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City/State: Buttala |
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Country: SRI LANKA
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| Tree Tops Jungle Lodge |
Weliara Road
Uva Province
SRI LANKA
Buttala
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Program description: |
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Staying at Tree Tops Jungle Lodge is a journey back to basics, living with nature. We believe in basic comfort and offer a nature retreat extremely well integrated in amazing surroundings; the virgin forest, the rocky hills, and the wildlife.
Via the dirt track to the lodge you leave the world behind and end up in elephant country. This jungle, the Weliara forest, is hidden between Yala National Park and the Arahat Kanda mountains – a 15 km long chain of steep rocky hills, seperating civilisation from wilderness. Situated in uninhabited jungle bordering Sri Lanka’s largest protected area, the 1300 km2 Yala National Park, we live amidst the whole range of animals found in the neighboring sanctuary.
Living at Tree Tops is an extraordinary trip, back to nature. You’ll bathe at a freshwater well, there’s no electricity, and meals are cooked native style on wood fire. The basicness is balanced by spotless service and a staff eager to create great experiences for visitors – be it tasty meals, jungle treks, or wild elephant spotting escorted by local trackers. We do offer a true jungle experience – but not a safari park or zoo. Observing wild animals isn’t easy. Yet - it might be there… We expect that guests respect the wild nature of our place and contribute to own safety, behaving responsible and using basic instincts.
Wild visitors
Most prominent among our wild visitors are the elephants. Nights in the jungle is an experience of darkness and strange sounds. When elephants pass by they are usually very silent but sometimes heard breaking branches or trumpeting. The lucky ones will hear the ’song of elephants’ – herds long distance communicating with sound wawes, like whales. Birders need no luck. 161 species are recorded in our area. A few of them are: Sri Lankan Hanging Parrot, Alexandrine Parakeet, Sri Lankan Jungle Fowl, Grey- and Malabar Pied Hornbill, Green Bee-eater, and Baya Weawer.
Living at an unfenced lodge in an awesome landscape in the really wilds, among wildlife, is the element of adventure at Tree Tops. Even without actually seeing animals you will experience a unique athmoshere – feel the soul of the jungle. Safe sleeping is secured by vigilant night watchers who are well qualified guards. Grown up as hunters these native guys are experienced in the jungle, highly skilled in interpreting nature’s signs.
The huts
Our clay huts are simple and rustic, quite similar to traditional huts of the local area. We combine traditional building methods with fresh ideas about design, strength, and function. The architectural style is based on a radical principle of being integrated with environment. Materials used for the huts are very local: an inner wooden structure (from fallen trees found in the surrounding forest) plastered with a thick layer of clay dug from our land. Walls and floors are polished with a mix of clay and cow dung to make a soft look and prevent insects from finding a place to live inside our walls. The tree huts are made with inspiration from the traditional 'chena tree huts'. From these huts farmers watch their cultivated plots in safety from wild animals, especially elephants.
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General program information: |
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Program open to: Everyone
Age range: Min. 18
Travel to site: Independent Travel
Is opportunity more independant or group orientated: Independant
Living arrangements on the program: Varies, Tents/Rustic Accommodation, Independent Living
How long does the program last?: Various Durations
What are the dates of this program: Throughout year
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Benefits and advantages of the program: |
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In addition to the unique nature experience, get insight into the reality and difficulties of living in a border area: national park vs. village farmers - and the resulting 'human-elephant conflict'. See how an ecolodge may transform the destruction of nature for survival to constructive use of the forest and wildlife for nature based tourism.
The lodge was earlier a private nature retreat and base for environmental activism with the intention of observing and trying to help protect and preserve the remaining forest and its wildlife. From 2002 open for tourists. The lodge is situated in the middle of main elephant tracks and also on paths earlier used by illegal hunters and loggers. We try to function as an added obstacle for those people who are destructing the environment, while we at the same time hope to generate alternative means of income by employing local staff.
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Cost or price of this program: |
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$49 per person per night, full board all incl. (activities additional). 3-nights 'jungle package' FB all incl. with 3 guided jungle treks escorted by 4 man team from the lodge (2-3 hrs.): $175 per person. This is inclusive of the whole arrangement, no 'extras'. For longer stays (more than 1 week)) and for teaching volunteer discount available.
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Qualifications required: |
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Regarding teaching position: English teacher useful to teach our native staff English; all staff recruited from local area and some of them are now learning English. No certificate needed.
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Other Teaching Positions listings from Tree Tops Jungle Lodge |
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No other listings have been found |
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