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Guest Book - Bird Watching Tours Comments
2011
Neil Stewart, Nandana n Julia Chandler
08th October 2011
Wonderful itinerary – A varied mixture of hotels, each ideal for the places, staff excellent in all hotels.
We spent two weeks in the expert hands of Nandana who showed us many of the cultural sites of central Sri Lanka and the wonderful wildlife. It could not have been better organized and Nandana was a great guide , tracker and driver, showing humor and friendship throughout the trip. He rose to our challenge to find owls (a particular interest)
Thank you Nandana for your wonderful company and for being a great ambassador for Sri Lanka, it’s beautiful place and wildlife
Neil Stewart
Julia Chandler
Rochester, Kent, UK
Dave and Sarah Hobson with Jith - 14 Aug 2011
26 July to 9th August 2011 - 15 nights 16 days
Well where do we start. Thank you Jith for an amazing trip. We wasn’t sure what we would make of Sri Lanka but we love it and thanks to you for all your knowledge of the cultural side.
We came to Sri Lanka mainly for the birds and wildlife. Before we arrived in Sri Lanka we exchanged lots of emails asking if we could see bats and leopards. He delivered us with 100s of bats and 3 leopards so was very happy. Birdwatching wise was excellent. We saw 27 of 33 endemic birds, 175 species of Birds in total of which 112 where new (would have been happy with a 100).
Our favourite place we stayed at was Sigiriya village hotel because the grounds it was set in was amazing and the food was excellent.
We felt out of place in the grand hotel as it was harder to be at one with nature.
Now Martins place was set in the most amazing location in the rainforest was a basic place to stay but the surrounding made up for it.
We appreciate Jith for his effort in telling Martins family that we didn’t like spicy currys and we thank Martins family for that as the food was lovly.
Yala National Park was one of the high lights of the trip we loved the Safari and our driver for that day was great he set us up in nice area to eat and relax. We will never forget the elephant in Bundwalla that got too close Im still shaking now.
Oh how can we forget the leeches those slimey buggers I have never had so many on me before.
We will never get over Jith knowledge anything we asked he gave us an answer he just new so much about the flore and fauna.I am going to miss his silly jokes and playing and singing with the guitar. My favourite one is still k-Sara sara J
Now Mr. Silva what a legand you are your driving was excellent we felt very safe with your driving we appreciated your patience when you kept stopping for us to look at some birds.
Im sat writing this near the beach relaxing what a way to end the trip holding baby turtles it will be a moment I will never forget. It was without a doubt that we did the right thing picking you at the bird watching fair.
You have become part of our life now will never forget you. You have become a good friend to us. So thank you again and keep in touch.
Lots of love
Sarah + Dave
Xxxx
P.S Slept like a log every night J
Beverly England
11th to 30th April 2011 (20 days/ 19 nights)
What an amazing island Sri Lanka is!
Our introduction to Jith was at last August's Bird Fair (Rutland water) we know instantly that "Walk With Jith" was the ideal way to see the diversity of wild life, birds and habitats. E-mail correspondence started out the itinerary and all was very easily sorted.
Jith was guiding Mick & Sue (see previous page)so entrusted us to Nananda who was both highly efficient guide and very responsible driver, plus a mine of information about Sri Lankan life, customs and people. Nananda took us to some bird hotspots not on "the beaten track" and these were certainly highlights. The journey has been fascinating all the way from the archeology at Anuradhapura to the fauna in Yala, not forgetting Kitulgala and Sinharaja.
The unforgettables include
leopards in Yala, passing close by our jeep, 20 mins.
birds species – so much variety & color – we've recorded 175 species in – days (so far).
Sinharaja Rock, topped by ancient civilization
The friendliness of people everywhere we've been
Nananda's professionalism
our bed decorated with flowers each day at Sinharaja Village and Hibiscus gardens in Tissa; works of art in themselves.
The luxuriant flora – please can we take them all home.
We highly RECOMMEND anyone to "Walk With Jith" and will spread the word once we are back home.
Nora & David Harper,
Notts England
Sue n Mick Clark
17th April to 1st May 2011
A wonderful holiday that has been all that was promised and more! Jith has been attentive since the day we contacted him over the internet. He has provided a brilliant service, a tailor made itinary that has given us a wonderful insight into this fascinating country.
The birding has been wonderful under Jith’s expert guidance and boundless patience!! We have learned so much about the history of the island and experienced such a variety of towns, villages, historical and religious sites. Some highlights: Reclining Stone Buddha; making it to the top of Sigiriya, fire walking dancers; Landover Safari; 35 new birds a day; more Buddha’s in caves; curry for breakfast; monkeys and elephants ---- and more and more.
And Silva, courteous and friendly driver who imagined to make us feel safe in the manic, Sri Lankan roads!
All has gone smoothly and we have been made to feel welcome and special in this wonderful country.
Thank you so much, Jith for providing such a memorable holiday – we will recommend you without reservation.
Sue + Mick Clark
Derbyshire, ENGLAND.
Lesley Scott n Jenney Scott at Martin's Lodge
16/04/2011
How can we put into words what a wonderful week we have had?
You have created for both our needs, as amaters birdes who can’t always see what you want her to see and teenage princess who hates to move an without checking her hair, but you made her see the light + visit the rainforest wearing leech socks + funny waterproofs and no makeup + trimmings + and she actually enjoyed herself!! You have taught us so much about your wonderful Island and your passion and enthusiasm is inspiring. A never ending supply of funny stories and simple jokes has kept us amused us throughout and I am sure we have amused you with our funny English ways + “things”.
I hope to see you at the Birdfair and I am sure I will be in touch to organise a trip to bring my husband to visit this amazing place and to fill in my birding checklist.
Thanks Jith x
Lesley Scott | Jenney Scott :D xx
Isle of Wight
U.K.
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2001 March 11
Many thanks Jith for our second birding trip with you albeit only a week this time.
Although a shortened trip the birding as ever was superb and the transport and support from “Mr. Silva” was second to none.
(as was his ever present smile)
We loved Sri Lanka, the birds and the people the first time we came and nothing has altered, long may it remain unchanged!
Phil & Di Swanwick
STOKE-ON-TRENT
Barry & Jane Kyme
March 2011
Initially we contacted Jith who was unable to accompany us on the dates required. Having been badly treated by another well known bird guide we again contacted Jith who said he could arrange our trip with Nandana. This worked out very much for the better as Nandana worked hard to find as many birds as possible and to make sure we had everything we could need along with being good company. We are very grateful to Jith for his honest dealings with us and would not hesitate to recommend his or Nandana’s services to anyone.
Barry & Jane Kyme
UK
 
Steve and Malinda
20 February – 12 March 2011
Here are the comments that Malinda has written:
This was our second trip to Sri Lanka with Jith as our guide and I can be honest and say that our holiday in Feb/Mar 2011 was as good as our trip in Nov 2007. We even had Silva as our driver again and, as before, he took great care when bumping along tracks and roads and was always friendly and considerate.
We spent three weeks in Sri Lanka and whilst we re-visited some places we’d been to before - Aukana Budha, Sigiriya, Pinnawala (the elephants are just great!), Kandy, Nuwaraeliya (Horton Plains is beautiful) and Sinharaja Rain Forest – we also were able to visit Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Yala (excellent sighting of Leopard), Galle and did some Whale watching off the coast near Unawatuna Beach. Along the way we stopped at some really good sites for birds (the Anavilundawa wetland should definitely be included on any trip) and had some memorable and enjoyable experiences.
As before, Jith's knowledge of the birds, plants and wildlife was excellent; as was his knowledge on the cultural side - a great combination of skills. We learn more from Jith than any guide book could tell us.
This time, we saw a great many more Butterflies than before – the Crimson Rose was especially beautiful to watch – and whilst we saw a great many birds, we had really good views of some of the more difficult one’s(!) – notably, the Serendib Scops Owl, Pygmy Woodpecker and the Sri Lankan Woodpigeon.
Some particular highlights for us were watching the Blue Magpies snatching moths from the tables at Sinharaja, seeing a Rhinoceros lizard whilst walking at Horton Plains, the Sri Maha Bo Tree at Anuradhapura, visiting the war cemetery near Trincomalee, re-visiting the Botanic gardens in Kandy (if you like orchids, you’ll love these gardens), Giant Squirrels, watching a Leopard walk nonchalantly behind our Jeep in Yala and taking tea at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. These are just a small selection – in truth, we had simply masses of enjoyable moments and the volume of ‘photos we took (1,200!) says it all.
If you love watching birds or simply wildlife in general and enjoy seeing a culture very different your own – then Sri Lanka is the ideal destination and Jith the ideal guide.
We really did have a super time and thought it was lovely of you to have arranged our final meal in the way you did.
I have attached the picture of the gravestone in Kandy cemetery and of you holding the rhinoceros lizard. There will be other pictures that we will send to you but we haven’t had time to look at them yet.
Very best wishes,
Steve and Malinda
Alan - Jith - Betty Fowles - Gery - Tina Shirt - Mr Silva
29.01.2011 – 12.02.2011
We’ve had this trip booked for 18 months & it was worth the wait – despite the heavy rain & flooding we experienced in the first week. For my first ever “birding” holiday this was tough but Jith has shown great patience & now I’m “hooked”.
The habitats have been as varied as the accommodations & that variety has enriched the experience. We’re currently in Galle with your final adventure in the morning. Down to Merissa at 05.15 am to go in search of the mighty Blue Whale. Fingers crossed we were lucky as we were in Yala when we saw a leopard with a young cub.
The organization of the entire trip has been faultless & Mr. Silva as our driver has been the “icing-on-the-cake”. Thank you Jith – may be see you next August at the Birdfair.
PS: Very late back from the whale boat trip. Ended up being your 8½ hrs instead of 4! But we saw them – quite a lot in fact plus pod of spinner dolphins.
abulous!!
Kind Regards,
Tina Shirt, Edwinstone, Notts, UK
***
Thank you Jith for an enlightened tour of your country we survived the rain if missing out the odd temple of two managing to to see so many of your birds & the leopard & her cub. Mr. Silva has been a great driver over the last 3 weeks & deserves our thanks.
Thanks to both of you.
Betty Fowles
Toybridge Devon
***
Everything that our friends, Tina and Betty have written, Alen and I absolutely agree with it’s been a rewarding experience in all aspects. We were fortunate to have visited Sri Lanka before, but to be accompanied by “experts” has been, as Betty writes, enlightening. Thank you Jith, and thank you to y… Mr. Silvr for your courteous, and looking after we three ladies so well.
Kind regards,
Gery and Alan, Minehead. Somerset.
P.S. Look forward to catching up with you in Rutland next August
BIRDS SEEN 202
ENDEMICS 25
Photo:
Nandana, Nicholas and Carol King, Judyand Michael Bates
28th January - 22 February 2011
Nick & Carol King and Michael & Judy Bates toured with Walk With Jith in 2011.
Dear Prasanjith
Sorry not to have got back to you earlier. We've attached our itinerary with comments on the trip highlighted in yellow. The trip mostly went well although the weather was wet at times. At least we were lucky not to get caught up in the serious floods.
We saw a total of 196 birds although we are still picking out a few extras from our photos and we have queries on a few. Will send you the final checklist when we've gone through all our photos. We attach pictures of Great Frigatebird juvenile and Brown Booby (one of 2) seen at Nilaveli beach. We think they may be quite rare vagrants to this area. The picture of Crested Terns in the lagoon north of Nilaveli includes - we think - both a Lesser Crested Tern with an orange bill on top of the rock and Two Greater Crested Terns with yellow bills lower down.
Nandana was an excellent bird guide particularly when he was with one of the good local guides (the guys at Sinharaja and Uda Walawe were particularly good).
The cultural guides we had at Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura were not particularly good. Nandana was much better as a cultural guide to the Tooth Relic Palace in Kandy.
Alan was very reliable as a driver and always turned up on time. While he did not drive fast we were a little concerned at some of his overtaking. After Nandana left us Alan did his best to stop if he saw anything of possible ornithological interest.
The Toyota minibus was in generally good condition though it needed a new rear tyre and one of the stop lights did not work towards the end of the trip. The rear suspension was noisy after the rough road to Trincomalee but Alan said it had recently had new shock absorbers.
All in all we were very pleased with the trip though we found it quite tiring to be travelling for more than 3 weeks.
Regards
Nick and Carol King
Barry n Brenda Mack - Ann n Peter Langham
12 – 25/1/2011
I have been looking forward to this trip for quite a while – ever since you were introduced to me when you were birding at the RSPB reserve of the Saltholme . I was told how brilliant you were at finding the birds, but it did not prepare us for just how wonderful your country is. As Barry and Brenda have written, you opened up the country of Sri Lanka to us all and you exceeded my expectations over the birds.
I hope that one day you will see an English medow pipit, and a puffin with several sand eels in its bill!
Than you Jith, & your crew
Peter & Ann Langham
Derbington
***
23 01 2011
Many thanks indeed for providing us with fourteen very enjoyable days touring your lovely country and enabling us to see many of its interesting cultural sites and ‘must see’ wild life. It was a big plus to have full confidence in Anil, our excellent driver, whilst we also appreciated the helping hand of Ajit.
To us Sri Lanka was a country of gentle, friendly people who always made us welcome and helped in every way they could. Above all we must than you, Jith, for looking after us so well, for explaining the religious and other cultural aspects of Sri Lanka and for your tireless efforts to find the birds and wildlife that we had come to see. Your persistence in spotting birds, especially those hidden in the canopy above, so often paid off!
Thank you so much for a memorable holiday.
Barry & Brenda Mack
Hurstpierpoint, W. Sussex, UK
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