Tour reviews from 2015

Martin and Mary Leathwood

A second superb mixed tons of birding wildlife and culture. Thanks to Jith for helping to organize us as at very short notice. Providing first class transport and Athula. What an asset he is in your organization – an excellent driver – good corporation and birdman. We just cannot braise here enough.

Happy to send a derailed report for website as for our 2009 tour.

Note for website

Hi Jith

Sorry our paths and not cross in the tour. We’ve had a great time with Athula.

Just one thing to note for the future, particularly as not everyone is as tolerant as us - it would be sensible is ensure directions to hotels are included in the itinerary and a contact telephone number at the hotel.

Kristine and Wah Jiam from Singapore with Upali 2016

We enjoyed the trip. It was very well organized and things proceeded smoothly and without problems. Our guide, Upali was very helpful and extremely knowledgeable about the birds and wildlife. He gave us excellent advice and information as we traveled around Sri Lanka. We both had a great time on your tour.

Ian Townson

Good response to initial email query. Would be a good idea to enquire with clients how much they are a birding enthusiast compared with someone interested in birds/nature.

Hotels OK – But Kitulgala rest house not very good. (Toilet not flushing, no hot water).

Guide very friendly and knowledgeable about everything regarding birds. Vehicle provided was comfortable but could do with cleaning.

Liz and Julian Taylor with Kaush

The Standard of accommodation and transport was very good. Our driver and bird – guide could not have taken more trouble to ensure we had everything we needed and nothing was too much trouble. We were very well looked after and saw more than we expected?

Liz Taylor (UK).

03/12/2015

Scott Kampmeier with Senerath - A Walk With Jith tour 2016

Thank you for responding so quickly and thoroughly to my pre tour questions via email.

Welcoming me to the country upon my arrival and checking in with me several times during the trip to make sure I was pleased.

Providing a guide who knew not only where to see the birds, but also possessed and shared his knowledge of local plants, animals, butterflies, and Buddhism.

Delivering exactly what we agreed upon via email regarding site, accommodations and fees.

And creating wonderful meaningful memories for me of a beautiful country with spectacular birds, friendly people, delicious and interesting foods, and an ancient and fascinating culture.

A job well done!

Paul Trigger (center) with Guide Hetti (right, with binos) and local jeep driver at Yala

Paul Triggs

11 Sep 15

Hetti is a good guide & tried to ensure that the clients wishes are met and that the client has an enjoyable tour. He has a good knowledge of all the bird calls and is good at locating the source of the call – i.e. the bird call.

Apart from the Rest House at Kitulgala & the Kinjou Safari Village at Udawalawa the hotels were of a good standard.

Both the Rest House & Kinjou Safari Village badly need refurbishing. However the most disappointing thing was that rooms were not that clean!!

中国观鸟摄影团01-2015

这次广深亲子观鸟团是我领队海外人数最多的一次，也是第四次与Jith合作。Jith团队仍是一如既往的专业、细致。酒店住宿、车辆安排、鸟导分配无不体现其专业。林鵰鸮、红脚鸮都是之前团队未见过的尿中。所有团友都非常满意！期待我们的第五次、第六次合作…..

环球野鸟摄影俱乐部

首席摄影、策划   刘立峰Jerry

2015.8.11

The Guangzhou and Shenzhen parent-child birding group has the largest number of people among the tours I organized abroad. It’s also the fourth time that I collaborate with Jith. Jith’s team is as professional and meticulous as usual. The team proves to be very professional in many aspect including hotel accommodation, vehicle arrangement, bird guide, etc.

Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl and Eurasian Scops Owl are the species that the team members have never seen before. All teammates are very satisfied!

Firstly, we had an amazing experience in Sri Lanka (it's an amazing country!) We have visited so many interesting and cultural places with our wonderful tour guide Upali.

Walk With Jith could not have arranged a more balanced and enjoyable tour, takin in evey thing from wildlife to places of worship and cultural fascinations. Upali has been an inspiring and knowledgeable guide with great stories and facts to make every aspect of Sri Lanka come alive!

All hotels were welcoming, comfortable and clean. All food on offer has been delightful and aromatic. It has been lovely to taste the different cultural foods of Sri Lanka.

Thank you.

Burke Family
(Ian, Jacqueline, Phamie, Elsbeth)

New Castle upon Tyne, UK

Dinner at Sinharaja Rockview Motel - Nirosha, Dinitha, Yayoi, Jith, German and Saman

We couldn't thank you enough for the wonderful trip you organized in your beautiful country. Everything was absolutely great about the organization, vehicle, hotel choices, food and guide. Above expectations!

You answered my e-mails straight away with clean and complete information. You also were very good at making some changes to tailor made our tour, so it fitted exactly within our time availability and interests.

Brian Bone
5 – 14 April 2015

We are a family of 3 (daughter 19 years) on holiday to experience Sri Lankan food, culture and friendliness, and to see a few birds as well. Were we satisfied? Emphatically.

The tour was well organized and I appreciated not having to worry about getting from one place to the next. Our guide was brilliant and informative and we enjoyed his company very much.

Our tour was incredibly varied and gave us all a fantastic taste of Sri Lanka and has made us all want to come back. Upali was really great and so informative with absolutely everything Sri Lankan. Had an absolutely unforgettable experience… Thank you!

Dr. Charles & Dr. Joy Fletcher with Senarath

27/3/15

Very many thanks for an excellent holiday, which met all of our expectations. Very well run and organized and we would not have changed any of the itinerary. All the hotels were good though the last one at Sinharaja was more basic. For example, the room was not cleaned daily, no kettle in the room, only trickle of hot water etc. – but we realized there is little choice in this area. Our favorite hotels were the Grand Hotel at Nuwara Eliya and the Hibiscus at Tissa.

The group with Manju

05/03/15

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Sri Lanka. We were very happy with our driver Manju who went out of his way to help us and was kind and friendly as well as a safe driver. Our holiday was a mix of culture, wildlife and family fun with some birding for the bird-watcher in the family. We felt it was a good balance for us at this time and would recommend Sri Lanka to other families with kids.

Photo from Tony's tour

17 February to 1st March 2015

Hi Jith

Sorry for the delay in responding to your request for feedback but after Sri Lanka I was working in Malaysia for a week and have not long been back … only to arrive in the middle of our cyclone season.

The following comments are mine alone - I believe Christine will send her thoughts separately:

1. The overall experience - probably 7/10. Part of the problem was of my own making because I tried to get an itinerary that would provide something for everyone, and frankly, that didn’t work. There was too much driving and too many days when there was no birding, or very little. But when we did get to the good spots the birding was often excellent and Koush eventually got the hang of working with a ‘photographer’ who needs good light, not just sightings.

Fantastic trip. Very well organized-everything worked very smoothly. Good choices of accommodation en route. 

Senarath our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and polite, but gave us space also. You could tell he put a lot of care and thought into the trip and adapted things to suit our needs.

We have seen some wonderful places and had some fantastic experiences that would not have happened if we had been on our own. The knowledge and experience that comes with using "Walk With Jith" has been invaluable. Thank you Senerath and Jith for giving us memories of Sri Lanka that will last forever.

Jayne, Alan and Mia Curry.
14/02/15