Excursions

A visit to a tea plantation in close proximity to the town is an obvious choice, whilst the neatly laid out Victoria park, opposite the club is an interesting diversion.

The picturesque Hakgala Botanical Garden, a minutes’ drive from the club, located on the lower slopes of the Hakgala mountain, is a must visit. It offers a wide collection of montane forest vegetation, ranging from giant trees to exotic ferns, and rose gardens laid out in geometric perfection. On a good day in the dry season, a serious birder will be able to identify close upon forty species within the park itself whilst the vista from the viewing points, that of the Uva bowl and on a clear day, the South-East lowlands, is absolutely stunning.

The Randenigala reservoir, a one and half hour drive from the town, a massive body of water trapped between towering mountains covered with jungle and also tea, is well worth a visit.

Horton Plains, an hour’s drive from the club, is one of the most unique natural features in the island. Several hundred square kilometres of gently undulating grassy plain surrounded by the second and third highest mountains of the island “Kirigalpotta” and “Thotupola”, dotted with patches of montane-clouded forest and ice-cold, crystal clear pools and streams, not long ago well-known for Trout-fishing, all located at around 7,000 ft above sea-level. The trek to Baker’s Falls, a beautiful waterfall named after Samuel Baker, the British explorer credited with the first comprehensive exploration of the Nuwara Eliya, district, is worth the attendant difficulties. However, the high point of the trip to the plains would be the walk to the famed “World’s End”, a precipice with a near perpendicular drop of about 2,000 ft. On a clear day, the panoramic view of the lowlands from the edge would have few parallels elsewhere.