Most Inspirational Moment
The optional Safari in Minneryia to see the elephants was incredible, I never expected to see so many in one place and so close, yes there were a lot of other jeeps, but what a sight. It is hard to pick just one moment though, the combination of the activities was what made the whole experience great..... The bike ride to the village lunch, white water rafting, temples, Lions rock, the walk on Horton's plains, safari at Yala national park, the Jungle walk, the scenery....I could go on and on...
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader Sujan was very organised and ensured everything ran smoothly and like clockwork with his very accurate timings, toilet and drink/snack stops were all factored in to the journeys. He dealt with us all with a good sense of humour and was very knowledgeable on wildlife, flora, fauna and the country as a whole. He managed the kitty on our behalf, dealing with all the tipping so we didn't have to think about any of that and we benefitted from local treats such as fruit, ice cream and chocolate cake! He always made sure a table was booked for dinner, that we placed our meal orders in advance so there was no delay in us eating together and regular checked with the staff to make sure we all got our food. He also taught us a new word every day which we enjoyed learning.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't forget to pack some emergency toilet paper, two of us in the group had Andrex puppies on a roll and it was shared by all.
Change most of the cash you think you will need at the airport, I was able to use the ATM's no problem in other places, but some of the group couldn't get any money from them and banking could take quite a long time, you can always pay the hotel bills on credit card with no problems.
Take a Universal plug adapter (it was invaluable), every hotel room had different sockets and it was always fun playing hunt the suitable plug hole.
Take a good a camera, you don't want to miss those fab shots and it was useful just to see the wildlife close up if you don't want to take a pair of binoculars as well.
Take an umbrella, good in sun and rain, you don't always feel like wearing a sticky pac a mac in the heat.
Remember that you are moving hotel almost every night, so you don't really want to unpack everything every night and pack to suit.
You can get laundry done really quickly at the hotels you are in for more than one night but be prepared you may want to hand wash a few things.
Oh and definitely take a torch and carry it with you after dark, there are quite a few power cuts in all the hotels, they never last long and are nothing to worry about, but they usually happen when you are on the stairs, in the bathroom or some other awkward place.
We all enjoyed dressing up for dinner at the Hill Club, so don't forget to take one nicer item of clothing for that.
