You will be met at the airport by our representative and introduced to your chauffeur guide who will be accompanying you on your tour. The guide will remain with you until your beach stay unless we have advised you otherwise.
Transfer time to Kegalle is approximately 2 Hours.
Millennium Elephant Foundation
A family Run NGO working to improve the lives of domesticated elephants throughout Sri Lanka. Charity number 457.
Home of the exclusive Elephant Walk Experience, A personal safari that allows you to follow the elephant around the 15 acre coconut estate as they foragae and wander and graze as they would in the wild. The alternative to elephant riding option which is close and personal experience you can have with captive elephants in Sri Lanka .
Offering a volunteer program where guests can have the hands on experience of caring for these gentle giants, and the opportunity to learn all about the situation for elephants in Sri Lanka and the hard work of Millennium Elephant Foundation Located close to the Rosyth Estate House this is the ideal stop for a unique elephant experience.
Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings, and is a World Heritage Site. The name Kandy conjures visions of splendour and magnificence. Many of the legends, traditions and folklore are still lovingly kept alive. Drive around the Kandy Lake built by the last Sinhala king Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe in 1798.
In 1542 the Tooth Relic was brought to the city , stimulating a flurry of new religious building- a two storey for the relic itself and 86 houses for the monks. By 1602 the city had probably taken the form. Kandy was repeatedly attacked by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British and been rebuilt several times.
The area with the Temple of the Tooth and associated buildings, a world heritage site, is the chief focus of interest. The Udmale (upper storey) houses the relic which is caged behind gilded iron bars and a series of 7 seven smaller caskets. Ceremonies start at 0530, 0930 and 1830. These are moment the temple comes to life with pilgrims. One would need to be dressed appropriately for the temple as any other religious building. Kandy is perhaps most famous however for the annual Perahara, a most magnificent site which sees the scared tooth relic take to the streets accompanied by dancers, drummers and most significantly elephants dressed in all their finery and adorned with lights. The parade which goes through the streets of Kandy builds into a spectacular procession over consecutive nights with the number of elephants growing each night. The procession normally takes place annually at the end of July or early August.
Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens
This botanical garden was first built as a pleasure garden by a Sinhala king and was expanded by the British during the period of colonial rule. Royal Botanical Garden, Peradeniya (5.5 km west of Kandy) is renowned for its collection of a variety of orchids and includes more than 4000 species of plants, including of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees.The Botanic Gardens crested in 1371 when King Wickramabahu III kept court at Peradeniya near Mahaweli river. This was followed by King Kirti Sri and King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. A temple was built on this location by King Wimala Dharma, but it was destroyed by the British when they were given control over the Kingdom of Kandy. Alexandar Moon then created the botanical gardens in 1821. The Botanical Garden at Peradeniya was formally established in 1843 with plants brought from Kew Garden, Slave Island, Colombo, and the Kalutara Garden in Kalutara.
The classical Avenue of Palms is located in this Garden. One tree with a significant history is the Cannonball Tree planted by King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary in 1901. During the Second World War, the Botanical Garden was used by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme commander of the allied forces in the South Asia, as the headquarters of the South East Asia Command.
Kandy Temple of the Tooth
Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens
Rosyth Artisanal Leaf to Cup Tea Experience
An Unique Complete Tea Experience of Leaf to Cup which will take place over two days. Join our ladies in the tea gardens to pluck a leaf; the green leaf is left to wither overnight at the micro factory and the next day, they can be hand rolled, fermented, dried and packed to take home. All proceeds will be given to the Rosyth Foundation which supports the local community and school.
Rosyth Estate House Tea
For decades the Rosyth Estate single origin tea had been processed at the local factory at the top our hill, which had been in operation since 1930. At 1,000 feet above sea level, the handpicked tea is used to produce orange pekoe in different grades and fannings, with the highest grade referred to as OP. Top quality pekoe grades consist mainly of buds and grading is based on the size of the individual leaves sorted in the finishing process. The size and the wholeness of the leaves has the greatest influence on the taste, clarity, and brewing time of the tea.
The Original 1930 Rosyth Tea Factory was not owned by the Rosyth Estate House and has been independently operated for generations. Unfortunately, following a tragic fire that took place in April 2022, the factory was destroyed leaving many in the local community without employment.
Guided Rosyth Estate Walk
A member of our team can guide you through the Estate and give you an appreciation of rural Sri Lankan life as you wind through paddy fields, jungle, fresh water streams and meet local villagers on the way. If he is not available, one of the hotel or estate team will accompany you on a guided at approximately 4pm. You may be joined by other guests,
Rosyth is a small working estate. Tea is plucked by hand and hand crafted into the artisanal tea factory. Latex is tapped by scoring the tree, then collected and and sold to a local rubber factory. Coconuts, fruits, spices and vegetables are grown on the estate and used at the hotel. You will be amazed by the variety of produce that grows on the estate!
If you prefer to walk on your own ask the team for some directions and enjoy forest bathing: immerse in nature .The Estate and its surroundings contain beautiful walking trails & mountain biking routes over the rolling hills. Guests are free to explore the estate and join the ladies plucking tea. Guides for two of our local walking trails, so you can independently explore the beautiful part of Sri Lanka’s Low Tea Country.
Rosyth Artisanal Tea – Their tea journey
At Rosyth, determined to move away from the traditional methods of producing tea that have remained the same since the colonial era, the owners have begun their journey to become an organic, artisanal producer of Sri Lankan tea. Removing much of the mechanisation from the processes they have started to produce hand crafted teas. The leaves are carefully manipulated by rolling or pounding on the estate by their local artisans. The micro factory was constructed in the first quarter of 2023 and they moved into production in the second quarter of 2023. The artisanal
This project is wholeheartedly community focused, as they look to improve the economic sustainability of the valley. Each and every person connected to production of the tea is now a partner with a stake in the future success. The partners will receive a guarantee of 10% of the estate tea revenues as a dividend payment on top of their wages. In the coming years, they hope the initiative will vastly increase the prosperity of our local community with the skills and investment to help it flourish. Artisanal Tea can be sold for
The process follows the classic steps of tea production but with an all together more personal and hands on approach:
Step one – Plucking: the fresh leaves are plucked by hand by our skilled tea pickers. For our highest quality hand rolled artisanal teas we delicately pick just one leaf and a young bud, carefully separating the slightly larger leaf which is hand processed separately. On arrival in the factory, the leaf is further inspected & any stalks removed.
Step two – Withering: the leaves are carefully laid out on withering trays, locally know at “Tats”. Tea leaves, even fresh tender ones are not pliable and would shatter when rolled and shaped. Drying gently on the tats, the leaf is left for up to 20 hours to gently wither, loosing up to 35% of its moisture content. As it withers, the leaf is gently turned to allow an even exposure to the air.
Step three – Hand Rolling: the withered leaves are now gently rolled by hand in wicker baskets by our artisans to gently break the cell structure of the leaf and to release the enzymes & natural oils within the leaf. Natural juices are slowly released, and the leaf becomes slightly sticky to the touch. Taking up to two hours to complete care is taken to maintain the structure of the leaf.
Step four – Oxidation: after completing the rolling, the leaf is left for up to two and half hours to allow oxidation to take place. This is the critical part of the process where the air interacts with the now exposed enzymes, heat is produced, and the flavour of the tea fully develops. The leaf turns a reddish-brown colour as the chemical composition changes & the wonderfully complex flavours of our tea develop. The time taken for oxidation varies, depending on a number of factors including the air temperature and the humidity levels, but as the chemical reactions develop and temperatures around 43c are reached, it is time to stop the oxidation and dry the tea.
Step five – Firing: time is now the essence, the tea needs to be dried, the oxidation process stopped, and leaves dried to perfection. In our artisan factory the leaf is spread onto the trays and placed into a drying over at temperatures between 85-110c. Good even drying, with low residual moisture levels, is essential to being able to store the tea, typically reached in one & a half hours.
Step six – Grading and sorting: once dried, the clock stops ticking and we can be more relaxed with final sorting and grading of the tea. Our highest quality OP grades are carefully sorted, before all the teas are packed into airtight foil bags to maintain the optimum freshness. Nothing is wasted, the small leaf particles carefully separated and blended to produce lower grade teas – in large commercial factories this would often end up in tea bags!
Day 5 - Day 7: At leisure.
Day 8: Day trip to Galle – Client own arrangements.
Galle
Before the Dutch took Colombo from the Portuguese, Galle was their headquarters. Contrary to the Colombo Fort, the one in Galle was not only not demolished, but is one of the best preserved examples of 17th century colonial fortifications in the world, and is on the UNESCO list of World Monuments. The reason for its remarkable state of preservation is that this once busy trading town, visited by the East-India fleets and many regional traders, fell upon slack times after the Dutch had left. The development that did take place focused on the new town of Galle, outside the Fort.
The Fort is really a walled city, with a rectangular pattern of streets full of the low houses with gables and verandas in the Dutch colonial style. An irony of history is that most of the inhabitants of old Galle, occupying the houses of the Dutch, are the descendants of the Muslim traders that the Dutch despised so much for their petty trade that violated their monopoly. The Muslims have adapted many of the houses to their own likings, closing up the verandas with woodwork to prevent their women from being seen from outside. Recently it is no longer allowed to alter any of these houses, some renovation is taking place, and private museums with handicraft shops have even been established.
There are also several interesting buildings from early British times, and an early 20th century light tower. The fort was started by the Portuguese in 1588, but there is nothing recognizably Portuguese left. Probably parts of the thick walls, that you can walk on almost all around the town, in the sunshine and the cool breeze, with the red-tiled roofs of the houses on the one hand, and the blue ocean on the other.
Whales In the turquoise waters of Sri Lanka, the awe-inspiring presence of the Blue Whale and the Sperm Whale and Spinner Dolphins is not to be missed. The south of Sri Lanka beyond Dondra Head is considered one of the best locations in the world for spotting these magnificent creatures. They can be spotted in the deep seas off the southern coastal towns of Galle, Mirissa and Kirinda.
The Whale watching season, when the seas are relatively calm is between December and early April. However, please be aware that the boats often go some 20 kilometres offshore and the seas can be rough.
Day 9 - Day 14: At leisure.
Day 8: Day trip to Galle – Client own arrangements
Today you will be transferred to the airport and it may not be with the same guide that you have been on tour with. Our local representative or driver will be in touch to confirm the pickup time a day before your departure. We normally recommend aiming to be at the airport 2 ½ hours prior to departure. As the drive times can be unpredictable they may suggest allowing enough time for transfer in case of delay.
