Luxury Culture Tours' and Walking Tours' Comments >>
Honeymoon Holidays' Comments >>

Guest Book - Bird Watching Tours Comments

Udawalawa Safari with Jith. Right: Alistair McLee and Carol
More tour pictures >>

20th March - 10th April, 2008

All things bright & beautiful
All creatures great & small
All things wise & wonderful
Our man Jith knows them all

Thank you for making this a wonderful trip for me - being with two fanatical birdwatchers, your job was not an easy one but you "wrapped it up" oh so well!! Cool. Only joking!!

Without your superb vision and field craft I would never have seen even a fraction of the bird species. The impromptu arrangement to watch the turtle laying eggs, is in my mind's eye for ever. Your knowledge and love of your island's history was obvious as you guided us around the shrines, temples and places. Not only that the information you shared with us about the present daily lives of the island's people, allowed us to "get beneath the surface" of the place - a thing tourists who simply come for "sun and sea" fail to do.

Thanks a million and hope to see you at the Bird Fair this summer!

Alistair
North Yorkshire

More tour pictures >>

Marianne and John Ball
More tour pictures >>

22 February - 8th March 2008

Many thanks Jith for a wonderful stress free holiday. We won't say it's been relaxing getting up so early in the morning but it's been worth it to see all the amazing birds you have shown us. We were disappointed not to be able to visit Yala National Park but appreciated your concern for our safety and very much enjoyed the destinations you arranged as an alternative.

Thank you, too, for your patience as John pursued countless butterflies in an attempt to photograph them and for your help in spotting them.

We were pleased to see that you used local guides and supported enterprises benefiting local communities wherever possible. After all the information you have given us and the places you have shown us we feel that we have learnt a great deal about Sri Lanka and you are certainly a great ambassador for your country. Of course, without Silva's careful driving we would not have made it to all the marvelous places we visited. So many thanks, Silva for delivering us safely to our destinations.

Our very best wishes to you both!
Marianne and John Ball
Westbury - Sub - Mendip

More tour pictures >>

Helen Mike Jith Gill and John
More tour pictures >>

8th to 21st Feb 2008

Thank you Jith for a wonderful holiday! We have been delighted with everything we have experienced - the smooth arrangements; the varied and interesting places to stay; the trouble you took to make sure that we were having a good time; and, of course, seeing all those wonderful birds;- 29 of Sri Lanka's endemics and nearly 200 species in total. Your guiding was excellent and knowledgeable - and patient!
Traveling around in your micro-bus was comfortable and spacious, and we really appreciated the careful and considerate driving of Silva, our driver, for the two weeks. It is always difficult to decide on the high lights of any holiday. But we all enjoyed the walks up Sigiriya Rock and around the Horton Plains. We certainly plan to "Walk With Jith" again.

All the best for the future!

John & Helen Franklin
Mike and Gill Lewis
U.K.

See you at the Birdfair! - Helen and Franklin
Thanks for a lovely holiday! - John

More tour pictures >>

More tour pictures >>

January 6th - 18th 2008

Dear Jith,

My wife and I considered coming here birding with a guide as somewhat of a risk. Previously we have always just booked a flight, to wherever, hired a car at the airport and travelled around with great freedom aiming at particular sites of interest and staying wherever possible. So to book a guide and driver for 2 weeks was somewhat questionable for us. Having to spend 2 weeks together with two strangers was not something we did lightly. We have always enjoyed the excitement of finding our own birds.

However, we should not have worried because we would have been completely lost with regard to finding and seeing the birds, as well as on the roads, driving ourselves. Our friend Jith is an undisputed expert at charming the birds out of the trees and covering all the important sites comfortably in two weeks. The two night stay at Sinharaja was from another world, and not to be missed by anyone who has the slightest interest in anything natural. Both myself and my wife were very impressed by the selection of sites of cultural & archeological interest and Jith's deep knowledge of the same.

Your knowledge of all aspects of Sri Lankan life is to be admired, along with the enthusiastic way you put it over to visitors, and we hope that many more people will benefit from your tours in future, particularly with regard to the birdlife. We hope you didn't find our few days on the beach too much of a bore. We must also mention your 71 year old driver, Silva, who has endless years of experience touring round the island. He did it with great confidence and composure in what we would describe as sometimes very trying circumstances. Well done Silva!
Many many thanks to both for a really great holiday. Hope to see you at the bird fair, 2008, and if you wish to see a red grause be sure to book you accommodation early!

Best wishes
John & Margret Corbett
Nottingham, UK.

More tour pictures >>

Behind standing: ASHOKA JAYARATHNA (Sri Lankan field scientist), SOMJAI MONOTHIRAKUL, VORAWAN AKSORNSART, PORNKASEM KANTAMARA, PONGSUDA VONGSINGHA, PIYANIPA SAENGKAEW, KRIANGKRAI SUWANNAPHAK, LILIN SONGPASOOK, SUMATE  BHLAPIBUL, PRAPAS KANAYART, UDOM SETAJID, SAMUTH CHONGVISAL, PENCHUN IAMCHUM, BUSSAYA  CHANSAREKORN, NATTINEE LIMKITISUPASIN, PRASIT  CHANSAREKORN, SUWANNA MOOKACHONPAN. Front seated: CHOSITA, FAHRUNG, SUMALEE WONGDARA, NISA PUECHPOLCHAROEN, RENUKA VONGVIRIYATHAM, TEERAPONG SINJAROENMANEE, PANEE TANGJAROENBAMRUNG, SUKANDA LALITKITTI

More comments from other group members and tour in pictures >>

Dec 28, 2007 - Jan 5, 2008

From Thailand.

Dear Jith and the team,

We the 24 enthusiastic birders from Thailand, could not have thanked you more for such a wonderful birding trip in Sri Lanka. We might have been the craziest, the loudest, the funniest, but also the most lovely group. We all greatly appreciate your effort to find all the great birds for us. No matter they are Red- faced Malkoha, SL Wood Pigeon, Hanging Parrot, White-throated flowerpecker... but anyway... no need to feel guilty, if you can't find it! We'd Buddhist too. We're very understanding! The Safari's are such memorable experiences which we will surely remember forever. No need to go all the way to Africa!

P.S. All the local guides at Sinharaja are very nice & helpful too!

Nu Oar & Somjai,
Dan Kantama

More comments from other group members and tour in pictures >>

See more pictures of their tour here >>

Steve Woolnough and Malinda Brooks
Suffolk, UK

1st  December 2007

Well, where does one start? Firstly, by saying a huge thank you to Jith for helping us have probably our best holiday ever.
We've spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka and thanks to Jith's first class organizational skills and all round professionalism, we've seen everything we asked for and more.
Jith's knowledge of the birds, plants + wildlife has been excellent; as has his knowledge on the cultural side - a great combination of skills. Indeed, we've learnt more from Jith than any guide book could tell us.
I'd like to add that he was always ready to answer our questions, no matter how much!
We've enjoyed every minute of our time in Sri Lanka and Jith's guidance + company has given us some beautiful moments, such as releasing baby green turtles - something never to be forgotten.
We'd happily recommend Jith to anyone - whether you want birding, wildlife or culture, or, like us you want to combine everything.
Our driver, Silva, was simply excellent and between him and Jith there wasn't a single glitch in the whole holiday. Just perfect!

5 August 2007

Jith,

Thank you so much for showing us Sri Lanks. We arrived without much knowledge of what to expect and we leave feeling like we've really seen the real Sri Lanka. The combinationof culture and bird watching gave us the opportunity to visit some amazing historical sites - the steps a Sigiriya were a real challenge - while also clocking 154 bird species at the 'off' season. We were amazed by the range and colour of the endemic species - both plant and animal. A real highlight was the Royal botanical Gardens in Kandy - who would have thought you had so many useful plants here? But I think the baby elephants still stole the show - at 2 weeks old we could almost fit it in out suitcase! We'a love to keep in touch & Maybe see you at the bird fair.

Debbie McGuinn, Adventure Ecologist
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

25 May 2007

Jith,

Thank you so much for putting my tour together with such short notice. It was a fabulous 5-day tour to Thalangama Wetlands, Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Udawalawe N P and Yala N.P. You were very patient and kind. The bird and wildlife watching were fantastic, and I very much enjoyed learning about the plants, and cultural aspects of Sri Lanka. Thanks for the many highlights and treasures! Sri Lanka is an amazing place! The people are warm and friendly. And you are an excellent and well rounded guide.

Take care.

Lynn & Danny Reynolds, Directors, Exmoor Zoo, N. Devon; Ben Potterton, Norfolk; Colin Scott, Devon; Bruce Walton, Cheshire; Pat Tucker, Devon; John & Shelly Ray, Warwickshire.

17 Feb 2007

Well all I can say is this has been the BEST bird watching (and animal) "holiday" I have been on. The early morning starts were made up with excellent birds or very interesting local culture and history. The time was spent immersing our selves in Sri Lanka. The knowledge of Jith on birds/ animals and plants was outstanding and so was his organization. It was second to none. (Even when the land rover was stuck in the mud) -We laughed -. I would recommend him to everyone. The only way to see the real Sri Lankan and all its wonders.

John Ray, Deputy Director
Twycross Zoo, England.

***

Jith,

Your patience and knowledge was out-standing. You successfully led a mixed group of zoologists, botanists and enthusiasts on a magical tour of your country.

In fact the memories will be so vivid and the places so diverse, that we will never really need to return. We all will I am sure and would like to retain your friendship.

Live long and prosper and excellent experience!

Lynn & Danny Reynolds
Directors, Exmoor Zoo
UK

***

May the force be with you! - Ben Potterten

***

Had a fantastic time - Thank you! - Shelley Ray

Jim France & Brian Clasper Durham, England

18 Jan 2007

Dear Jith,

Thank you for an excellent trip. the birds were amazing, the food incredible & all the people we met were so friendly & helpful. We both appreciate your (and Sam's) patience in actually getting on birds which we couldn't initially see!

Your knowledge of the history of Sri Lanka is truly amazing. We both learnt an awful lot in such a short space of time. Please give out sincere thanks to Samanth, He was an incredible driver and we always felt totally safe in his care.

We both have many incredible memories that will always stay with us, and hopefully we will send some fantastic photos!

We really enjoyed your company and hope we were'nt too loud over our ten days.

Many, many thanks!

May 1, 2008

Thai Birders Group
Bangkok, Thailand.

December 04, 2006

We do have a very wonderful time in Sri Lanka, a very lovely and nature friendly country. Very many birds were observed with much enjoy. We would like to thank you, Jith and your ream for taking best care of us during the whole trip of about a week. With your bird consideration and lovely arrngement, we hope we will have another chance to visit your home country again in the future Thank you very much for every thing.

Geoff Binks and Liz Young
British nationals living in Spain.

November 05, 2006

Reading through this guest book, we realized that every one has said already what we feel about our tonight with Jith & Saman. We have had a throughly enjoyable and informative time with them both, as well as a few laughs! The whole trip has been truly emorable - the birds, the lovely people, the food and the country as a whole. We won't forget and we will return.

Thank you Jith for every thing - so glad we stopped at your stand at the bird watching fair at Rutland last August. It was the beginning of a wonderful experience here Sri Lanka.

Mel & Miles McKey
California, USA.

February 16, 2006

We havent made a final count yet, but we certainly sure a lot of birds, most of them new to us. We thank you, Jith, for having such sharp eyes, even from the van. We'll never forget the Dwarf Kingfisher landing on the road so we could get a really good look at it. We also appriciated your wide knowledge of botany, butterflies and the many reptiles and mammals we saw.

Thank you so much for every thing including the Lion Largers!

Mark Taylor
General Sales Manager (New vehicles)
BMW group (Doncaster)
Melbourne, Australia

Click here to read Mark Taylors travell report

November 15 - 29th , 2005

Prasanjith has put togather an excellent birdwatching tour, but also with the help of Jayaweera, the jeep drivers and national park guides. The combine knowledge of these guides is exceptional. I have looked up 223 species of birds, (no, I was not counting, but my palm pilot was) with a day to go and this is testament to all those mentioned above.
But more than just the nature, it was the cultural and human interludes that made for such a memorable holiday. From buffolo curd & Kithul syrup, to the very ancient history of Sri Lanka and being present during the presidential election - love those firecrackers!, all was greate than the parts.

Thank you Prasanjith & Jayaweera!

Mark Whittaker, Journalist
Sydney, Australia

10th August 2005

Dear Jith,
Thanks so much for a very relaxing few days birding. It never ceased to surprise me how you pull these birds out of no where, like you conjured them up your self. Shame about that starting never mind that just gives me an excuse to come back and get it next time. I certainly look foward to playing the CD and being reminded each time of the splenders of Sinharaja.
All the best!

Janet Dewes & Paul Seligman
Wales, UK

Click here to read Paul Seligman's travell report

10th – 25th January, 2005

Jith has given us a marvelous holiday. We have seen large numbers of splendid birds in marvelous surroundings, been informed about flowers and animals, and have been made to feel welcome members of the Sri Lankan family, rather than tourists. Many thanks to him and Samanth for such a wonderful introduction to the country and its customs.