A leopard on a track in Yala National Park

Signature experiences

The hours people actually remember

Not a list of attractions. These are the things we book ourselves, with the operators we have used for years, and the ones worth building a route around rather than fitting into one.

All experiences

Choose these first,
then build the route

Every price is per person and includes the guide, the permit and the transport from your hotel. Most of them are early; that is the point of them.

3.5 hoursSigiriya at First Light SigiriyaOn the 6:30am gate with a site archaeologist, ahead of the coach groups and the heat.From $68 pp

4 hoursHabarana Village Afternoon HabaranaBullock cart, catamaran across the tank, and lunch cooked over firewood in a village home.From $55 pp

4 hoursMinneriya Elephant Gathering MinneriyaThe dry-season congregation of hundreds of elephants on the receding tank shoreline.From $85 pp

2 hoursEvening Puja at the Temple of the Tooth KandyDrummers, oil lamps and the 6:30pm opening of the inner chamber.From $40 pp

4–7 hoursThe Hill Country Train to Ella Kandy to EllaReserved seats on the Badulla line, through tea estates, tunnels and the Demodara loop.From $48 pp

3 hoursA Morning on a Working Tea Estate Nuwara EliyaPlucking with the field team, then the factory floor from withering to grading, ending in a tasting.From $52 pp

3.5 hoursNine Arch Bridge & Little Adam's Peak EllaBoth of Ella's signature walks in one easy morning, timed to a train crossing.From $38 pp

5 hoursYala Leopard Safari, Private Jeep YalaFirst vehicle through the gate at 5:30am, with a tracker who works the quieter eastern blocks.From $135 pp

How this works

Booked by us,
not resold

We hold the relationships directly: the archaeologist at Sigiriya, the tracker at Yala, the family in Habarana. Nothing here goes through an aggregator, which is why the gate times are the ones we say they are.

Ask about an experience

Two rules we do not break

No captive-animal experiences

No elephant rides, no photo stops with chained animals, no turtle handling. If you ask us to arrange one, we will explain why we will not.

First vehicle through the gate

Every park drive we run is on the first gate of the day. By nine the animals are in cover and you are looking at scrub.

The hours people actually remember

Choose these first,then build the route

Booked by us,not resold

Choose these first,
then build the route

Booked by us,
not resold