Special Education teacher of Learning Resources at The Cathedral and John Connon School .
Discover the rich history of the Emerald Isle, Meet friendly locals, see ancient temples and unravel the secrets of the foreboding forests of Yala Nature Park.
On arrival in Colombo you will clear through immigrations and customs and will proceed by road to Dambulla visiting the elephant orphanage at Pinnawela en-route. See baby jumbos wandering around cramped foster home or bottle fed and bathed by their human foster fathers. Most of the orphaned elephants are accustomed to their curious human visitors and are harmless.
Continue to Dambulla where you visit the Rock Temple which hold a magnificent gallery of Buddha images. It is a complex of five cave temples with its origins back to the Anuradhapura period.
After a leisurely breakfast you continue your journey to Sigiriya, which owes its glory to the vision of King Kashyapa. On the top of Sigriya Rock, a World Heritage site, are the remnants of a large palace, which is the earliest surviving royal building in Sri Lanka. The palace has several chambers and a bathing pond.
Proceed to Habarna for an elephant ride and continue to Polonnaruwa, which served the Sri Lankan kings as a country residence from the 7th century. Within the contours of the Royal citadel are the remnants of the Kings Palace, the Council Chamber and the Royal Bath. The Buddha images at the Gal Vihara are wonderful examples of stone sculpture.
After breakfast you proceed to Kandy, the last Royal Capital of Sri Lanka. The city is famous for the ‘Temple of the Tooth’. The name Kandy conjures visions of a storied past, splendor, legend, folklore, mystery and traditions lovingly kept for countless years.
This evening you visit the temple housing the famed Buddha relic, followed by a traditional Kandyan dance performance.
After breakfast you travel the short distance to Peredinya on the banks of the Mahaweli Ganga to the Royal Botanical Gardens which were first planted out for King Kirthi Sri Rajasingha and cover some 150 acres with lawns, flowering shrubs and over 10,000 trees and 4,000 plant species.
Continue to Nuwara Eliya by road, located 6000 feet above sea level, the area is famed for plantations, cascading waterfalls, and colonial buildings. You visit a typical Sri Lankan tea plantation and a working tea factory.
After breakfast transfer by road to the deep-south and take a jeep safari for touring Yala Park. The park has many rocky outcrops, fresh water tanks, brackish lagoons and breathtaking dry zone landscapes. The southeastern boundary of Yala is the coastline with an untouched beach. The Yala reserve hosts a large number of elephants, leopards, deer, wild buffaloes and many varieties of birds, crocodiles etc.
After breakfast, leave for Hikkaduwa, en-route visit the old Dutch city of Galle. See the massive ramparts of the Dutch Fort, and within its walls the sturdy Dutch houses, museums and churches.
On arrival in Hikkaduwa, you will check in at your hotel and will have the rest of the day at leisure for a variety of beach activities.
Hikkaduwa, a pristine little fishing village is built on a coral reef with perfect crystal clear water with thousands of fish from sea-snakes to schools of yellow-fin tuna, myriand reef dwellers, multi colored moray eels and waving octopi, all living together in a coral cathedral whose golden columns of sunlight appear to border infinity.
After breakfast you will board your glass bottom boat and sail out to the ocean to see the wonderful coral formations and colorful marine life.
The rest of the day is at leisure to indulge in a variety of beach activities.
After an early breakfast, you will proceed by road to Colombo, which is the commercial heart of Sri Lanka. On arrival you will proceed on an orientation tour of the city, see the Old Parliament House, the National Museum and Galle Face Road.
Early this evening you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back home.
Arrive with wonderful memories of your Outlearn trip and of new friends made afar.