The trip was amazing! Below is a quick rundown with some pictures.

Wednesday
Got into Sri Lanka with no problems and met our guide, Hermal, at the airport. Checked into the hotel with no problems.

Thursday
Woke up to a beautiful view from the balcony of our room, and had a great breakfast. It was a long drive to the rainforest (about 7 hours or so) but it was a very interesting and scenic drive. The Rainforest Edge lodging was AWESOME! The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, and cooked us a great meal. Our room was very cool. It didn’t have a lot of “frills” but it was really cool, from the open air bathroom to the furnishings. The grounds were beautiful, as was the spring water fed pool and the rest of the buildings. I would definitely recommend the place to those who want to be a little closer to nature and don’t need the luxuries of a 5 star hotel. I got some great pictures from right in our room too. Amazing views. I can’t decide which picture is my favorite!

Friday
The rainforest hike was incredible. Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. Our guides were very knowledgeable and eager to teach us about the diverse flora and fauna. We only did a half day trek, as we needed another 7 hours to drive to Kandy that night, but that was a good amount of time.

Saturday
Amaya Hills was a nice hotel with great views. The food wasn’t our favorite for how much we paid, but everything else was nice. All three of us really enjoyed the Temple of the Tooth Relic. The gem museum was interesting, but not memorable. Although I did get a nice pair of earrings for my girlfriend! We decided to skip the botanical garden and the spice gardens, as we opted to stop at a place to ride elephants, and also wanted to spend more time at the elephant orphanage. Pinnawala was one of our favorite parts of the trip! It was so cool to be that up close and personal with so many elephants. I would definitely go back there if I ever make it back to Sri Lanka.

Sunday
Jetwing Blue was a very nice hotel. We spent most of Sunday laying on the beach until we begrudgingly went back to the airport.

Hermal was an awesome guide. He was always on-time. He was very knowledgeable about everything we saw, and catered to our specific needs. He was very friendly and always had a smile on his face. I would highly recommend him to anyone in the future. It was also nice to have the same person as a guide and a driver. We also enjoyed the nice spacious van we used.

Lastly, I want to thank you for all that you did. All we did was send you a short email saying we wanted to go to Sri Lanka, when we were going, and what kind of sites we wanted to see, and you put together an incredible trip for us. It’s definitely one that I’ll remember for the rest of my life!

The only thing we had to change was the length of the rainforest hike in order to make the 7 hour drive to Kandy that night. So I’d note that for similar trips in the future.
Alan and Andrea, did I forget anything?

Feel free to use these photos or comments for your website! 

Thanks Again,

Cliff
Kansas, United States of America.

Dt : 31st May 2012