Late Night Wilderness Walk

A special experience for night owls, this guided walk along tea estate routes takes place after dinner and presents a unique alternative to our daytime trails. The acres of tea fields, rocky outcrops, and bordering forests take on a different look and feel as night falls over the hill country, and the many nocturnal animals in the area venture out looking for food making it a hotspot for wildlife activity. The night walk starts around 9:30pm, so we recommend having an early dinner to give yourself enough time to relax before the walk. This stroll is as secluded and silent as you’ll ever experience in the hills of Sri Lanka. Some nights, you’ll see the mist roll in, but most nights will have skies that are clear enough to gaze at a blanket of stars overhead.

The walk is led by our in-house naturalist who will be your guide and companion as you navigate through the tea estate road. He’ll keep a watchful eye out for some of the local wildlife found around Camellia Hills such as Sambar deer, porcupines, bats, owls, fishing cats, and if lucky, a leopard in the distance. He will carry an ultraviolet torch to spot and illuminate animals by catching a glimpse of their shiny eyes up in trees or between tea bushes stalking their prey. Ultraviolet light does not startle animals or affect their vision in the same way white light does. To make the most of this walk, we recommend taking a jumper or a shawl as the nights can get quite chilly.

Keeping your voices low also helps not to scare away animals that may be out and about. A big part of the experience includes luck, and spotting animals is not a guarantee, but being out and about in the quiet of the night is a magical experience in itself.