Private Day Trip: Explore Bentota from Colombo
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Trip Type: Private Day Trips
Duration: 12 hours
This private day-trip takes you to three amazing places on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka, namely Bentota. You get a chance to see why Sri Lanka is known as an exotic island filled with marvels, and not just known for its pretty white beaches.
The first place you will visit is the beautiful Lunuganga estate that was once the home of Sir Geoffrey Bawa. The next place for your perusal is the highly engaging Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery. Finally you will visit Balapitiya for the ultimate experience, the Madu River Safari.
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This private day-trip takes you to three amazing places on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka, namely Bentota. You get a chance to see why Sri Lanka is known as an exotic island filled with marvels, and not just known for its pretty white beaches.
The first place you will visit is the beautiful Lunuganga estate that was once the home of Sir Geoffrey Bawa. The next place for your perusal is the highly engaging Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery. Finally you will visit Balapitiya for the ultimate experience, the Madu River Safari.
Your vehicle will pick you up from your hotel at 7:30 am. It will take approximately 1-1.5 hours to reach Bentota so you will arrive there before 9:00 am.
The first item in your itinerary will be Bawa’s estate in Lunuganga. Sir Geoffrey Bawa, the much renowned lawyer turned architect, made the estate his country home from 1947 till his death in 1998. During his sojourn there, he used the place as his experiment lab and made many architectural and interior additions. While visiting the estate you will get to see the beautifully designed gardens that are now open to the public. Some of the buildings of the estate are also now a country house hotel. The tour of the estate takes two hours.
You will leave for the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery at 11am, arriving at 11:20 am. Here, you will be spending an hour getting to know about sea turtles and their conservation. The best part of the hatchery is the touch pools, deep tubs of seawater with baby sea turtles swimming in them. Visitors are allowed to pick up and handle then to some extent. There are also fully matured sea turtles of different kinds, receiving treatment for various ailments or wounds. After this fun hour for all ages, you will be breaking for lunch, choose an eatery as you like (at your own cost).
The lunch break will last an hour. You will be leaving for Madu River and arrive at the river at 1:40pm.
Balapitiya is a little southern town lying in marshy wetlands. The area is a high bio diversity zone that relies on the lagoon created by Madu River as it flows into the Indian Ocean. Your safari will take you on a two-hour ride down the river. You will get to see the dense mangrove forest that grows along the marshy banks of the river and the forms of wildlife that call the roots home. You may also catch a glimpse of cormorants, pelicans, crocodiles and water snakes.
Your guide will also take you some of the larger free standing islands on Madu River. On one such island, you will find an old Buddhist monastery. Cinnamon harvesting is the main employment of the people of this area. In another of the slightly smaller islands you will be able to buy fresh cinnamon at a comparatively lower price.
Another attraction of the safari is the famous fish massage. This ‘massage parlor’ is a hut standing on stilts in the middle of the river. A netted in area contains the ‘massage fish’. You will be sitting on the deck of the hut with your feet in the water, while the fish work their magic.
After this relaxing two hour boat tour, your will be returning to Colombo by 4pm. You will get back to your hotel at 6pm completing the tour.
The first place you will visit is the beautiful Lunuganga estate that was once the home of Sir Geoffrey Bawa. The next place for your perusal is the highly engaging Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery. Finally you will visit Balapitiya for the ultimate experience, the Madu River Safari.
Your vehicle will pick you up from your hotel at 7:30 am. It will take approximately 1-1.5 hours to reach Bentota so you will arrive there before 9:00 am.
The first item in your itinerary will be Bawa’s estate in Lunuganga. Sir Geoffrey Bawa, the much renowned lawyer turned architect, made the estate his country home from 1947 till his death in 1998. During his sojourn there, he used the place as his experiment lab and made many architectural and interior additions. While visiting the estate you will get to see the beautifully designed gardens that are now open to the public. Some of the buildings of the estate are also now a country house hotel. The tour of the estate takes two hours.
You will leave for the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery at 11am, arriving at 11:20 am. Here, you will be spending an hour getting to know about sea turtles and their conservation. The best part of the hatchery is the touch pools, deep tubs of seawater with baby sea turtles swimming in them. Visitors are allowed to pick up and handle then to some extent. There are also fully matured sea turtles of different kinds, receiving treatment for various ailments or wounds. After this fun hour for all ages, you will be breaking for lunch, choose an eatery as you like (at your own cost).
The lunch break will last an hour. You will be leaving for Madu River and arrive at the river at 1:40pm.
Balapitiya is a little southern town lying in marshy wetlands. The area is a high bio diversity zone that relies on the lagoon created by Madu River as it flows into the Indian Ocean. Your safari will take you on a two-hour ride down the river. You will get to see the dense mangrove forest that grows along the marshy banks of the river and the forms of wildlife that call the roots home. You may also catch a glimpse of cormorants, pelicans, crocodiles and water snakes.
Your guide will also take you some of the larger free standing islands on Madu River. On one such island, you will find an old Buddhist monastery. Cinnamon harvesting is the main employment of the people of this area. In another of the slightly smaller islands you will be able to buy fresh cinnamon at a comparatively lower price.
Another attraction of the safari is the famous fish massage. This ‘massage parlor’ is a hut standing on stilts in the middle of the river. A netted in area contains the ‘massage fish’. You will be sitting on the deck of the hut with your feet in the water, while the fish work their magic.
After this relaxing two hour boat tour, your will be returning to Colombo by 4pm. You will get back to your hotel at 6pm completing the tour.
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