Sri Lanka Untamed

After breakfast, check out and board your sedan for Kandy. The route passes through Pinnawala, where a herd of over eighty orphaned and injured elephants is cared for at the riverbank. Watch the feeding and bathing sessions up close. Continue to Kandy and check in. In the evening, a scenic drive around Upper Kandy Lake takes in the surrounding hills. The night ends with a Kandyan dance performance featuring traditional drumbeats, ornate costumes, and fire acts that have marked royal ceremony in this region for centuries.

Board your sedan in the morning for the excursion to Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most dramatic ancient citadels in Asia. The climb follows stairways carved into the volcanic rock face, passing between a monumental pair of stone lion paws and past ancient frescoes that still hold their colour after fifteen centuries. The summit commands an unobstructed view of the Sri Lankan plains in every direction. Return to the Kandy hotel for dinner and overnight stay. Note that the Sigiriya entry ticket is payable directly on site and is not included in the package.

Check out after breakfast and begin the private Kandy sightseeing tour. The Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue sits on a hilltop at the city's edge with panoramic views across the rooftops and lake. The Royal Botanical Gardens spread across 147 acres and hold over 4,000 plant species including a celebrated orchid house and the Java fig tree that shades half an acre on its own. The tour concludes at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Sri Lanka's most venerated Buddhist site, believed to house the tooth relic of the Buddha. After the tour your sedan heads southeast toward Yala. Check in and rest.

Rise early and head into Yala National Park for the morning jungle safari. The park ticket and jeep are included. Yala holds one of the highest leopard densities of any wildlife reserve in the world. Elephants, crocodiles, sloth bears, spotted deer, and peacocks move through the terrain of dry scrub, rocky outcrops, and freshwater lagoons that open onto the Indian Ocean. After the safari, check out and drive west along the coast to Bentota. The afternoon is at leisure. Brief Gardens and the ancient Galapata Vihara temple are reachable by local transport at your own cost.

A private sedan takes you south along the coast road to Galle and Mirissa. Galle Fort is a seventeenth-century fortification built by the Portuguese and expanded by the Dutch, its ramparts still intact and the lighthouse still operational. The Maritime Museum inside the fort covers Sri Lanka's seafaring history across two floors of artefacts. Entry tickets to Galle Fort and the Maritime Museum are not included and are payable directly at the site. Continue to Coconut Tree Hill in Mirissa, a headland of leaning palms open to the Indian Ocean, and then to Mirissa Beach. Return to the Bentota hotel by evening.

Check out from Bentota and transfer to Colombo. Check in to the hotel and set out on the full-day Colombo sightseeing tour. The Lotus Tower is the tallest structure in South Asia, with an observation deck that takes in the city and the coastline in one sweep. The Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple is one of Colombo's most significant religious sites, its architecture layered across decades of renovation and expansion. Pettah Floating Market brings together street vendors, spice traders, and the pulse of the old city along a narrow waterfront corridor. Return to the hotel for a final evening in Sri Lanka.

Check out after breakfast. A cab picks you up and drives you to Bandaranaike International Airport for your flight home.