You will be picked up from your hotel in Negombo for a tour riding a TukTuk to Muthurajawela Wetland, and a bird watching tour by boat. Your TukTuk is a very typical form of public transport, part of the everyday street scene. On the TukTuk, you can sit and stretch out, protected from the sun, and rain, and with a great breeze. You will soon arrive at Muturajawela wetland marine sanctuary, famous for its mangroves, salt water crocodiles and avi fauna. You will take a boat ride through the vast Negombo lagoon. Extending over 6,000 acres and over 29,000, and rumored to provide home to over 40 species of migratory and 85 indigenous bird species. Mangrove forests that line the footpath are great places to observe birds as well as baby crocodiles and fiddler crabs. On completion of this visit, your TukTuk rider will take you back to the hotel.
Starting the tour in the Dutch canal, we saw many exciting species of birds, kingfishers, raptors, parrots and woodpeckers. Lots of monitor lizards and after getting out into the lagoon, water birds aplenty and monkeys in the trees. Highly recommended for any birdwatchers or nature lovers!
We really enjoyed this trip. We were collected, on time, from our Negombo hotel - a bit of a bumpy trip but direct and safe. The guide was good and we saw a lot of different birds, incl kingfishers, some monkeys, water monitors. Part way through we moored up and some packet snacks and drink were provided. Improvements? A pre- printed identification sheet would be useful, especially for children
I just had a quick stop in Negombo after flying in to Colombo. I was picked up on time by a lovely driver. This was a relaxing tour after a long day travelling. I only really wanted a boat trip and thought seeing some birds would be nice. We actually saw baby crocodiles and lots of monkeys too. Fab first day in Sri Lanka. The guide was very knowledgeable too.
Worth getting up early to catch the birds and in a very pleasant temperature May like to take something soft to sit on as the boat seats are very hard Very knowledgeable guide
Wonderful boat trip through some backwaters near Negombo. From the meeting place on the old canal we headed slowly up the canal, stopping frequently to take photos of the varied wildlife. We continued into the lagoon for a shoreline route viewing many types of birds. I am not an experienced birder but our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful explaining the many different species.
Really enjoyed it. The Tuk-tuk driver arrived on time and was helpful. He told me about some of the sights we passed and on the way back stopped at a beach to see waves hitting some rocks. The guide for the boat tour was very informative and we saw many different birds, and also large water monitors and land monitors. The listing says "light refreshments" but those were not included for my trip.
I can't recommend this enough - as an avid birdwatcher I was looking forward to seeing some Sri Lankan avifauna. Aruna was so knowledgeable, helpful, and also spoke fantastic English. You could tell he had such a passion for nature and deep knowledge that he wanted to share. I didn't bring binoculars with me but I didn't feel like I needed them given the birds I saw were mostly in flight and the mangroves were very dense. I was expecting to see 5 or so different species, but in the end I counted 27 (and water monitors and monkeys too). The wetlands are vast and the boat was absolutely necessary for getting around some of the quieter parts. Even for non-birdwatchers this could be a lovely calm break in peaceful surroundings!
Prompt pick up from hotel. Early start is required to ensure best chance of seeing as many birds as possible. Also need to negotiate local traffic. Well informed guide and observant boat skipper made the trip all the better.
My guide, Nirmala, was fantastic, really knowledgeable and friendly. We saw 20 kinds of birds plus macau, water monitors and a baby crocodile in just two hours! It was also simply a nice way to spend a morning.
We were picked up in time at our hotel with a Tuk-Tuk and enjoyed the ride trough authentic residential districts leaving the crowded tourist spots of Negombo behind. Once on the boat we were busy looking for birds, monkeys and water monitors. Thanks to our guide we discovered at least 15 different bird species. Bring a good camera to get some incredible pictures. If you're not keen of a demanding photo safari you can simply sit, relax and enjoy the boat ride trough the mangroves. Either way we felt like it's a great, highly recommendable trip you shouldn't miss while staying at Negombo.
My son and I took this tour. The canal was beautiful and peaceful before we went into the spectacular mangrove lagoon. Many water birds and reptiles. Good and knowledgeable guide. Highly recommended.
It was billed as a half day tour but the tour itself was only a couple of hours. Two of us were in a boat with a guide. She was knowledgable enough but as a birdwatcher, it was nothing very special. What I didn't like at all is that we saw a water monitor swimming with food in its mouth. The man guiding the boat turned the boat to follow it and kept getting closer and closer - much too close for the safety of the animal. I kept saying stop but he got so close he lightly bumped it with the boat. He didn't hurt it but it dropped the food and swam away. The guide did nothing to stop him from getting so close. This is a bad practice and indicates very little concern for the animals. I would not recommend this tour.
<p>This is well worth it if you are interested in wildlife. All went smoothly with the pick up. We saw lovely birds, blue tailed bee eaters were my favourites, a huge water monitor and baby crocodiles. The previous day I did a trip on the lagoon with Captain F.ernando who also does a trip into this area and I cannot recommend this charming lad highly enough. The tuk tuk driver took me back to my hotel a different route and we visited the huge buddhist temple on the way, an amazing place.</p>
<p>We saw big monitor lizards, macaque monkeys, all sorts of exotic birds. Our guide was very informed and spoke good English. Our tuktuk driver was right on time.</p>
<p>Excellent communication from tour company. Charming, low key boat tour with well informed local guide.</p>
<p>I highly recommend this tour as a way see the more peaceful side of the greater Negombo area. The tuk tuk driver was friendly and on time to pick me up and take me back, although he got lost on the way and was unfamiliar with how the tickets worked. The boat tour was peaceful and beautiful. We saw a variety of birds, water monitors, flying fish, monkeys, and scenery.</p>
<p>Fantastic loved this trip even if we hadn't seen anything it was still great just to slowly move through the wetlands to the lagoon we did see lots of wildlife brilliant half day trip</p>
<p>An interesting trip and saw quite a few birds at close range, one even climbed on the boat!.<br/> The driver had a little trouble finding the start point, and that was the case for another visitor too.<br/> Suggest better information to the pick-up drivers.</p>
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