January 10th – Arrival at Colombo airport, transfer to a nice hotel in Colombo.    

January 11th – After a bit of bird photography in the garden we will transfer to Sinharaja Rainforest.  After checking in to our lodge we will have an afternoon visit to the National Park.  This part of Sri Lanka still holds virgin forest which holds all the endemic lowland species.  Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Sri Lanka Magpie, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill and many more.   A nice lodge just outside the park.   

January 12^th and 13th – We will have two full days of bird photography in the park.  We have a good chance of photographing some endemic night birds at their roosts here including Serendib Scops Owl, Chestnut-backed Owlet and Sri Lanka Frogmouth.  We will take lunch at a location with feeders which attract a variety of birds including Barbets, Bulbuls, Hornbills and Blue Magpie.  After a full day in the park, we will return to our lodge just outside the park. 

January 14th – After breakfast and a bit of bird photography at our lodge we will check out and head to Yala National Park in time for an afternoon game drive.  Yala is well known for the number of Leopards in the park which prey on the large populations of Chital and Sambar Deer.  We will check in to our nice lodging, comfortable chalets near Yala National Park.

January 15th – We will have a morning game drive in Yala, Asian Elephants and Bee-eaters are likely in the park, then check out and head to our beautiful lodge on Arugam Bay Beach, this is about a five-hour transfer. 

January 16^th-18th – We will have 3 full days with safaris inside Kumana National Park. The birds and mammals of Kumana are quite similar to Yala National Park.  The beauty of this park is it’s much less visited than Yala.  There are also large numbers of Leopards, Chital Deer and Asian Elephants here.  Other mammals we will be on the lookout for here include Golden Jackal, Wild Water Buffalo and Sloth Bear.   As far as birds it’s very good for the striking Malabar Pied Hornbill, Painted and Black-necked Storks and raptors such as Grey Fish Eagle and Crested Hawk-Eagle.   After finishing our safari each day we will end up at a beautiful lodge on Arugam Bay

January 19^th – We will do some bird photography near our lodge, then check out, we have about a five-hour transfer to our hill station town of Nuwara Eliya.  If we have time, we will check out the botanical gardens which are rich in birds. We stay in a lovely hotel here. 

January 20th – We will spend the full day photographing at Horton Plains National Park.  Sambar Deer is the most common mammal here, but it’s also a good location for Leopard, Toque Macaque, and the endemic, Purple-faced Langur and Grizzled Giant Squirrel.  The scenery is stunning here, those interested in landscape photography will be in their element.  All six of Sri Lanka’s highland endemic birds are here including Sri Lanka Woodpigeon and Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush.  We will return to our lovely hotel in Nuwara Eliya in the late afternoon.

January 21st – Morning visit to the botanical gardens.  This location is good for Yellow-eared Bulbul, Sri Lanka White-eye and other interesting birds such as the local race of Indian Blackbird.  Then we will transfer back to our hotel near the airport in Colombo. 

January 22nd – Transfer to the airport for your return home or continue on our extension.