06 Oct 2025 - 18 Oct 2025 (13 days)
USD4,395 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Lisle Gwynn
23 Nov 2026 - 05 Dec 2026 (13 days)
USD4,600 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): USD4,600 * GBP3,675 * EUR4,421 * AUD7,079
Can be linked with: India - Northern: Birds & Big Game (Relaxed) 2026
Sri Lanka is a friendly island nation boasting verdant scenery, characterised by terraced tea plantations and forest patches, and blessed with many surprisingly large national parks brimming with game and birds. These attractions, coupled with a fascinating history and vibrant culture, make this a truly exotic destination and a pleasure to explore. From the central highlands to the rich lowland rainforests, Sri Lanka is one of only a handful of magical destinations where it is possible to see every single country endemic in a well-planned trip such as this, making this extension a ‘must’ for the keen birder!
Sri Lanka Spurfowl; Sri Lanka Junglefowl; Sri Lanka Wood & Sri Lanka Green Pigeons; Green-billed Coucal; Red-faced, Blue-faced & Sirkeer Malkohas; Serendib Scops & Sri Lanka Bay Owls; Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl; Chestnut-backed Owlet; Sri Lanka Frogmouth; Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill; Yellow-fronted & Crimson-fronted Barbets; Red-backed & Crimson-backed Flamebacks; Layard's Parakeet; Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot; Sri Lanka Woodshrike; Sri Lanka Drongo; Sri Lanka Blue Magpie; Black-capped, Yellow-eared, Yellow-browed, White-browed & Square-tailed Bulbuls; Sri Lanka & Hill Swallows; Sri Lanka Bush Warbler; Sri Lanka Scimitar, Brown-capped, Orange-billed, Dark-fronted, Tawny-bellied & Yellow-billed Babblers; Ashy-headed Laughingthrush; Sri Lanka White-eye; Sri Lanka & Southern Hill Mynas; White-faced Starling; Spot-winged, Sri Lanka Whistling, Sri Lanka & Pied Thrushes; Dull-blue & Kashmir Flycatchers; Indian Pitta; Black-headed Cuckooshrike; Marshall's Iora; Jerdon's & Indian Nightjars; Slaty-legged Crake; Barred Buttonquail; Small Pratincole; Black-necked Stork; Lesser Adjutant; Black, Cinnamon & Yellow Bitterns; Legge's Hawk-Eagle; Grey-headed Fish Eagle; Malabar Trogon; Malabar Pied Hornbill; Orange Minivet; Loten's Sunbird; Black-throated Munia.
Leopard; Sloth Bear; Purple-faced Langur; Water Buffalo; Asian Elephant; Stripe-necked Mongoose.
lowland, hill & Montane forest, teak woodlands, lakes, coastal & inland wetlands, mudflats, saltpans
warm and humid in lowlands, cool in highlands, chance of rain in forest areas
10 with 1 Rockjumper Tour Leader
Mostly undemanding. Suitable for all birding & wildlife interest levels. A few early mornings & some long days. Optional owling.
Comfortable lodges and hotels
Mostly easy. Most species provide good visuals in open conditions. A few trickier/skulking species. Not unusual to record all endemics on a single tour.
+-200
Yala National Park, Sinharaja Rainforest, tea plantations, Horton Plains & surrounding mountains
Good. No dedicated hides, ad hoc feeders.
This was a fantastic tour and I attribute its success to the guides, Greg de Klerk and Stu Elsom. They are professional and skilled, both at finding birds and handling people, and I learned a lot from them. We saw all of the endemic bird species and had some great views of game, including a jungle cat. At the beginning of the tour, I thought that a group size of 12 was going to be too many, but I had better experiences seeing birds than I have on tours with half as many participants.
The leadership on this trip was great! Glen Valentine was fantastic as usual. He is very responsive to everyone's needs, and constantly adjusting in response to even casual comments. He is wonderful at spotting and hearing birds up, down, far away, in the dark - wherever they are. I especially appreciated his wizardry with a scope - getting us great views of many birds through impossibly think vegetation. He makes everyone feel comfortable. The local guide Ashoka was absolutely fantastic at spotting, at local expertise, and general natural history background. Some amazing examples, he spotted an Indian Pitta in dark thicket from a moving jeep, and found a clear view of the head of a Legge's Hawk Eagle through thick vegetation that eluded all the rest of us - and then Glen got it in the scope in seconds! Glen and Ashoka were a great team. Ashoka speaks great English and was able to keep in mind what everyone had seen or missed, just as Glen does. Ashoka had great background knowledge on other animals and plants, and was enthusiastic to share.
Rockjumper tour is very well planned, on a good schedule with 2 nights almost everywhere, and local people helping. Andre Bernon was a wonderful and excellent tour leader, listening to us and our needs, very knowledgeable about the birds and their habitat. We would go back with him anytime! He was also of great help for Anne and supported her physically when necessary. As she was the smallest in the group, he always made sure that she could see the birds. Andre was helped perfectly by the very friendly local guide, as well as the driver and his assistant. They all made this first birding tour a wonderful experience and we would not hesitate to choose Rockjumper for another birding tour elsewhere.
"Both Peter K and local leader were great. Our local leader went so out of his way to find and stake out owls, he'd start roaming the forest at 2 and have reports for us at dawn when we would meet in field. We had all 9 available owls due to his work. He also knew each area so well we found all endemics as he had such intimate knowledge of location and back up sites for each key species. Amazing, he sure pulled some birds out of almost thin air. Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Sri Lanka Bay and Serendip Owls, etc. Also amazing with his knowledge of calls - my guess is Rockjumper has the country's best local guide - keep him happy! The bus was great, more room than we needed but that sure beats the alternative - made the long drives so comfy. Also had WIFI which added a real time killer to travel."
I am so glad that this tour was able to run amidst another Covid wave. The tour exceeded my expectations. Glen is an outstanding guide with a superb ability to find birds and show them to the participants. He is enthusiastic and personable, and we look forward to traveling with him again. The local guide was determined to find all the elusive owls possible. His perseverance is greatly appreciated. I also want to acknowledge the first-rate tour bus and crew that drove us safely over the winding roads of Sri Lanka. Finally, we very much enjoyed the food and the nice beer (thanks to Glen!).
Sri Lanka - Weakland 2024 - October 2024
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game (Small Group) 2024 - January 2024
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game 2023 - November 2023
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game (Small Group) 2023 - January 2023
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game 2022 - November 2022
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game (Small Group) 2022 - January 2022
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game 2019 - November 2019
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game Exclusive 2019 - January 2019
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game II 2018 - November 2018
Sri Lanka - Budget Birding Tour 2018 - November 2018
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game I 2018 - January 2018
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game II 2017 - November 2017
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game I 2017 - January 2017
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game II 2016 - November 2016
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game II 2015 - November 2015
Sri Lanka - Endemic Birds & Big Game I 2015 - January 2015
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