dutch people who still own some of the properties inside the fort are looking at making this one of the modern wonders of the world. The heritage value of the fort has been recognized by UNESCO, and the site has been inscribed as a cultural heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site under criterion iv for its unique exposition of "an urban ensemble which illustrates the interaction of European architecture and South Asian traditions from the 16th to the 19th centuries." The Galle Fort, also known as the Dutch Fort or the "Ramparts of Galle," withstood the Boxing Day tsunami, which damaged part of the coastal area of Galle town. It has since been restored.
• Visit a blue moonstone mine. The name moonstone derives from the stone's characteristic visual effect, called adularescence (or schiller), which produces a milky, bluish interior light. This effect is caused by light diffraction through alternating layers of orthoclase and albite within the stone. The diffracted light varies from white to blue, depending on the thinness of the albite layers. More technically, this microstructure consists of regular exsolution layers (lamellae) of different alkali feldspars (orthoclase and sodium-rich plagioclase). Polished moonstones often display chatoyancy ("cat's eye" effect), where a luminous streak appears through the stone. Asterism is rare and produces four-legged stars.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Bentota is a coastal town in Sri Lanka, located in the Galle District of the Southern Province. It is approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of Colombo and 56 kilometres (35 mi) north of Galle. Bentota is situated on the southern bank of the Bentota River mouth, at an elevation of 3 metres (9.8 ft) above sea level. The name of the town is derived from a mythical story which claims a demon named 'Bem' ruled the tota, or river bank. Madu Ganga is a minor watercourse which originates near Uragasmanhandiya in the Galle District of Sri Lanka before widening into Madu Ganga Lake at Balapitiya. The river then flows for a further 4.4 km (2.7 mi) before draining into the Indian Ocean. It is located 88 km (55 mi) south of Colombo and 35 km (22 mi) north of Galle.
  • Many foreigners visit to see the beauty of the Madu River on a boat safari. If you visit the south of Sri Lanka, do not forget to visit the Madu River. You can enjoy the Madu River boat ride. The Buddhist Amarapura Nikaya sect held its first upasampada (higher ordination ceremony) on a fleet of boats anchored upon it in 1803. The Buddhist Kothduwa Temple is situated on an isolated island in the lake. Madu Ganga Lake, together with the smaller Randombe Lake, which is connected by two narrow channels, forms the Madu Ganga wetland. Its estuary and the many mangrove islets on it constitute a complex coastal wetland ecosystem. It has high ecological, biological, and aesthetic significance, being home to approximately 303 species of plants belonging to 95 families and 248 species of vertebrate animals. The inhabitants of its islets produce peeled cinnamon and cinnamon oil. The Madu Ganga Wetland was formally declared in 2003 under the Ramsar Convention. Kosgoda is a small coastal town located in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. The area is home to a population of nearly 3,000 people. It is approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of Colombo and is situated at an elevation of 1 metre (3.3 ft.) above sea level. The area is becoming one of the most vibrant tourist areas in the Galle District due to its beautiful beaches, Kosgoda Lagoon, which is perfect for birdwatching and boat trips, and its turtles and turtle hatcheries.
• Enjoy a visit to the turtle hatchery and water sports.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Colombo is the executive and judicial capital and the largest city in Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, with 752,993 in the municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. Colombo is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area, which includes Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban and suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of the Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings, and monuments. Due to its large harbour and strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, and its status as capital was retained when the nation became independent in 1948. In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. Like many cities, Colombo's urban area extends well beyond the boundaries of a single local authority, encompassing other municipal and urban councils such as Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Municipal Council, Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, Kolonnawa Urban Council, Kaduwela Municipal Council, and Kotikawatte Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha. The main city is home to a majority of Sri Lanka's corporate offices, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
• Visit the following sites on your city tour:
  • Galle Face Green
  • Viharamahadevi Park
  • Beira Lake
  • Colombo Racecourse
  • Planetarium
  • University of Colombo
  • Nelum Pokuna Theatre
  • One Galle Face
  • Gangaramaya Temple
  • Dutch Museum
  • Colombo Lotus Tower
  • National Museum
  • Independence Memorial Hall
  • Odel Shopping Mall
  • House of Fashion

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy breakfast and transfer to the airport for your departure flight.