Tour reviews from 2020

I arranged a 7-day birdwatching tour for me and my non birding wife, focusing on the endemic birds of Sri Lanka. This was to be followed by a week at our chosen beach resort. All arrangements and events were dealt with impeccably by Jith and our guide “Hetti”, a very good meet and greet,  and we were of on our tour.

Our guide Hetti was superb throughout. His knowledge of all things from butterflies, dragonflies and lizards was fantastic, his binding skills were excellent. Hetti was a joy to be with, he has 25 years as a guide and this shows, all our needs taken care of, nothing too much for him. Hetti should be very proud of the service he provides.

All in all a fantastic trip in a fantastic, clean and picturesque country.

This trip will not be forgotten. No hesitation recommending Walk With Jith.

Darran Stanyard

01/03/20

My husband and I have been on a delightful two-week tour of Sri Lanka with “WALK WITH JITH”. The main purpose of the tour was bird watching! - and here I must add, that I am not a birder myself!

We have had the pleasure of being guided by Susantha – the number one birder of Sri Lanka – although he didn’t mention this to us till we had known each other for a week!

The journey had been eventful in many ways! Approx 240 difficult birds, lots of mammals, reptiles and butterflies etc. And we have been introduced to Sri Lankan way of life – culture, nature, history, religion, educational system, nature preservation, agriculture – and how the society works – and how a good curry is served!

All questions answered and explained with profound knowledge, patience and a good sense of humor!

We would delightful go “Walk With Jith” again and love to travel with Susantha as the companion anytime (soon)!

Sri Lanka is truly a paradise!

Ulla

We were a group of 2 couples and 4 single males. On behalf of the group I cannot fault the organization, the team, transport, or accommodation. We have been well looked after throughout seeing all the garget bird species and more, total birds seen by Group were 217 which included all 34 endemics. Jith and his team and contacts worked tirelessly to ensure our trip met all our objectives even finishing with 2 leopards at Yala and Excellent view of some buffalos.

Our flight was delayed by over 16 hours due to weather in London but this was taken in stride and did not inhibit us from getting everything from the …. The late change hote,, Hill Pride, could have done with heating as we experienced & …. Of c…. wet …… . The Rooms were good and staff and food excellent so al in all work out well.

Our guide was very kind, was an excellent and careful driver, was full of energy, put a lot of effort in finding birds for us.

• For us as birders the whole day visit of Udawalawe could have been skipped because it hardly had added value.
• We spent 3 days in total in a jeep. It is a pity that in the national parks, it is not allowed to leave the jeep and explore the surroundings.
• Hotel in Nuwara Eliya was a bit “darked” but staff was very friendly.
• Communication could sometimes have been a little bit better.
• With the advice and effective help of our guide, we could change the program according to our wishes at the very last moment         

Hans Custers group
Venlo
Netherlands

12th – 26th February 2020

We could not have enjoyed our first visit to Sri Lanka more. We came as near-beginner birders, with only four or five years' experience. We were a bit worried that since most of Jith's clients seemed to be hard-core bird-watchers, dealing with us would be like looking after the village idiots. But that fear dissipated once we met out guide, Thilina, who assumed we would have the same ambitions to see birds as any expert.  Here, I have to say this man is something of a phenomenon. His ability to find a bird simply from the reactions of other wildlife, or from the slightest, barely audible whistle (which we often couldn't detect) is little short of uncanny. Thanks to his skill, we saw all but one of Sri Lanka's endemic bird species. And the one that got away was the victim of abnormally dry conditions in his habitats, something we were forced to admit after Thilina led us in two and a half days' hunts. We knew that if he couldn't find it, it wasn't there.

It was a six days birding tour for us in late January. Birds were much fewer than we expected. Our trip was very smooth and out guide did a good job. He is a very good bird guide and he drives safely.

Kitty Cheng
Hong Kong

28th January – 02nd February 2020

our tour has now nearly ended. I send you the recommendation for your website attached:

Our tour was focused on high quality bird photography in combination with a relaxing holiday. One week in the dry zone around Yala NP has been a great success. Bird photography is not really challenging in Sri Lanka, but I would never been able to get as many high-quality pictures without Thilina.