Whale Watching in Sri Lanka

(Dolphins swimming in the waters off the coast of Sri Lanka.)

Sri Lanka has the potential to become one of the global hot spots for whale watching as it is among the easiest places in the world to watch blue and sperm whales according to researchers, marine biologists and eco-tourism specialists.

Sri Lanka is situated within the International Whaling Commission's protected zone in the Indian Ocean. Of the 80 species of cetaceans observed and identified worldwide, 26 are found in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.

Whale and dolphin watching is a seasonal activity in Sri Lanka, available on the west coast in locations from Kalpitiya and along the South West Coast from November to March while the east coast off Trincomalee is preferable from June to September.

'The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society estimates that ten million people go whale watching every year,' said Heba AL Ghais AL Mansoori, Middle East Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

'Sri Lanka has the potential to attract several thousand whale watchers on bespoke tours or even to take one off excursions.' Ms. Al Mansoori noted that Sri Lanka is the most reliable and easiest location in which to see the Blue Whale, the largest animal that has ever inhabited this planet.

'Sri Lanka may well turn out to be the top location for seeing both Blue and Sperm Whales,' she said.

Tour operators in Sri Lanka offer both boat and air based expeditions.

For the boat trips, motor boats and trawlers enable the guests to travel far out to sea and get to the natural habitats of the whales and dolphins.

Air based expeditions are also available by helicopter or sea plane for an incredible aerial view of Sri Lanka.

The proximity to the shore makes Sri Lanka one of the easiest places in the world to spot blue or sperm whales.

Blue whales are the largest animals on earth growing up to some 110 feet in length and weighing up to 180 metric tons. They feed on krill, a shrimp like marine invertebrate. Sperm whales, the largest carnivore mammals, mostly feed on squid and octopus in the deep sea bed.

Naturalists say conditions around the island are good for whale habitat due to the nutrient flow from the country's river system. Increased sightings of both blue whales and sperm whales off the southern coast have now opened up a window of opportunity for whale watching tourism in the island's Deep South.

According to marine biologists, the deep sea off Dondra Head is one of the best locations to watch whales in Sri Lanka because of its close proximity to the coast. High concentration of both blue whales and sperm whales within easy reach under tropical conditions puts Sri Lanka on top of the world's whale watching map.

Due to the calm seas, between December and April, there are is an outstanding window of opportunity for observing Blue Whales and Sperm Whales close to shore because of a migration of whales. The South of Sri Lanka is blessed with beautiful beaches, snorkelling and some of the best boutique hotels and villas in the world.

'Sri Lanka has over the centuries been described as a tropical paradise. This is not surprising as it is a destination that has everything: sun, sea, sandy beaches, cool mountains, ancient monuments and lakes, forests teeming with wildlife, precious stones, magnificent archaeological sites and above all friendly people,' remarked Ms Al Mansoori.

Combine this with well educated, English conversant people, and a good tourist infrastructure, and it is not hard to see why it continues to enjoy being a popular tropical island destination.

Sri Lanka offers diversity within easy reach in a small island. Among the many epithets showered upon this tiny island include Serendipity, Ceylon, Teardrop of India, Resplendent Isle, Island of Dharma and Pearl of the Indian Ocean to name a few and none comes even close to articulate the true beauty and old world charm of Sri Lanka.

Tourists from around the world visit Sri Lanka every year in search of a perfect holiday ranging from nature, culture, adventure, education, healing and spiritual discovery to connecting with roots or simply to watch a cricket match.

SriLankan Airlines operates a full Airbus fleet to 41 destinations in 22 countries worldwide. Flights from the Middle East to Colombo connect with onward services to the Maldives, 11 key destinations in India, seven destinations in the Far East including Malaysia, Singapore, China and Thailand.

Kumbuk River wins world's leading Eco-lodge award

The Oscars of the travel world, the World Travel Awards has put Sri Lanka on the global map by naming KumbukRiver as the World's Leading Eco-Lodge.

The eco resort in Buttala won the coveted title over many leading eco destinations worldwide, bringing international focus on to Sri Lanka's rich heritage. The 14-acre resort on a resplendent nature reserve by the Kumbukkan Oya, is built with a 40ft edifice in the shape of an elephant wondering in the wilds, as its centre-piece.

KumbukRiver has previously been shortlisted at the Responsible Tourism Awards and was named by the London-based Times-Online to be among the world's best 50 green places. The mastermind behind Sri Lanka's success at the World Travel Awards,

Dinesh Watawana says the project started as a wild idea "which would show how a brand could be built from nothing, if given an honest chance". His ad agency The 7th Frontier funded the project as part of a two-prong strategy.

Sri Lanka elephant gathering wows visitors

MINNERIYA, Sri Lanka, (AFP) - As evening falls, a female elephant and her pink-skinned baby emerge from the jungle for a leafy snack around an ancient artificial lake in Sri Lanka.

They are just two of hundreds of wild elephants that gather each evening along the banks of the Minneriya reservoir for food, water, shelter -- and match-making. From July to October, "The Gathering" -- as it is known -- gives humans the chance to observe the elephants feasting and frolicking on the water's edge. Asian elephants are renowned as highly social animals and the reservoir meetings demonstrate their complex group dynamics in action. Mothers encourage their off-spring towards the water, making sure that no calf is left stranded. Young males use their trunks to wrestle each other, while adult bulls sniff the air to scent fertile females. Tucked away in the island's north central province, Minneriya provides an ideal venue for hungry elephants during the dry season when waterholes in the forests evaporate into cracked mud patches. A shade-loving animal, the Asian elephant is not blessed with as good a cooling system as its bigger African cousin, which has large ears.

So it is only in the cool of dusk that the elephants emerge from the scrub to relax by the lake. During the season, 300 elephants can be found along the Minneriya reservoir, built by Sri Lankan King Mahasen in the third century. The reservoir fills during the north-east monsoon and gradually shrinks when the dry season sets in. But instead of running dry, the receding water leaves behind a fertile, moist soil from which lush, nutritious grass quickly sprouts, said conservationist Srilal Miththapala. The reservoir is also surrounded by scrub jungle which provides good cover to elephants to retreat into quickly if needed, he said. "The atmosphere gives an ideal setting for a world phenomenon, where a high concentration of Asian elephants can be found in one small area," explained Chandra Jayawardene, a naturalist at Hotel Vil Uyana. Sri Lankan wildlife defies conventional wisdom, said Gehan Wijeyeratne, who heads the country's Jetwing Eco Holidays. "Small islands like ours are not supposed to have large animals," Wijeyeratne told AFP. "The gathering is one of the largest concentration of Asian elephants on Earth." Local hoteliers are trying to cash in on the spectacle, as they struggle to fill hotel rooms amid an escalation in the war between government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. The tropical island was expecting 600,000 visitors this year, up 20 percent from 2007, to boost tourism receipts to 550 million dollars. But Sri Lankan Tourism said such targets would be missed as earnings for January to July 2008 were a disappointing 200 million dollars. "Several bomb blasts around the country have played a major role in the reduction of tourist arrivals," said tourism ministry secretary George Michael. Jayawardene said an increase in the number of foreign visitors would provide much-needed support for the local economy, but the balance between human activity and wildlife has proved hard to achieve. Asian elephants, which live until about the age of 70, are increasingly straying into human settlement in search of food, as people encroach on their territory. And some elephants are thought to have fled their habitats to avoid artillery duels between troops and rebels in the north and east. According to Sri Lanka's wildlife department, 193 elephants died in 2007 and 171 died in 2006. Most of them were either shot, poisoned or electrocuted. The population has now shrunk to 4,500 from 12,000 a century ago. "You can't completely stop the human against elephant conflict," said Jayawardene, who worked for 30 years at the government's wildlife department. "But, with education and money coming into local hands through elephant safaris, we can minimise the damage. Locals will treat the elephants with respect and learn to live alongside them," he said.

On the trail of tea and turtles

Will Buckley and family are enchanted by Sri Lanka's plantations and beaches - and find a warm welcome despite recent troubles

Will Buckley
The Observer, Sunday October 5 2008

The Ceylon Tea Trails may well be the most entrancing place I have ever stayed. A collection of four colonial-style bungalows built for British tea estate managers in the days of the Raj, they enjoy spectacular views overlooking the rolling green of Sri Lanka's hill country. The five of us - my wife Gronnie, Fred and Daisy, both 11, Mo, eight, and I - had boarded the battered old steam train at Kandy for the beautiful three-hour journey to Hatton.

The kids hung out of the train windows and the views of the valley below and beyond were sumptuous. From Hatton, it was a short drive to 'Norwood', the stunning residence which was to be our home for the next three nights, 4,000 feet above sea level, overlooking the Castlereagh reservoir.

Guests staying at any of the Tea Trails bungalows are welcome to visit the three other bungalows for lunch or afternoon tea. Days can be spent walking from one bungalow to the other or on a tour of one of the factories nestling either side of the valley followed by a tea tasting. These are conducted by Andrew Taylor whose grandfather was one of the early planters and whose family history, which he is more than happy to relate, is Dickensian. There is suspected murder, bolting mothers and the theft of an inheritance. To hear it all while sitting beside the croquet lawn and partaking of cucumber sandwiches is to go back a century or two.

The bungalows come with staff and the food and service are exceptional. At Norwood the meals are prepared by chef Vajira Gamage who has returned to Sri Lanka after working for 16 years in Paris. After Damien, our host, overheard Freddie mention that he was missing peanut butter a small jar appeared the next morning at breakfast.

This is high-end tourism at its zenith. A place of such beauty that drinking an early morning coffee - you can take the whole tea thing too far - and watching the mists rise in the valley, you realise that the mad-eyed Scotsmen who set out east from Colombo may not have been bonkers after all. Their lives are commemorated in a small Anglican chapel built in 1861 where services are held once a month. From here you have a panoramic view of the reservoir and dam where half of Sri Lanka's energy is created. Far below a group of boys was taking advantage of low water to play cricket on the sands.

From the Tea Trails we travelled down to the beaches of the south coast, a 10-hour haul by minibus. Ten years ago Gronnie and I had travelled to Galle and spent an idyllic week in a Doris Day-style cottage on Unawatuna beach. Grimly, after the tsunami, the cottages are no more and the beach is more ramshackle campsite than tropical paradise. The tourists are returning to the south, but slowly. You do not see many as you walk round Galle centre and sun-cream is in short supply, a sure sign that there is an absence of Westerners.

We stayed in two villas on the beach. The first, Sanda Kirana, has a cloistered swimming pool. The second, Villa Victoria, bang next door, has a landscaped garden. Both are open to the elements and the breeze comes off the sea and cools the properties. To fall asleep and awaken to the plangent Indian Ocean is to be transported to a calmer place. Every need is catered for with your hosts buying fruit and fish from the market and turning them into sumptuous feasts.

Excursions from the villas included a trip to release turtles into the sea, from where some will return up to 30 years later to exactly the same beach to lay eggs, and a visit 10 miles inland to Illuketia, a lovely old plantation house, where you can lunch on the verandah watching monkeys swing in the jungle in front of you, and follow your meal with a swim in a pool surrounded by a spice garden.

Throughout our stay, having booked our holiday through Fleewinter, a company which specialises in villa breaks in exotic locations, we were bussed round the island with our guide, Wimal Kanaheraarachchi. He proved to be the perfect host, imparting sufficient information to keep us informed without overdoing it. Highlights of our tour included a visit to the Pinnawela elephant orphanage where the children coped admirably with an elephant ride while I turned into a jibbering wreck, and to the temple at Sigiriya, an astonishingly imposing monument, which stakes a claim to being the Eighth Wonder of the World, and the beautiful and serene Dambulla Cave Temple.

The majesty of the ancient buildings stands in contrast to the ramshackle tombstones which are depressingly prevalent on the west coast. Up to 50,000 Sri Lankans perished in the tsunami and the country remains scarred and ravaged, both literally and psychologically.

Sri Lanka is a country dependent on tourism, which tourists are avoiding. This is a tragedy because it is a wondrous abundant island inhabited by gloriously friendly people and there can be few happier places in the world to enjoy a family holiday. By spending your holiday money in Sri Lanka you can, in a small way, assist the process of recovery.

Essentials

Will Buckley and family travelled with Fleewinter (020 7112 0019; fleewinter.com) which offers luxury villas and bungalows throughout Sri Lanka. They booked their flights with First Choice (firstchoice.co.uk). A two-week family trip staying in Fleewinter properties in the Hill Country, Galle, and near Colombo between November and March 2009 (excluding the peak Christmas period) costs approximately £1,770 per person, including all accommodation, transport and flights, based on two people travelling.