Guests will be met at Raththota and driven to the camp at the Baygroup Estate, Riverston. Here they are welcomed and served with a welcome drink and camping rules and regulations. Before lunch is served, guests are free to take a bath from the brook of crystal clear water untouched and unpolluted by man up to that point, flowing through the campsite.
A delightful typical Sri Lankan lunch awaits the refreshed guests.
After lunch and a little leisure time, guests would be taken on a nature tour that would arouse the interest of any nature enthusiast and amaze any botanist or researcher. This wonderful tour will take one through almost all forest types in Sri Lanka. If one were to start from Illukkumbura the lowest point, which at only 250ft is covered by the Dry Zone Forest and travel up to Riverston at 4000ft, which area is covered by the Pygmy Forest (top most segment of the montane forest), one will traverse Dry Zone Forest, Wet Zone Forest, Dry Pathana, Montane Forest and end up with Pygmy Forest. What is amazing about this tour is, all these can be encountered within half an hours drive. Separate short hikes into each forest type would be an unforgettable experience. A walk through the Pitawala Pathana, the largest Dry Pathana planes in the island and look down the precipice – a sheer drop of about 1500ft – at the Puwakpitiya valley below, would be another fascinating part of the journey.
At the top, at Riverston, the Montane Forest has become a perfect example of the Pygmy Forest. This feature is resulted by the fact that the blowing in this area is the strongest in the country during the windy season, which is about half the year.
At the end of the hard but interesting and educative day, the camp awaits the guests with a warm cup of tea. After an invigorating wash at the brook, guests can be at leisure stargazing, till the hearty barbecue dinner, which generally is not expected in a remote camp, is ready.
