Kithulgala, Sri Lanka

Kithulgala, Sri Lanka

This is a beautiful forest located close to Colombo city. Eventhough, Kithulgala isbitcloser to the capital city of Sri Lanka, this place is covered with forest, birds and natural rivers. If I introduce this place as a living paradise of nature and natural habitats, then I would be correct.

This area is famous for water rafting, bird watching, camping, hiking, river bathing and jungle walking. Besides that, you can visit caves, bicycle riding etc. If you like to enjoy outdoor activities and adventure, then this is the best place for that.

When I wasinthe university, I had the opportunity to participateforadventure and leadership program which was organized by the university for 4 days. It wasniceexperience for all the student since it was organized in Kithulgala. Since the activity was fully funded by the university, my knowledge regarding the cost of the accommodation and rafting journey is limited.

We got the accommodations in a camping site which is located very close to the riverside. All the camping equipment’s, tents, lights and other safety materials were provided by the camping site holders. Each night we slept under the tents and it was quite cold. Even if, it was cold the night fire arrangements vanished the coldness of hole night. We could make BBQ at night and sing the songs with friends until midnight.Staffof the accommodation placewerefriendly and we could spend our time freely untilcrackof the dawn.

Morning meals and the lunch was provided by the camping site holder. It was consistent with traditional Sri Lankan meals. But if you want, they would arrange the meals according to your taste. When we went outside for walking and cycling, they arranged our lunch in a perfect way in order to carry them and eat them during the journey.

During the first day, we walked into the forest to see the river, sight sceneries, birds and beautiful natural spots. It was quite adventurous since we had to travel along the forest which was covered with huge trees and bushes. All the necessary equipment for climbing and trekking were provided by the tour organizers. Besides that, we crossed lots of small river branches without using a bridge. So, get ready your shoes for these things. We could see lotof rare wild flora and birds during the trekking. Each morning was refreshing with birds singing. Besides that, keep a mosquito spray with you since mosquitoes are there in the evening.

On the second daywe went for rafting with all our friends. Camping site holders organized the rafting journey on behalf of us. We had to carry the boat until the river. But, it was a short distance from the place where we got the accommodations. So, it was not so hard for us to carry the boats there. Then professional rafting team came with us and they provide all the safety equipment and necessary guidance for the team. It was so amazing and riverwas perfect for rafting. Even if, I could not swim I did not feel any fear since the guides were with us. At the same time, we met only big four rapids and few small rapids. So, it was not so dangerous. Sometimes the water level of some places was quite low and we could enjoy lotof sight sceneries. We went with other seven boats and none of them met with an accident. We could enjoy the river sidewhile sliding down the river branches.  The whole journey was limited to one and half hours. Rafting organizing companies organize different types of trip according to your preferences. If you wish to have a less risky and adventurous trip, then they have different packages for that. I always recommend finding the information through online and talk with the organization by you since most of the time other people (your private tour guide) might go to some rafting organizations without paying attention to your request and preferences since they getcommissionfrom the rafting organization for bringing the customers for them.

Third day, we went to bath in the nature rock pool which was surrounded by the trees and beautiful spots. There are lot of places to bath in this area besides this place. Water was bit cold, but it was so fresh and refreshing. We enjoyed sliding down to the rock pool along a natural slide with water. But, I would like to recommend you wear a bit lengthy swimming suit since you might get hurt while you are sliding down.  Besides that, safety jumping, which is an adventure activity to jump from the top of the hill, was so adventurous and fun. We could jump in to the natural pool from top of a small rock with friends. It was totally safety. But I recommend you go with a guide all the time since they know all the safety spots for this kind of activities.

I could have a typical Sri Lankan meal, which was wrapped with a banana Leaf, for the lunch. It was so tasty and more appropriate for the place since we cannot throw the garbage here and there inside the forest. So, we could get our lunch while enjoying the day with water and adventure.

On the fourth day we had to face few competitions after dividing whole group in to five. It was so amazing. Whole group had to finish all the five tasks together. The winner would get the trophy. Five tasks were consisted with climbing rock and get the map, finding the treasure box which was hidden in the forest, then come across the river, climb up the tower to get the flag, then cycle back to the starting destination amidst the forest.

The day was so amazing and fun. All equipment for these activities were arranged by the organizers. They had provided all the proper guidance in the jungle to prevent us from getting our selves lost.

If you like to have some fun with outdoor activities, then go to this place and enjoy the time. But, if you stay at least one day, then you can enjoy more and visit many more places. So, do not limit your trip to this place only for one day.