Around Haggai
Enjoy a leisurely walk in the neighborhood of DeCosta Gardens and you will not feel that you are in the city. Whether you’re a photography enthusiast or simply want to borrow a book on tropical birds from the lobby we hope you see many wonderful kinds. You may also spot the occasional group of Langur -leaf monkeys that frequent the area.
Explore Colombo
Enjoy grate seafood dining or try out “SriLankan rice-and-curry” comprising of spicy meat dishes and a variety of vegetarian sides.
Explore Colombo
Shop for clothes, gifts and souvenirs, including handcrafted jewelry in boutique shops. Walk the street markets for tropical fruit such as mangoes, banana, papaya and pineapples that are out-of-this-world.Visit historical museums, religious sites, and Dutch/British period buildings in Colombo Fort. Take a stroll on Galle Face green or down a warm sandy beach in the western coast.
Around Sri Lanka
Haggai is an ideal place to start and finish your journey through SriLanka. The Island has so much richness in eco-diversity, history and culture to offer its visitors for countless expeditions. But everything is located within a span of about 100 to 200 miles. Moving in from the tropical beaches that dot this drop-shaped Island you head up into the Central hills (the highland complex)The area extending south from Colombo and the western slopes of the central hills leading all the way down to the coastal town of Galle, is a quarter of the Island known as the “Wet zone” due to the high rain fall experienced each year.
Around Sri Lanka
For the traveller, a clever way to cover multiple places of interest in one visit would be to head towards the historical city of Kandy up in the hills. On your way there you’ll pass the “Pinnawala Elephant orphanage”, a shelter for displaced or disabled elephants. This is a great place to witness hundreds of elephants going about their daily routine of foraging and taking baths in the river.
Round about Sri Lanka
Moving up from there and before entering Kandy you’ll see the sign for Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, a great place to enjoy plant diversity and be able to identify different tropical plants.The historical City of Kandy: there’s so much to write about this place, not only because Haggai founders originate from here, but this city and region has so much going for it... Therefore we wish to dedicate a full page about Kandy in future After spending few days site-seeing in this beautiful hill Capital you can then head north to visit the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa historic sites, which along with Kandy forms the Islands “Cultural Triangle”. If you are a history, art & culture fan you could not pick a better place…
On your way to Polonnaruwa you’ll be cutting across elephant territory in Habarana. Here you can arrange to do a wild life safari on 4 wheel-drive or choose the more traditional “elephant back”. After visiting the ruins of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura which takes about two days with plenty of walking and some climbing as well, it might be time for relaxing in a white sand beach in Trincomalee.
Depending on your destination and route you will be able witness various facets of SriLankan culture, from native Island communities to rural village life which includes paddy farming, fishing, and folk involved in various crafts such as wood carving, pottery, brass works and silver smithing etc.
The Southern central hills.
From the times of the ancient Silk-route to europian sailors and up to the present time spices such as cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg were harvested from the mountainous rainforest regions (wet zone) of Sri Lanka.
The Southern central hills.
Moving on pass the spice grown regions to higher elevations would bring you to the “mid and high grown tea estates” of the famed Ceylon Black Tea (Camellia sinensis). Here you can still experience old English style tea plantations with bungalows and the factories that process tea leaves. You may also enjoy a garden fresh cup of Ceylon tea with traditional English biscuits, while enjoying the breathtaking views of the hill country.
Hidden Treasures
The southern decent of the central hills (highland complex) is anything but gentle and comprise of sudden drops and long mountainous escarpment giving birth to many waterfalls and wonderful scenes. At its base and further down in streambeds are accumulations of precious gemstones resulting from eons of erosion of hillsides. Ratnapura (City of Gems-Sanskrit) is one such area renowned for producing fine quality gems of many varieties.You can arrange a special one-of-a-kind trip to visit these historical gemming sites and be able to witness artisanal gem mining that is practiced to this day. On your way you could be on the look-out for your birthstone or that precious stone of your desiring … But “travellers beware -it is a jungle out there!” SriLanka has got it all, from the famed Ceylon Blue Sapphires, Pinks, Yellows and Orange sapphires, Star sapphire and Rubies, rare Cat’s- eye, Alexandrites, Spinel and many more…
So tell us what you might like and we may be able to help you carve-out your perfect tropical adventure!