Udawalawe National Park,

[sunlover33]

Hi Everyone, just wondering if anyone has experience of private tours tours in Sri Lanka. We will be in Hambantota port from 08.00-  19.00 and were particularly interested in visiting Udawalawe National Park, does anyone have a recommendation for a private tour guide please? 

[donaldsc]

I would suggest that you repost this on the appropriate Ports of Call board.  Your question will get a wider exposure there including people who are not cruising on Azamara.  You might also post it on your cruise Roll Call or set one up if one does not already exist.

 

DON

Edited March 15, 2023 by donaldsc

[sunlover33]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I would suggest that you repost this on the appropriate Ports of Call board.  Your question will get a wider exposure there including people who are not cruising on Azamara.  You might also post it on your cruise Roll Call or set one up if one does not already exist.

 

DON

Thanks Don I have posted on several boards hoping for a response, I am looking for information to inform our roll call. We have already arranged  several tours  but I am looking for someone who has experienced this trip in Sri Lanka with an independent organisation. We  booked this cruise with Azamara in 2020 just prior to covid shutdown but like many others it was cancelled. I posted on here hoping  someone had  managed to do this cruise and experience a private tour. 

[LoneMoose]

We took a private tour with Rammuni Tours a few months ago (Dec. 2022).  We got to see a lot of animals (elephants, water buffalo, monkeys, crocodile, lots of exotic birds).  Our guide, however, struggled with English and seemed rather put out that we paid in $20 dollar bills.  (He wanted to be paid in 100s which we don’t carry and the Azamara ATM doesn’t dispense.)  The driver we had was excellent, finding most of the animals.  

 

We were in a Jeep and the “roads” in the park were very rough: rutted and pot holes, many filled with water and mud.  While most of our clothes came clean afterwards, one of DH’s shirts still has mud stains from the splashing.  So wear your least favorite clothes!

 

Finally, and this has nothing to do with our particular tour, the taxi union in Sri Lanka has a stranglehold on the the port and private tour vehicles were not allowed inside the port gate (buses for ship excursions were allowed in).  The gate was about 2 miles from where we were berthed so it would have been an impossible walk for one of our participants and a long hot one for all of us. Luckily, as we started walking, a van of reporters who were leaving insisted that we get into their van for a ride to the gate.  So if I was booking another private tour, I would get specific details about how you are going to be picked up and what arrangements they will make to shuttle you to the pick-up point.  I don’t think the line of taxis waiting to be hired for a tour were willing to get out of line to transport us to the gate.

[sunlover33]

16 hours ago, LoneMoose said:

We took a private tour with Rammuni Tours a few months ago (Dec. 2022).  We got to see a lot of animals (elephants, water buffalo, monkeys, crocodile, lots of exotic birds).  Our guide, however, struggled with English and seemed rather put out that we paid in $20 dollar bills.  (He wanted to be paid in 100s which we don’t carry and the Azamara ATM doesn’t dispense.)  The driver we had was excellent, finding most of the animals.  

 

We were in a Jeep and the “roads” in the park were very rough: rutted and pot holes, many filled with water and mud.  While most of our clothes came clean afterwards, one of DH’s shirts still has mud stains from the splashing.  So wear your least favorite clothes!

 

Finally, and this has nothing to do with our particular tour, the taxi union in Sri Lanka has a stranglehold on the the port and private tour vehicles were not allowed inside the port gate (buses for ship excursions were allowed in).  The gate was about 2 miles from where we were berthed so it would have been an impossible walk for one of our participants and a long hot one for all of us. Luckily, as we started walking, a van of reporters who were leaving insisted that we get into their van for a ride to the gate.  So if I was booking another private tour, I would get specific details about how you are going to be picked up and what arrangements they will make to shuttle you to the pick-up point.  I don’t think the line of taxis waiting to be hired for a tour were willing to get out of line to transport us to the gate.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. That’s really very useful information  for us to be aware of.