It was a highlight of my time in Sri Lanka to go on a birding tour of local wetlands in Colombo with Thilanka. I booked the tour the evening before and he responded immediately to schedule our departure at 5am. We spent about 3.5 hours walking through Diyasaru Park at sunrise and saw nearly 50 species – as well as a monitor lizard, crocodile, and other animals. Thilanka shared a lot about Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity and his experiences of traveling around the world on various birding excursions. We also spoke about Sri Lanka’s history, culture, and politics. He brought along fruit and coconut water for us to snack on. He’s a great guide and I can’t wait to come back for another visit so that I can go on a longer tour with him to a nearby national park. He’s very flexible and personalizes each tour in terms of length and focus. Couldn’t possibly recommend a better person!

My friend and I recently took a last minute trip to Sri Lanka and Thilanka was wonderful (and crazy!) enough to accept our 5am request for a day tour! We had nothing planned and he organized the most amazing day where we tried local foods, visited a temple and a couple spots and toured a national park where we got to see a 2 week old baby elephant. Thilanka is a wonderful guide and such a kind person. Would highly recommend!

This is the rarest gem of airbnb experiences. Everything was perfect. Thilanke is extremely knowledgeable and very passionate about what he does. I had a great time. It was a very bespoke experience and definitely great value for money. Here is what we did during our tour: 1. Typical Sri Lankan cuisine for breakfast 2. Lunuganga / Geoffray Bawas personal estate 3. We had the opportunity to talk personally Mr. Bawas last butler. 4. Ancient village temple & 2 image houses. 5. Bentota beach , Railway station and some of Bawas structures/ designed. 6. Galle Fort admiring diversed architecture & ethnicity 7. Lucky to see the 1st day of Ban/SL test cricket match. Live happening 8. Local food experience in a typical local restaurant.

I would like to talk about the person before the experience.

From the time I started interacting (before I booked tickets, to returning, he was available all the time. Recommended hotels, places to see, eat vegetarian food. He is amazing. I had booked him for 2 days but because we were tired after a day i requested him to cancel the second day. He didn’t charge for the second day. Where do you get such honest people. You know when someone is in it for the money or for the passion. He is so knowledgeable about the country and so passionate about his beautiful country. The details he explains won’t be available anywhere else. The only thing limiting was probably the time. He does not push any product, doesn’t upsell anything. He is genuinely in it for the experience. The way he treated my daughter shows how much respect he gives. This is one experience I will never forget.

Note from my daughter: He was so helpful and treated us very nicely. He allowed us flexibility, and the experience was made so much better than I thought it would be, even though I already had high hopes. The places we went to were far, yet he kept us engaged, explaining every little detail, like boredom has been thrown out the window. We went to the original Independence Square, to a beautiful Buddhist temple, an amazing elephant orphanage, a tea museum, and, in my opinion, the highlight was a stunning nature walk through a real forest! Also brought me a pair of binoculars for bird watching. He taught me how to use them, also helped me see the birds, hear the sounds they make, and looked them up in books to learn their names and characteristics. You don’t find people like him easily. We enjoyed so much being in his company, and if you are here reading this, I would like to thank you once more, for all the great things we got to do, for the lovely support, and countless other things. Keep giving people that joy, you can’t find it anywhere else!

(Google review)

I had a superb experience with Thilanka. He is an excellent tour guide and a very interesting person. He was very attentive, friendly, and exceeded my expectations for this trip. I highly recommend Thilanka to other travelers. I’m looking forward to coming back to Sri Lanka again, and I’ll definitely hire Thilanka to show me other parts of the island and explore more activities.

It was my first adventure with local guide. Thanks to Thilanka not the last one. Only 24h ahead Thilanka prepared personalized trip schedule. His flexibility and attentiveness to my needs was amazing. My main goal was to experience local life, authentic Sri Lanka. Thilanka delivered it all. We have visited Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ella. He showed me local art, beautiful temples, local traditions and explained the story behind it. While we were exploring the cities we had a chance to talk to locals from different ethnic groups. Thilanka knowledge of history, architecture, plants and animals is very valuable and unique. It makes the journey special. In addition we’ve visited Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage where I was able to feed and cuddle the elephants. We’ve visited local tea factory where I was able to known the production process. Thilanka booked great local accommodations and planned delicious local food experiences. Don’t wait! Book your trip with the best guide in Sri Lanka!

Thilanka saved the day as we arrived to Sri Lanka last minute. We messaged him very early in the morning and he was able to create a personalized agenda and fill our time. The safari was great and his knowledge of history and nature is expert level. Highly recommend. Thank you!

My 3-day experience with Thilanka has been extremely magical and I would highly recommend Thilanka to anyone who would like to visit Sri Lanka. Particularly speaking, I feel very safe as a solo female traveler.

As a hyperactive person, I have planned my 3 days to the max.. from pickup at 1am to waking up at 5am, from rainforest to parks to whalewatching, Thilanka was always there for the best experiences. I am constantly amazed by how many great ideas he has, how much researches he did on culture and environment, how well of connections he has to get the best safari drivers/speed boat captains etc. and the many stories he has as a traveller too.

Although my trip has been nature focused, Thilanka found ways to squeeze in cultural sites on the way, especially a shrine with zero tourists.

Lastly, Thilanka is very observant of your needs. He is always there to recommend the best bathroom facilities or to suggest the time to rest between stops.

Again would highly recommend Thilanka!

友人の勧めでティランカさんのツアーに初めて参加しましたが、本当に素晴らしい旅ができました。彼のツアーは単なる観光を超え、現地の自然（野鳥や植物）、文化、建築、歴史を深く理解できる内容で、またスリランカを訪れたいと思うようになりました。

ティランカさんは、私たちの興味を丁寧にツアーに反映させてくれ、スリランカの魅力を余すところなく伝えてくれました。スリランカには素敵な宿がたくさんありますが、ティランカさんが紹介してくれた宿は特に素敵なところばかりでした。元銀行員というユニークなバックグラウンドもあり、ガイドとしては経験が浅いと謙遜していましたが、知識は豊富であり、熱心に勉強していることがひしひしと伝わってきました。

それから私が普段車酔いしやすいことに気を配ってくれて、運転がとても上手だったため、快適に旅行できました。

特に自然や野鳥に興味がある方には、ティランカさんのツアーを強くお勧めします。 また家族や友人とティランカさんのツアーに参加したいと思っています。

I took a tour of Tiranka for the first time as a friend recommended, and I had a really great trip.His tour goes beyond just sightseeing and has a deep understanding of the local nature (wild birds and plants), culture, architecture, and history, and makes me want to visit Sri Lanka again.

Tiranka politely reflects our interests on the tour and showed us the charm of Sri Lanka.There are many nice accommodations in Sri Lanka, but the accommodation that Tiranka introduced me was particularly nice.There was also a unique background as a former banker, and I was humbled by the inexperience as a guide, but the knowledge was abundant and enthusiastic about studying.

Then, he paid attention to how easy I was to get sick, and I was very good at driving, so I was able to travel comfortably.

Highly recommend Tiranka’s tour, especially for those interested in nature and wild birds. I would like to take another tour of Tiranka with my family and friends.