Tour reviews from 2013

An excellent experience which I can recommend to any birder visiting Sri Lanka

31 Dec 2013

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Andre Weiss Pryde with Upali

31st December2012 to 09th January.2013

Plantation Kitulgala -- Very nice, not much choice for vegetarian choice
Binota -- friendly, loud on one evening.
Hibiscus -- very nice, excellent birding, excellent food
Martin’s Lodge -- simple but an excellent location, friendly people and good food.
Our Guide -- Upali was most helpful and knowledgeable. He  was driving very safety and we found all  the birds;

All in all an excellent experience which I can recommend to any birder visiting Sri Lanka.

Andre Weiss Pryde
Winterthur
Switzerland

Happy family from New Zealand

30 Dec 2013

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<No text available from the guests>

Mike, Sarah, Michael, Maximillian, Poppy from New Zealand visited Sri Lanka on the 30 Dec 2013. The new year eve was spent in festivity. The photos say it all.

Great time it was!
- Jith.

 

Upali was an excellent guide, his knowledge about the birds, plants, animals and other wildlife was great

20 Dec 2013

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20 Dec 2013 – 2 Jan 2014
Hello Jith

I hope you are well?

Rachael and I wanted to send you an email to say Thank You for organising such a fantastic trip to Sri Lanka over Christmas. Upali was an excellent guide, his knowledge about the birds, plants, animals and other wildlife was great and made our experience even better. Despite not seeing all the endemic bird species, Upali tried his hardest to find them.

Seeing 3 leopards in Yala was the biggest highlight of the trip for me although the fruit bat roost was a very close second.

We ended up seeing 217 birds species including 31 of the 33 endemics with a top 3 of Indian pitta, pied thrush and Kashmir flycatcher.

Many thanks again for a wonderful trip

Best wishes
Paul and Rachael Eele​
Norfolk, UK

As it is our honeymoon trip, the hotels had provided the special setup for us

19 Dec 2013

Cathy Pong and James Wan
Cathy Pong and James Wan

James Wan
19 Dec 2013

We had a wonderful trip organized by Jith. Our tour guide Upali is senior birds expert. He helped a lot during our trip. We had good experience in Sri Lanka, such as first time to walk in rain forest, wetland, Safari and whales watching. As it is our honeymoon trip, the hotels had provided the special setup for us.

However, some hotel may be too old such as the one near the airport in first night. May suggest to let visitor to choose the star level of hotels when planning the trip. Any way, we thanks very much to Jith and Upali to provide us a unforgettable honeymoon trip.

Cathy & James 

Superb views of leopards in Yala National park

1 Dec 2013

John and Dorothy Casey
John and Dorothy Casey

DearJith, 

Below is some feedback. Let me know if you require something different. Thanks Again for organising our trip. Hope to see you a the Bird Fair in 2014. A couple of  pics also attached. Hope you can see them, but I 'm sure you already have much better ones. 
---------------

Erik Mølgaard and Mrianne from Denmark

23 Nov 2013

Erik and Mrianne
Erik and Marianne

Marianne and Erik Mølgaard toured with us in 2013.

Their photo website is here: http://scanbird.com/Nye/

Your can read Erik's full trip report here http://srilankabirdingtripreports.com/Erik-M%C3%B8lgaard-Trip-Report

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Absolutely wonderful tour of southern Sri Lanka

16 Nov 2013

Patty North, Robert Ahola and Kathy King
Patty North, Robert Ahola and Kathy King
Nov 16-25, 2013

Jith and Mr. Silva – Thank you so much for an absolutely wonderful tour of southern Sri Lanka. From beginning (initial planning emails) to end (our farewells in Kandy), you have been patient, professional, knowledgeable, helpful etc etc, making your trip enjoyable. Jith, your knowledge of birds and ability to fin them is astounding! Add to that the plants, trees, lizards etc… how fun to learn all of this! Our drives, through sometimes long and bumpy, were always safe thanks to the excellent work of Silva.

Thank you both! – Kathy King
USA

Dr. Hideo Tani nearly 40 years work on bird photography. It is a great honor that you chose Walk With Jith

13 Nov 2013

Muhinder (Mark), Joseph, Prasanjith (Jith) Caldera, Angeline, Suhaimi Halim
Pinit Saengkaew, Upali, Hideo Tani and Jith

See Hideo Tani's photos on his website http://www.torihenro.com/C1311SL/index.html

A note from Prasanjith: I am highly impressed with Dr. Hideo Tani nearly 40 years work on bird photography and it is a great honor that you chose Walk With Jith for your bird photography tour in Sri Lanka. The staggering number of bird photos on your website is amazing! You have seen nearly half of the birds in the world and very importantly, photographed them all. And still counting. It would be a very very rare chance for me to meet another person who could beat your record.

Mr. Prasanjith Caldera,

TERIMA KASIH for an unforgettable excursion

2 Nov 2013

Muhinder (Mark), Joseph, Prasanjith (Jith) Caldera, Angeline, Suhaimi Halim
Muhinder (Mark), Joseph, Prasanjith (Jith) Caldera, Angeline, Suhaimi Halim

Bird Photography tour 
2 – 9 November 2013 
to Kitulgala, Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Udawalawe National Park, Horton Plains National Park and Nuwara Eliya (Victoria Falls and Hakgala Gardens)

Dear Jith,

TERIMA KASIH for an unforgettable excursion. We truly enjoyed every moment of walking with you. Our insights are:

Upali really made our trip one that will never be forgotten

20 Oct 2013

Clay, Marcelle and Nirosha
Clay, Marcelle and Nirosha

20.10.2013

Jith,

Our most sincere thanks to you and your young family for not only organizing an unforgettable holiday, but also for sharing your lovely home. Some of our fondest memories will no doubt be those spent in Colombo. As for your tour, we could not have hoped for a better driver than Upali. His knowledge of SRI LANKA and its natural habitats and animals were not only extensive, but extremely interesting. He really made our trip one that will never be forgotten. We look forward to seeing you soon in Australia.

Clay and Marcelle

Melbourne, Australia

Clay and Marcelle

Clay and Marcelle​

It was a tense and exiting moment to see the leopard come out from the bush

23 Sep 2013

Patcharee and Komol Komolphalin with Upali
Patcharee and Kamol Komolphalin with Upali

​To Prasanjith,

It was a tense and exiting moment to see the leopard come out from the bush. He ignored those alarm calls of the deer and birds. And walked gracefully toward the pool and started to drink for 15 minutes.

Very impressive endemic birds. And the great efforts of the bird finders, and our knowledgeable guide, Upali. Well organized tour. It was one of our memorable birding trips.

Thank you very much

Ptcharee Kmolphalin 

Kamol Komolpahlin

From Bangkock 
Thailand 
23 Sept 2012


Patcharee and Kamol Komolphalin-Guest Book page

Very kind, competent, reliable and good guide especially as regards bird-watching

22 Aug 2013

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Marco and Simonetta Poggioni
22/8/2013

The journey was planned well
Upali, our driver, was very kind, competent, reliable and good guide especially as regards bird-watching.

It has been a nice journey all together.

===

Here is a where you can see Marco Poggioni's Photography:

http://www.naturephoto.altervista.org/index_eng.html

 

 

Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were magnificent places

20 Aug 2013

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Katrina and Ross Salman (Katrina Burton).

20th August 2013

We would like to thank Mr. Jith and Jaya for organizing such a fabulous cultural tour to Sri Lanka.

Jaya is a kind, considerate and extremely knowledgeable guide. Touring with him meant that we learnt a lot more about Sri Lanka history and tradition than we would have done from the guide book alone.

Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were magnificent places which Uaha made come alive to us through his explanations of their historical importance. Learning the stories of the kings and the spread of Buddhism from 3rd century BC was fascinating.

The views from Sigiriya were breath taking and well worth the climb. Once again Jaya made the ancient fort come to life with his invaluable description of the historical context of the ruins.

Our travelling was relaxed and comfortable

13 Aug 2013

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13 August 2013

Dear Jith,

We are back at the Tamarind Tree on our way home. I have insisted Erica come back home with me. She caught something in India and has been really unwell. I am not happy to leave her here. She needs to be properly diagnosed and treated. She is terribly disappointed as she really wanted to stay on but can see the wisdom in my words. 

A group of 25 from Australia

10 Aug 2013

Grand-Hotel-Nuwara-Eliya--De-La-Harpe-Group
Grand-Hotel-Nuwara-Eliya- Australian, Irish Group 2013

 

10-8-2013

To My Friend Jith,

Thanks again for another successful trip. I've had an absolute ball. As always your smile make SRI LANKA so so enjoyable.
Until next time Jith
Love Jenn xxxx

P.S LOVED the train trip :)

Dear Jith, once again thank you for a wonderful tour. Jith is the star of a life long friendship.

Your Burgher bother
Dave

Dear Jith

Well done for the superb trip you planned for us all.
Probably the best adventure in my life.
I hope we do this again one day.

Kind Regards
Stephen Wood

16 08 2013

Dear Jith,

I think mum, dad & John may well be jealous of my pictures...

16 Jun 2013

Tina and Phil Rowtcliff at Kirinda
Tina and Phil Rowtcliff at Kirinda

16 June 2013

Jith,

Thank you again for a wonderful tour! This time exceeds the first of second trips, probably has something to do with that amazing leopard eating its breakfast in Yala!

I think mum, dad & John may well be jealous of my pictures, I know Phil is. Phil reckons thereason we didn’t see leopard or sloth bear on our second day in Yala was because he had the bigger lense on his camera! Oh well!

It made a nice change to visit a less tourist populated elephant orphanage, they really seem to know what they are doing. I would have loved to have stayed and watched (even more there but I think dad would want me back at the zoo!)

Manju was an excellent driver and Upali is a very fine and knowledgeable person

1 Apr 2013

Nancye, Manju, Upali and Margaret
Nancye, Manju, Upali and Margaret

1 - 16 April 2013

Hi Jith,
Just a note to let you know that we returned safely after our short visit to Kerala.
Our tour with you was excellent. The van was in great condition, Manju was an excellent driver and Upali is a very fine and knowledgeable person. We all got along very well together and enjoyed every day of our tour. I also thank you for the map of Sri Lanka, the bird list and the bird book. All were put to great use during our visit and I wish that all tour operators would provide these facilities for us.

It will take me quite some time to sort through all of the photos that I took and keep just the very best ones to share with others. When I do this, I will send access for you.

Thanks once again Jith for an excellent tour. 

The organisation by Jith being faultless without a single problem

19 Mar 2013

John and Anne Diley
John and Anne Diley

19 March to 04 April 2013

My wife & I had 16 days in Sri Lanka in March/April this year with “Walk with Jith”. I would like to thank Jith for an unforgettable experience. It was a first class holiday, the organisation by Jith being faultless without a single problem. Though we were initially a little disappointed that we were not to be guided by Jith himself, our guide Upali Nisshanka was excellent & on the long drives between the sites, we learnt such a lot from him about the wonderful culture & traditions of the island. It was a “birds & culture” tour in which we spent time at Sigiriya, Polannaruwa, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Horton Plains, Tissamaharama, Yala, Bundala, Weligama [for a whale watch], ending at Ranweli Village.

We’ve enjoyed our holiday in Sri Lanka

14 Mar 2013

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BIRDING, WILDLIFE & CULTURE TOUR
14TH – 29TH MARCH 2013

Carole & Barry Eccles
United Kingdom

Organisation & Administration 
Overall, the standard was good but we felt that more information regarding the following would have helped:

Tour by Chinese Photography Group (2) with Huang

24 Feb 2013

与黄先生同行的中国摄影团

Tour from China went on bird and wildlife photography 1n 2013.

2013年来自中国的鸟类及野生动物摄影团

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The group at buduruwagala

摄影团于班徳勒韦勒国家公园

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A page from guest book

顾客留言册上的一页

中国大陆、台湾、香港的鸟友,在两大洋美丽的项坠——斯里兰卡,看到了美丽的风景,千姿百态的鸟类,还有善良友好的斯里兰卡人,留下了美好而难忘的印象!

In addition to the birds: mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, botanical garden and cultural history

11 Feb 2013

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Anne, Upali and Carsten Fog

11 - 25 February 2013

My wife and I have just been on an intensive 15-day bird watching in Sri Lanka by the company "WalkWithJith" (www.walkwithjith.com.) We had over birds peeping also 3 days with cultural insights, however, it was possible to have binoculars with all locations. The trip was very well organized and we were lucky with good weather and many birds. Thus it was possible to see all the endemic species. We were fortunate to have an excellent guide in addition to the birds could mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, botany and cultural history at your fingertips. We arranged themselves the trip and booked flights with Emirates. I highly recommend WalkWithJith for the well-developed program where all clapped to the smallest detail.

Our second trip with “Walk With Jith” enjoyed it more than the first, 4 years ago.

5 Feb 2013

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Alistare, Carol and Gis

5th February 2013 
We do not need to say how much we ador this beautiful country 
But best of all we loved the birds and your very special company!

Love Carol & Alistair McLee 

Teeside, United Kingdom

***

Our second trip with “Walk With Jith” enjoyed it more than the first, 4 years ago. Thanks especially for your patience and sharp eyes with out which we would never have seen the leopard, watercock and lesser adjutant- to name but a few. A super time again

- Alistair McLee 
Teeside, United Kingdom

***

Auch die lokalen guids waren seher freundlich und Kompetent.

31 Jan 2013

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Jens Borner, Ruwan and Carola Seifert

Kitulgala, 8.2.13

Dear Jith,

Unsere Tour vom 31.1.13 – 08.2.13 war großartig!

Unser guide Rowan hat uns hervorragend geführt und an Plätze und Orte geführt, die wit allein nie gefunden hätten. Auch die lokalen guids waren seher freundlich und Kompetent.

Dadurch war es möglich, viele schöne Beobachtungen und Fotos zu machen. Wir haben ca. 190 Vogelarten gesehen! Dabei waren viele endemische Arten!

Rowan hat uns aber auch viele interessante Dinge und Orte gezeigt und interessantes erzählt, 2.B. von einer Dagoba und einem Tempel.

Auch unser Fahrer Danushka war sehr aufmerksam, hifsbereit und ist ein sehr gutes und sicherer Fahrer!
Besonders danken wir Ruwan, daß er seinen Urlaub für uns und unsere Tour verschoben hat!

Upali was excellent, we certainly saw a lot

25 Jan 2013

Chris Hill, Upali and Dave Hill
Chris Hill, Upali and Dave Hill

 

25 January 2013 to 09 February 2013

Hi Jith

Thanks we are both back safely, Chris in Australia and I am back in the UK. Upali was excellent, we certainly saw a lot, some great times.

At the moment we compiling our trip list and report and will let you both have a copy of this when it is finished.

Kind regards

Dave
UK 

Arrangement & planning worked seamlessly

4 Jan 2013

John Kirman, Ginny Smith and Jan KirmanJohn Kirman, Ginny Smith and Jan Kirman

4/1/13 to 21-1-13

Very many thanks, Jith for a wonderful two weeks which surpassed our expectations in all respects; also many thanks to Dilan for his good company & careful driving which has a big significance on the enjoyment of a holiday like this –we all felt safe with him 100% of the time.