EXCLUSIVE As Sri Lanka's spectacular East Coast is finally opened up, discover big game and ancient treasures on an island of wild wonders Fiona Hardcastle travels around Sri Lanka on a tour organised by Uga Resorts Her trip to Chena Huts, an 'exclusive' safari setting, is a major highlight She visits white sand beaches and spots leopards, elephants and monkeys READ MORE: How to see North Korea by sleeper train when it reopens to tourists By Fiona Hardcastle For The Mail On Sunday Published: 08:53, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 08:56, 20 August 2024 e-mail View comments Sunset on the Indian Ocean and a beach bonfire crackles beneath a slowly rising orange moon. A candlelit table for five sits on the sand, a bottle of wine chills in the cooler. ‘Oh my goodness, look,’ yells my son Felix, 12, rocketing from his chair.
A hand clasps my shoulder. ‘Madam, could you please move your family? An elephant is coming.’ I spin round and there he is.
Five tons of elephas maximus maximus, 20ft from the tablecloth. We scatter as hotel rangers follow his progress by torchlight. He’s on his way to a freshwater lake.
‘At least he’s not heading to reception,’ says our waiter. ‘Last time, he spent two hours drinking out of the pond and no one could get back to their rooms.’ Animal magic: Sri Lanka is home to the 'largest elephant gathering in the world', reveals Fiona Hardcastle, who travels around the country on a tour organised by Uga Resorts Small islands are not meant to have large animals but Sri Lanka is full of surprises – leopards, sloth bears, blue whales, sperm whales, whopping great crocodiles and the largest elephant gathering in the world.
Another eye-opener is that, with three climatic regions, you can avoid the monsoon that hits the south west between May and August by heading to the dry and lesser developed east coast. Here, the 30C heat of its unspoilt white beaches is soothed by a sea breeze and the national parks are home to some of the best big-game safaris outside Africa. Throw in a mesmerising melting pot of culture and cuisine and, I assure my husband and three children, we are destined for a holiday like no other.
Our 10-day trip is organised by Uga Resorts, a stylish chain of boutique hotels dotted around the island. With travel advice now declaring Sri Lanka safe after years of unrest, there is no better time to explore. On Fiona's tour, Uga Riva, 'a sensitively restored 180-year-old manor house' (above) in Negombo, is her first stop Fiona's daughters relax from their 11-hour flight in Uga Riva's swimming pool, pictured here, which they describe as 'perfect' Read More EXCLUSIVE I've visited 190 countries - this 'unsafe and ugly' country is my least favourite in Europe First stop Negombo, a short hop from the runway in Colombo, with more Virgin Marys than the Vatican (the roadside shrines and Catholic Churches a legacy of Portuguese colonial days) and lodgings that breathe poise and peace.
No sooner are we under the sloping roofs of Uga Riva, a sensitively restored 180-year-old manor house, than I’m eyeing up the fixtures and fittings. ‘This is perfect!’ cries Rose, 18, from the swimming pool as she and Evie, 16, float away the 11-hour flight from the UK. Next morning, our expedition begins in earnest – to the Cultural Triangle, home to Sri Lanka’s greatest ancient cities.
We kick off with Dambulla, where the climb to its fabled rock temple pings my husband’s dormant fitness app into life. ‘You’re off to a great start,’ reads the understatement of the year as we stand short of breath but full of wonder in the first of five caves bursting with golden Buddhas on their way to Paradise. They’re not the only ones.
Onward to the rural retreat of Ulagalla and a pilgrim’s welcome. Candles are lit, blessings bestowed, bells are rung. It could be an initiation ceremony, I joke, adding that I would happily join whatever was going if it meant living out my days in this special place.
Home for the next three nights is one of 25 palatial villas dotted around 58 acres of woodland with its own lily pond, plunge pool and paddy field. I haven’t the heart to tell the children about the 4am alarm call to go and see a rock. Sigiriya, built as a fifth century king’s fortress 650ft up in the air, is Sri Lanka’s most dramatic sight and there is only one way to do it – climb the metal staircases bolted onto the rock face, and don’t look down.
Fiona climbs the stunning Sigiriya rock fortress (pictured) - 'Sri Lanka's most dramatic sight' Again, my husband’s fitness app registers unusual activity, but as we reach the summit, I can’t help thinking a little more fanfare is in order. Vertigo is one thing, ignoring repeated warning signs of ‘Wasp Attack: Be Quiet’ is another. How King Kashyapa, said to have kept 500 concubines in his skyline palace, got so many women to the top is beyond me.
Mind you, as King K no doubt told the girls, ‘The view’s amazing, baby’. As are opportunities for scavenging. A troupe of Grey Langur monkeys skitter along the edge.
We watch, impressed, as one reaches into a woman’s bag before making off with her sandwiches. It’s definitely time for breakfast. Back to base to fortify with egg hoppers – crispy bowl-shaped pancakes into which we spoon curries, pickles and dahls – platters of fruit and king coconut juice.
There’s kayaking, horse-riding and sundowners to come in what Rose calls her ‘happy place’ – an open-sided Land Cruiser on the banks of Nachchaduwa Lake. Fiona stays at Uga Bay Resort (above), which is set on over two miles of private beach. It 'has the sort of powder-white, palm-lined sands that would make the heart of any sunbather soar', she writes Above left is one of Uga Bay Resort's sprawling beach villas with a private pool, while on the right is one of the bedrooms Our final night and a feast in the Kamatha, a piece of bare land at the heart of the paddy field, where the rice harvest comes to rest.
We pull up cinnamon stick chairs as sisters Manel and Diluka welcome us into their mud hut kitchen and explain how ladies of the household gather to prepare the evening meal for their menfolk after a day’s work in the fields. My husband, provider of all meals at home, raises an eyebrow. The spread of 25 dishes that follows knocks us for six.
Our banana leaf-lined bowls are scraped clean. Time to leave the wilds that have won our hearts and onto the breathtaking beaches. Our next stop, Uga Bay on the east coast, has the sort of powder-white, palm-lined sands that would make the heart of any sunbather soar.
Set out over two miles of private beach, its 44 rooms and suites all have private balconies that look out onto the calmest of bays. A morning’s snorkelling session on a catamaran with a friendly crew of five from Sail Lanka takes us to deeper waters. Fiona visits Uga Chena Huts, seen here, an 'exclusive' safari setting of 18 rooms Inside one of Chena Huts' villas - pictured is one of the bedrooms (left) and a bathroom (right) - within the Sri Lankan jungle 'on the doorstep of Yala National Park' Fiona sees a native leopard 'slinking out of the undergrowth' in Yala National Park.
'It's a memory that will stay with us,' she writes TRAVEL FACTS Turquoise Holidays offers one night at Uga Riva on arrival, three nights at Ulagalla, three nights at Uga Bay, two nights at Uga Chena Huts and one night at Uga Riva from £11,999 per family of four, including flights and transfers ( turquoiseholidays.co.uk ).
Full-day tours with Sensory Indulgences tour of Colombo from £49pp ( sensoryindulgences.com ). Advertisement It’s finally time for the big boys of the jungle and two nights at Chena Huts, an exclusive safari setting of 18 rooms on the doorstep of Yala National Park.
Our first morning game drive gets off to a serendipitous start as a family of warthogs, my personal favourite, hurries past. The next three hours could come straight from The Jungle Book. Crocodiles and buffaloes bathing in one lagoon, a trio of elephants playing in another, chattering monkeys crashing through trees, more peacocks than you can shake your tail feather at.
Then we see him. Slinking out of the undergrowth, crossing in front of us , the unmistakable mass of muscle and menace that is Sri Lanka’s native leopard. A glare fit for the fear of God and he is gone.
Along with our jumbo encounter on the beach that night, it’s a memory that will stay with us. But like Mowgli, we must leave the jungle. To the big smoke of Colombo, a blur of chaos and construction, and a lightning tuk-tuk tour before our final billet at the Uga Residence, an oasis of colonial calm.
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